Race Day Recap

I've been disabled without my computer for a few days but I did write up my race day blog on Thursday.
It starts with a list of my food for the day, since food intake on race day is imperative.
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POST FROM 7/21
RACE DAY FOOD INTAKE

Breakfast
1/2c Oatmeal
1 Spoonful AlmondButter w/flaxseed
1 Handful of Blueberries
1 Banana     1 Plum
FRS Orange powdered drink mix in 24oz water

Snack
2c Water
1 Chocolate Brownie CLIF Bar
1 FRS energy bite

Second Snack
1 MetRx Chocolate Roasted Peanut
1/2L Water

Pre-Race/ At EXPO
1 Fruit Sample cup
          5 pieces of pineapple and 2 grapes
Few sips of coconut water
Few sips probiotic water
FRS Orange powdered drink mix in 24oz water
1 Banana

Post Race
1/2 Cinn Raisin Bagel
1/2 Plain Bagel
2 Bananas
1 VitaCoconut Water
1/3 Orange

Dinner/Snack
Few bites Annies Cheeseburger Mac&Cheese without Burger
2 pieces angus hot dog
1/2c Rootbeer
2c Water

I prefer morning races with a mostly empty stomach, so with a night run looming I ate my typical oatmeal breakfast then tried to snack mindfully the rest of the day.
I'm a huge fan of banana's, in case the list didn't make that obvious enough, so they are my snack of choice. I know that my optimum active day calorie intake should be somewhere around or past 2000 calories. I'm not actually sure if I achieved that.
(Via the internet and lots of reading on the subject I've found that my body needs about 1700 calories just to keep itself running with how active I am, any time I add in a long run, or in this case a race, where I'm pushing myself above and beyond I have to add more. How many more I've also factored via the internet and it obviously depends on the activity at hand. I encourage anyone looking to become active or even just in general, to fact your bodies needs since they clearly aren't going to be the same as mine.)
My primary food focus was a balance of carbs and protein with a higher amount of electrolytes (sodium, b vitamins, anything I would lose through sweat) and a slightly higher focus on pre-race carbs than my average day. Race Day (Thursday) was anticipated to be the hottest all week, and with that in mind I planned to sweat more than usual and knew I needed to stay hydrated. I was also going to be standing in the sun for over an hour before the race started, so my food choices needed to be portable, simple and water dense. I was also limited by having class prior to the start of the Expo.
Certainly, under ideal conditions I would have eaten more whole foods, but since this is the blog of an active (hectic) life things are often time and circumstantially constrained.
In these circumstances CLIF bars are my go to. The MetRx I just had around, it had a lot of carbs so I placed that closer to race time. I'm not actually sure I was happy with that decision, or of course the post race splurge of junk food chilling in my kitchen, but sometimes life happens.
Actually, I think I paid for it in a 3rd mile cramp from the extra protein overload...painful and not fun.
My experience with the cramp and unsatisfied feelings post race are why I should have tested. ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS test in race simulating conditions, test everything. Food, gear, timing. It's hard enough to have to change up the plan for the weather, like I did, but when you haven't tested you go in with a lot of anxiety that could have easily been reduced by having a plan and having experienced your plan.

time: 45.29 RACE FINISH = 5th Mile
 4th: 36.13
 3rd: 26.30
 2nd: ~~~~~17.31 ish (Didn't catch it)
 1st: 8.31

It was about 90 degrees, and only miles 2 through 4 had water stations and water hoses (they planned for the heat by dragging out water hoses to spray down contestants as they ran by, that was my favorite part of the whole day), and while refreshing the two things slow you down as you stop to drink the water and such, so my first and last mile were my fastest, but also the two hardest. In that kind of heat taking the time to slow down was much needed and by race end I wanted to fall over. The water stations and sprays might have made me slower but they were absolutely necessary and if they had one in the first and last mile I really would have been thankful since the last mile was absolutely excruciating.
Of course, the feeling of the last quarter mile where you pull out all the stops, and I dead sprinted to the finish, is always worth the pain.

There is nothing quite like passing the finish line.