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Last year I ran this race when a friend from work mentioned this 4 miler event on the Fourth of July. The event is sponsored and organized by the Cardinal Track Cub in Carrboro. This year, very late, I decided to give it a go again, since it was a lot of fun during this event last year. I signed up at bib pick up, but this time it was little bit disappointing. I knew that there was not going to be any shirt or medal, but I was looking forward to the granola jar, when I got there, this year it was a bottle opener. It is all good, it was a nice one to keep.

The weather was calling for overcast skies. Sugars in the morning were normal, but overnight I woke up around one in the morning to deal with low sugars. I ate some cereal and waited until the sugars started to climb to decent state. So, I was not completely well rested, but just feeling ok. I debated what to have for breakfast in the morning, but I did not want it to deviated too much from the usual. I decided to eat and adjust as I normally do for any other events. Oatmeal, latte, some water and a banana to go to eat an hour before the event starts. Drove to the event area, waited in the car a little bit, ate the banana. Facilities are great at this event and it is well organized. With about 20 minutes to the start time, I went out for a quick 1 mile warm up jog.

I looked around for my friend, Chris from work and we lined up at the start. Similar to last year, the event is a gun start, so the closer to the start line the better it will be. At this time there was a light rain that was holding steady. The temperature was better, the rain was making feel good, but we were waiting for some time for the start of the event. I believe there was something happening with the start timing system or something while we were waiting for the start, because the event was basically delayed for about 15 minutes. So an extra 15 minutes of getting soaked and wet to start the race. At least it was cool rain to keeping the temperature down.

At the start, everybody went out fast, so I follow. With the course being a street course and very wide road, I kept a strong steady pace of 7:37 minutes per mile, following a few runners and keeping other in my sight gaining on them very slowly. Since the route does not really have any big hills, just some rolling ups and downs, it was easier to keep the pace for all 4 miles. Grabbed some water at mile 1 1/2. Around mile 2 1/2 my stomach was not feeling 100%, not necessary bad, but it was letting me know it was there. I grabbed water again around mile 3 at the water station, washed my mouth with it and threw the rest out. Around mile 3 1/4 I started to cough a little, like my throat was itching a bit, bugging my cadence a bit. As I turn into the school premises toward the track portion of the event, last 500 meters, I pressed on the pace, about 6:30 pace for a good strong finish.

At the end my stomach was very upset, to the point that, after I grabbed a water bottle I could not find a trash can fast enough. After a couple minutes and washing my mouth with water, I was feeling much much better. I looked at my time and I was off about 35 seconds to come in under 30 minutes. I was very happy with my performance and the event. I grabbed some more water, talked to Chris for a while and went out for a 1 mile warm down.

Happy Fourth everyone.

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{f1}Month/Year;;;{f1}Event;;;{f1}Location;;;{f1}Type;;;{f1}Time;nn;
Jul-16;;;Four on the Fourth;;;NC;;;4M;;;30:53;nn;
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Event Highlight & Learning Points;nn;Highlights:

Course: Great start, ample roads and nice finish area at the School track area. Great ample road right of the start and for the entire course. Two water stations well manned.

Venue: At finish, lost of watermelons, water and I believe I even saw some coffee.

Expo: No Expo

Weather: Rain and overcast, 68º with 94% humidity.

T1D: Sugars borderline high at the start. Remained high during the event made a minor adjustment around mile 2.

Fueling:

      Pre-Race: 1 serving Hot Cereal and Latte. Banana an hour prior the start.

      Race: Water at the water stations.

      Post: Water and normal lunch.

Learning Points:

• Even fun event can drive fast paces.
• Need to be careful what I eat prior to event and during the night.
  

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