Discipline Plateau: Santa Cruz 1/2 Marathon

Since starting the Discipline Off in January I've set 2 personal records in my running (1/2 and Full marathon PR's) by a pretty wide margin. Coming into the Santa Cruz 1/2 Marathon on April 10th, I was hoping to run somewhere around 1:23 (2 minutes faster than my PR set in February at the Kaiser 1/2).

I did not PR and was totally humbled in the process.

I ran a good race --- 1:25:07, a single second shy of my PR. While I think the course was tougher than the Kaiser 1/2 (rolling hills, some trails, had to dodge slower 10k runners for the last 3 miles --- exemplified in the picture), I still think I needed to realize that I can't go out and PR every single race I run in. My legs feel a bit tired from the Napa Full (ran that a month ago), and I've also been eating a lot of almonds and dates (not great from a calories perspective). I could also do myself a favor and get more rest. I'll still stick to the running and eating plan --- I just need to keep in mind that gains won't be as easy as before.

And now that I've talked about the self-indulgent 'state of Farooq's running', let's talk about my indulgent break day which immediately followed the 1/2. I totally wrecked my body by eating:

1 Muscle Milk post race

Salmon Fish and Chips from Seabright Brewery (this place is kickass, recommend it if you visit SC)

3 twinkies (a typical post race tradition of mine)

6 Kara's cupcakes

1 Double double from In'n'Out

1/2 a Cheeseburger from In'n'Out

1 Order of Animal Fries from In'n'Out

1/2 of a single-layer carrot cake (sadly the double layer was sold out, which was devastating)

1/2 bottle of pepto bismol <---- desperately needed this

Yes, it was disgusting. And it was awesome. Even the pepto tasted kinda good. I paid the price for the next 2 days (My gastrointestinal tract didn't appreciate it), but hey, I'll do it again next month. Until then, I'll just have to stand close to people who are eating sugary foods, stare at them, and breathe heavily while they eat something I can't have. Perfectly normal behaviour.

Food Porn