Acura 10 Miler Recap

Last Sunday I ran the Acura 10 Miler, the longest distance I've ever raced. I still find that hard to believe: I've been running half my life (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHBikURKkUM) and I've only started serious road racing now? Luckily, I think I'm off to a good start. I've only got longer distances and faster times from here.

I've always wanted to run the Leslie St Spit (Tommy Thompson Park) but had never made it down there before this race. It's a real trek just to get to the spit, let alone run it. This course started in the Distillery--a place I'd also never been to, west end girl through and through--along the Lakeshore, out into the park and then back. The Spit wasn't nearly as exciting as I'd hoped it would be, but maybe I just didn't spend enough time looking back at the skyline.

This was my first race on an insulin pump. I had trained, prepared, considered all the options--but still felt like I was going into it blind. Would nerves affect my blood sugars? Would I soar, would I plummet? I had a sense of what my chip time should be, but it was vague; my blood sugars were even more up in the air.

My pre-race blood sugar was a not-good 14.4, but I decided it was best to err on the high side. I set a temporary basal rate an hour before the gun and made sure I had at least two gels in hand. I tried following my brother's advice to stay consistent, mile by mile (spoiler alert: my brother, freakish, finished nearly 30 minutes ahead of me). I came through 5km in roughly 25 minutes, mostly on track. I was feeling strong through 8km, until I finally took note of the Gatorade at the water station and knew: my blood sugar was dipping low. Way, way low.

From then on I ran the race from one Gatorade station to the next. I never pulled out my blood sugar meter to check--I thought it would eat away at my time goal. I never touched a single Gu--I thought it would impede my pace, even temporarily. Around 15km I started to really feel the effects of my low: shaking hands, starry vision. I faded when I should have powered through, finishing just over 1:25. Yeah, sure, not bad. 

There were a lot of take-aways, and I don't just mean the tech shirt:
- With steady blood sugars my time would have easily been 2-3 minutes faster.  
- I need to learn how to prick my finger while in motion, without spraying the person next to me with blood.
- Next time I need to take in carbs after 60 minutes, no matter how I'm feeling. The Gatorade was good for temporary sugar spikes, but the speed+pressure of racing demands more long-lasting carbs to keep my blood sugar stable.
- If I can run this race in a decent pace, I can definitely run the Scotiabank half under 1:50.

I'm finally starting to feel like a runner again. Bout time.