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* Because I did not expect to go far in the race, i did not prepare in the way I would normally. I’d never intentionally be unprepared for a race, so this has been useful as an accidental experiment. It has shown me the value of some of the preparation.
** I did not spend time visualizing the race, the possible problems, the goals and the strategy. As part of this process, I store 'creative energy', spending time relaxing and meditating.
** Because I was focused on TLC on my foot, I did not spend time preparing my other [[Muscle|muscles]]. Normally I'd spend time in the few days before a race using the [[Foam Roller]], [[Injury prevention using 'The Stick'|the stick]] and the [[Thumper]] to make sure there are no issues.
** I did not prepare my gear as well as I should have. For instance, I know that my Garmin GPS only has 20 hour battery life, so I used my Polar, but I did not change the recording interval. Therefore the Polar only has a record of the first 16 hours.
* In most races there are emotional low points, but experience teaches that if you keep moving, they will pass. For this race, the emotional low was much deeper, darker and longer lasting than any previous race. I have no explanation for this, other than possibly the lack of preparation noted above.
* I only have a detailed record of the first 16 hours, but it appears that I was stopped for about 5% of the time. On a loop course like this, even a brief pause adds up. That 5% is about 40 minutes over 16 hours, but is only 24 seconds per lap.
==What went well==
* The course was good, being a 0.9859 mile paved loop that was lit at night. It is slightly rolling, which helps break things up and uses different !!Muscle|muscle !! groups. The weather was also kind, unlike the previous two years.
* A mid-race [[Massage]] of my left hip flexors helped keep them loose. I always have a problem with my left hip flexor, and I’m finding that I a few moments massaging them in a race seems to help prevent continuing problems.
* I did not drink as much of my [[Fellrnr's Go Juice|Go Juice]] because the cool weather did not require a lot of hydration. I used the ‘ad libitum’ approach of eating or drinking what appeals at the time, and that worked well.