I don't know what a people race has to do with Stampede. In this event, we are neither chasing cows, nor being chased by them. In fact, there was not a single cow in sight! Since they are asking for suggestions for next year's race, I should suggest that they should really add some cows if they want to call it the "Stampede Road Race".

This was a good race for me. Running fast has a very different feel now, compared to a couple months ago. It used to be that when I tried to run fast, I would just heat up without actually increasing my speed. This still occurs before I have warmed up, but after about 8 minutes into a run, my stride seems to become more efficient. It is hard to explain, but my legs don't work against me anymore. To tell the truth, and I am not advocating that one purposely injures oneself, the iliotibial band injury has made me much more aware of running style. By forcing me to learn to run without putting undue strain on my hips and knees, it has helped me to get a lot more out of my legs. Or the improvements could be just the pay-off from an additional 250km of training.

As the weather warms up, hydration is becoming more of an issue on long runs. Until two weeks ago, it was only 8 degrees in the morning and warmth was more of a concern than water. But last week things changed fairly quickly, and my usual Sunday run was a little warmer than I expected… I didn't reach a fountain until the heat had already gotten to me.

I hate hip flasks, and carrying bottles by hand is troublesome when the bottle is half-full. It sloshes around, and you instinctually stop swinging your arm to keep it from sloshing. My solution to this problem is little silly but still practical. When my bottle is less than full, I just squeeze it until there is no room for air, and then I cap it. Easy! No sloshing! Actually, the squeezed bottle is more rigid and easier to hold than the full bottle. Each bottle is 600ml, enough for two 300ml gulps. Sure, I must look silly jogging down the path with a squished bottle in my hand, but hey, it works. Even better, since it's just a pop bottle, I can throw it away as soon as it is empty.

Iliotibial band syndrome. It's quite a mouthful, isn't it? More or less, it means that a tendon along the outside of my knee has become inflamed. The good news is, in my particular case, it doesn't appear to be very serious. I have been treating it with ice and rest, and after just one week it seems to be back to normal.

The pain first started about 60 minutes into a 100 minute run. That meant that I was 40 minutes from home, so I ran through it rather than taking a long walk home… probably not a wise decision. The pain was mostly a dull ache that became sharp when I walked down stairs. The internet provided a ton of misinformation about this particular injury, but as far as I can see the causes are 1) over-training 2) bad biomechanics (angled running surfaces, bad shoes, bad running style) and 3) weak glutes resulting in poor knee stability.

So, yeah, I've gotta strengthen my buttocks for the sake of my knees. That, and my running shoes will have to be replaced because they have reached their 800km lifespan. On the plus side, this morning I did a 90 minute run that was virtually pain-free, though I do have an ice pack on my knee right now as a precaution. I could feel a bit of irritation at a couple points during the run, but to all appearances my knee hasn't suffered any damage.

The half-marathon was this morning. How do I feel? Mixed. On the one hand, it was my first race and I ran it well, my pace was better than my longer practice runs and my splits were even. On the other hand, I wanted to beat 90 minutes, but achieved 93. You might think that three minutes out of ninety is not much… but look at the results. If I had cut three minutes, I would have passed 30 runners. I can’t help but think that I just didn’t push as hard as I could have, but that is probably not true. I have tried running hard in my training, and it doesn’t improve my pace for long distance. It just tires me out.

So, to put two and two together, I really want to place better than I did, and cutting a few minutes from my time would really improve my placement. And the only way to do that is more training. Yeah, I’ve been bitten by the running bug… I want to make a habit of this.

My first post mentioned how warm it was in February… but today, on race day, at the end of May, the temperature is only 1 degree Celsius.