A few overdue race reports

Well things have been going in the right direction as far as IM training is concerned. My run miles are up compared to last year and my bike miles are also up. I feel comfortable in the water, I just need to get a little more swim fitness and I don't see that as being much of an issue.
A couple weeks ago I ran the Oshkosh Half Marathon. It is a Midwest Sports Events run. These guys put on awesome events. If you get a chance to do one, don't ever fear that you won't feel taken care of 100% of the time because you will. Fully stocked aid stations, easy registrations, and the course is always marked well.
We spent the night because the drive is about 2 and a half hours. We stayed in a hotel that was a block away from the Start/Finish line which was awesome. Also the check out time was noon which meant we had time to shower before the drive home. And they had a special deal of 65 bucks for the night. SCORE.
We went with the Viemeisters. Alison, Dave and Opie. Opie's the service dog in training. He got to go wherever we went. He's a great dog.
So the night before the race we go to Cranky Pat's Pizza. Everything hand made. It was amazing. I went to bed feeling pretty good and happy to be waking up to pretty good weather.
We got up and had a bagel and then went to the start line. It was pretty chilly. I had a throw away sweatshirt on and planned to dump it around mile 3 when I was warm.
There was a ton of people. 3,000 total. The course was awesome. The scenery was beautiful, the route was super flat and started and finished in about the same place.
I felt great the whole entire time. I ran easy and kept everything in control. Mile 12, I see Rob Regan, a blogger buddy who I have gotten to meet a bunch of times. Oh I should call him IRONMAN Rob Regan because he complete IMWI last year. I was stoked. I had no idea he was there racing (obviously done long before me and had been waiting) and had walked back to mile 12 to run the last mile in with me. Super cool.
Well I finished at 2:43. About what I had expected. I'm close to where I ran the Madison Half Marathon last year about 6 weeks later so I am actually ahead of last year.
The following weekend we did Crazylegs. 20,000+ running an 8K from the Capitol in Madison to Camp Randall. It is always really fun. This year it had rained a little off and on (nothing like last year's downpour) and actually during the run it didn't rain at all. Only during the walk to and from the start and finish. Jenny and I stuck together because it's seriously crazy at the end. Jenny ran about the same pace as I did and we finished in 1:02. 4 minutes faster than last year.
Then today (May 1) we ran the Lake Monona 20K. A nice run around Lake Monona. I debated taking a fuel belt and carrying some calories. They had 4 aid stations over the 12.5 miles and said they would have gatorade and water. I figured I should be o.k. FAIL. It was pretty sunny and windy. I could feel the sun baking me a little bit.
Jenny, Alison and I all rode up together.
There was 900+ people and all them together looked like they had less body fat on them combined than I did. I knew I would be close to last. But hey, I'm o.k. with that. I'm not a fast runner, I just try to keep forward motion until the finish line.
So we take off. First 4 miles are pretty hilly. I decide I'm going to run up them and see if I can push myself a little bit. I ran the first 8 miles about as fast I have ran 8 miles in a long time. I was keeping about an 11 min mile average. Which is way better than the 12:30/mile pace I did Oshkosh Half in. Well at each aid station I passed there was no gatorade. All gone. So all I had to drink was about 4 dixie cups of water so far. I can feel myself starting to fade. I just can't run 2.5 hours with no calories sweating as hard as I do. It was warm and I was sweating. So the next mile is spent at about a normal 12:30 pace. Mile 9 was the start of the downfall. I'm super thirsty now and I can feel the dreaded bonk headache starting. So I will myself to the end. I wound up running the same 12:28 per mile pace I did Oshkosh Half in. So I really faded at the end. We get done, I wait for Jenny and we go get some more water. Most all the food is gone at the finish except for some chicken wings (thanks to Quaker Steak and Lube's sponsorship). We get to the car and I feel crappy. We stop and get a Gatorade and I drink almost all of mine. I am suffering a little now. We get almost home and I start to sweat and feel like I'm going to puke. We get home and I double over in the yard but nothing. I go inside and go right to the bed. I know I need to lay down for a little bit. After about an hour I feel better.
Another lesson learned. Race Day Events races are ones I need to bring my own drink/calories. I sure wish I could have kept the pace. I was having a great run. But oh well. I got my long run in for the day which was awesome.

So now in 2 weeks from Thursday the aquathons start and the end of the month will bring the dreaded Madison Marathon. I'm really not looking forward to it. But I have a strategy. I really need to start slow. 13-14 minute miles for the first half. Then either maintain that pace or hopefully run a little faster keeping myself as fresh as I can. I need to do a 6.5-7 hour marathon at Ironman. No doubt about it.

So the wheels keep turning and I'm trying to keep myself motivated and running/biking as much as I can. I can tell by how sore my legs have been that I must be working them.

Ironman is a little over 4 months away. I still have a lot of biking to do. I hope the winds at some point will die down and the sun will shine a little more.