Saturdays are race days....when I have one on the books I usually have a mixture of excitement and nervousness during week. This week was no exception as I prepared for a 10K road race. Normally I check up on the weather once or twice, this week, however I watched it like a hawk. Charlotte has been hit by some rather nasty storms complete with golf ball size hail recently. The weather peeps were not painting a good picture for the race. The officials even came up with a backup plan and sent it out.
Rain. Ugh. My last 10K road race had a steady rain. I knew that I could do the race in rain, but possible gusty winds and hail? What if that came in the middle of the race?
Interestingly enough I had several people ask me if I was still going to run. I must have crossed some invisible crazy person mark because it really didn't occur to me not to show up. I found this interesting as I can assure you last spring when I saw a runner in the rain I would think to myself "idiot". Hmm, actually when it is raining really hard I still think that. In the case of the race though, hey I picked up the shirt, I HAVE to go.
It turned out the weather was about like it was for my Greenville race. Wet but not too overwhelming. When I crossed the finish line it let loose for a few minutes, then it went light again. I did feel sorry for those half-marathon runners because I think they had it worse.
All in all my results were ok - I did not meet my target time. I struggled after mile 4 and a lot of that was mental. I do however need to carry my own water on these longer runs. The water stops are killing me and I live too much for them. I lose my rhythm (if i have it in the first place) and that's when that pesky voice is screaming WALK WALK I'm tired! So next time around gotta take my own. I also need to find better ways of beating that voice back with a stick!
Racefest gave us all medals which is cool because this is the only way I will get one. ;-)
I am collect quite the little stack of numbers though....
Next race is the Riverbound series 10K trail run. Lots of training before then....
It has been a little while since the update. Let's see if I can catch everyone up.
I completed the first race in the RiverBound series. It was an 8K trail and I did ok. Not great but ok. The weather was nice and there was no FACEPLANTing. Remember the goals people! After that race however I had to add a new rule that involved not passing out. Hello hydration and a little problem with anemia. Back on those supplements!
After the 8K trail I started to really struggle. It seems I get off plan when I go out of town or when work life gets more intense. I also was having a lot of allergy problems....and it was hard adjusting to the warmer weather. This is important because I felt like I was sliding backwards. Actually I was sliding backwards - numbers don't lie. As these races increase in distance, the bottom line is that you either make the commitment or you don't. According to Kelly the transition from 10K to the 15K is a huge step. If I had stayed in my current mindset, things weren't going to look good for me. I completed a 10K trail and wasn't happy with my time either. There were a couple people that actually quit after the first trail section but at least I finished.
All in all I had to take a step back. Last year at this time I was barely into physical therapy. I could barely stand to walk a lot or sit for a long time much less run. I have completed several 5k races, 8k races and even two 10K races. Not bad compared to last year.
Now is the time to commit to being serious about this RiverBound series. The next RiverBound trail race is in May- a 10K. With Kelly and all my other runner friends (Tom, Paul, Dave, Kirk) I can find my way for improvement. I'm armed wth a new training plan and am paying more intention to my diet.
Next up - 10K Racefest Road Race in Charlotte next Saturday.....Wish me luck.
