I rushed a post this morning so I wanted to go into more detail about the broad street run. I went to sleep around 11 and woke up at 5:15. I had eaten pizza the night before and drank plenty of water. I took a shit after I woke up and it was pretty wimpy. I knew that after I ate that much food, I should have had a better shit. This was the first minor issue. I picked up Laura and we park in Citizens Bank and got a Subway to the start of the race. We were at the start at 7 or so which is a lot earlier than I’d like but certainly not a problem. I ate some pretzel but really wasn’t very hungry which is a bit odd too because I didn’t eat any breakfast. So I go on a warm up run and had to piss so I went down this street and next thing I know I have this security guard yelling at me. I figured I was getting a public urination but my plan was to take off sprinting and to get lost in the crowd but he didn’t say anything other than you can’t be in this area. I tried to piss behind some houses but Fido put a halt to that with some barking that scared the shit out of me. I then did some stretching and had to take another piss. So I went down a side street and went right on the corner. No problem. Now the race is getting close and I get in the corral and what do you know, I have to piss again. I don’t know what was happening but I was now stuck in a corral with no where to go and my only option was to hold it. I considered going behind some houses right by the starting line but there were just way too many people for it to be appropriate. I’m sure you’re wondering why I don’t use the porta-potties but the lines are so long and I’m not into waiting.

So the race starts and I feel fine. I actually felt really good. I went out in a 5:45 and after 5 miles I was at 29:15 which I thought was just about perfect. I would be giving myself plenty of time if I fell off pace a little bit. Problem was I started to fall off pace a lot. By mile 7 I knew I had no chance to break 60. I think I came across mile 7 at 42:20 and then 8 was 48:30. I started to get my legs back a bit for the last 2 miles and ran them decent but it was too late. I had 3 females pass me in the last 3 miles so I knew that I was going to slow. It’s really annoying when you are right where you are supposed to be and then you start to die and people just constantly are passing you. I ended up holding the piss the entire race which wasn’t horrible but not ideal. My feet held up fine so that wasn’t an issue. I just lost focus on a couple miles there and that’s why I wasn’t able to reach my goal. I don’t set a lot of goals and am pretty disappointed by not achieving it. I also took a huge shit after the race so my timing on that just wasn’t right. You want to run on clean pipes and I think that may have been a minor issue.

I did get interviewed by an Asian reporter after the race. I was probably one of the first people to start walking to the car because I wanted to beat all the traffic and she was standing on the sidelines with her camera man. I saw her and knew what she was after so when she asked me if I can do an interview I rolled my eyes and said “fine” under my breath. I think she asked how I did in the race and I told her “I failed miserably.” Then I made some comment about lactic acid and how it was pretty hot. I don’t know if it ever made the news or not but it was CW or something like that. She was pretty hot too for an Asian.

Next race is Phil’s 5k and then the Sea Isle 10 miler, followed by the distance run. I’m a really annoyed with myself for not going under 60 and I’ve lost some motivation but I just have to keep at it and move on. I’m going to see what I can run a 400, an 8, and a mile in. I think I was 4:59 in the mile last year so that will be my goal this year. I don’t have good times in the other two to work off of. I’m really happy it’s hot out again because I think sweating while running in the heat is really healthy.

On an unrelated note, I put a bunch of books on half.com and actually sold one today. I sold a Kurt Vonnegut book that I used to read in the bathroom. I don’t really think there is anything wrong with that. It doesn’t carry around an odor and just because my hands are touching it while I’m shitting doesn’t mean it’s contaminated. If I was the buyer and I knew the last owner used it while taking a dump, it would probably bother me a bit but without that knowledge, seems alright to me. I’m still reading the Hunter S Thompson autobiography but after that I’m on a clean slate and will have to find something new. Suggestions?