on my way to badass
Race Photos, I am on page 8, #306
Start- I hung back and there was no gun that I could hear (or siren, or air horn). The gang just started moving.
Mile 1-3 I paced behind a woman who seemed steady (once again), I passed her somewhere in mile 3. The course was very flat here. Just before the mile 2 marker there was a big dip. We ran down to the water stop and then up the other side. I got water and slowed down. It was a little steep on the way up, but not too bad.
Miles 4-5ish was all flat except where we went back through the same dip and water stop. I ended walking partly up the dip. After that all flat. I walked some and ran some. I pushed at the end. We finished across the parking lot of the schools. I managed to smile for the camera and not hit my Garmin until after my photo. Since I am a mom I got a flower with my water in the chute. That was a really nice touch.
Of all the things that may have affected my race I think weather was the main culprit. Also it was only 2 weeks after my first 10K. I also wonder if I mentally defeated myself. Live and learn. I think I do better when I'm coming off a program. I was just trying to maintain since the first 10K. I also don't think I will race during the Summer. My scheduled HM may be too early in the year (weather wise).
Comments please! What's your take on what went wrong?
Still waiting for the perfect race picture. 5K PR-33:52 , 10K PR 1:11:16, First HM 2:42:28
Why do you think you mentally defeated yourself? What was going on in your head?
Could be a lot of things going on to slow you down and make it feel difficult - sleep, food, hydration, heat, tired legs, starting too fast -- or just an overall not feeling it. I haven't had it happen in a race yet, but it happens on my long runs fairly often.
In any case, you were only a minute off your PR, it may just be that your PR race was a good day and this wasn't as good.
Ginny- I was NOT feeling it. I feel like that is a mental thing. I thought I was well hydrated, but really had to stop at the water stops. I'm probably missing something in the chemistry of hydration.
Barking Mad To Run
Sorry it did not go quite the way you wanted it too, StoneFence, but I think you did pretty good, especially considering you were mentally off.
You are somewhere back east, right? Well, just like cold weather gets to me because I'm not used to running in it, any type of heat change for you that is 'out of norm' for your season will probably get you. Even a few warmer degrees can make quite a difference for someone not used to it. That was probably on your mind and it affected you not only physically but probably also mentally cuz you were probably thinking "it's warm!" That can wear on your mind during the miles and what you sometimes feel mentally can sometimes affect you physically. When I am doing a warmer-weather run here in Texas, I do get good and hydrated before starting out, and also hydrate along the way; but, as for the heat itself, I just try not to think about it. Instead I try and keep giving myself positive thoughts - 'feeling strong; feeling good; everthing's going well" and so forth - and just ignore the heat by doing that and by also looking around a lot and enjoying what's around me, e.g., any type of scenery, or doing some 'people watching' as I move along, and also trying to spot things - like the game "I spy with my eye" - that will make me laugh, whatever it may be - a dog or cat playing, someone I see in some kind of odd clothing or costume, things that seem to be out of place, and so forth. To mentally beat the heat, it helps to have a vivid imagination, and I got no problem in that area, lol.
Of course you need to acclimatize too, so you might consider at least once a week doing one run that is your 'hot run' for the week. During Texas summer, I usually run in the early a.m. to beat the heat - although we still get to the 80s by mid-morning here in Texas - but once a week I will do a run after work when the temp is in the 90s. I find this helps me during the summer to get acclimatized and I then feel much stronger during my morning runs when it's cooler. That's what works for me. You just need to experiment and find your own personal "system" that will help you when you're out there to overcome both the mental and physical adversity you may get from time to time. Good luck!
"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." Theodore Roosevelt
Tried to post a photo. Little help please?
Hip Redux
Flikr won't allow remote linking, so the best you can do is share the link, I think! Clicky! (Nice photo!!)
Regardless of our individual capabilities, there is jogging, there is training, and there is racing. Racing is far and above the hardest of the three! Sure, running easy and training will prepare you for racing, but unless you do it enough it's just another world.
Also, 6.2 miles is not a joke when you are running at a race pace effort. I was ready for mine to be over this past weekend while standing in the starting corral! In fact, thinking about when it would be over is what got me through the stupid thing.
delicate flower
Stone, with your mileage, 10K's two weeks apart is a lot for your system to handle and expect your best result. Even for us higher mileage runners, it takes a good 4-5 days to feel normal again after a 10K race. Also, you just can't feel your best every single race. Some days you just feel sluggish. Any day you cross the finish line standing up is a good day though.
<3
Updated with link to pics.
Thanks all. I think there were multiple factors conspiring against me. Weather (no acclimation), time since last race (too soon) and mental toughness (I should have not broken down and walked, I should have ran a recovery pace when I got tired).
In spite of it all I had a good time. My race pictures are getting better, though they are not perfect yet
Also, you just can't feel your best every single race. Some days you just feel sluggish.
This.
SF, why no races all summer? One or two at least might help keep you sharp for the HM.
Congrats on doing your second 10K! Just 2 weeks after your first, on a warm day, and only a minute slower than your first sounds like a success to me! It does look really hot in those photos.
I think what I'm figuring out during racing is that when I feel like crap, that means things are going well. But we are so used to thinking that "feeling bad during a race= things are going badly" rather than "feeling bad during a race = we are pushing ourselves to the limit". I still can get into this mindset during a race where I start to feel bad and get discouraged and think I'm sucking up a storm, when really I just feel like I'm racing and I'm not used to that feeling.
Then there are those races that are nothing but joy and light feet and zoom zoom zoom. But I can't figure out how to replicate that feeling at all.
This. SF, why no races all summer? One or two at least might help keep you sharp for the HM.
I am not a heat person. I would probably die in Miami. Racing in Summer sounds like a crap shoot to me. I should never say never though. I may get the urge to race. My training plan calls for racing in place of some long runs. Some races may be hard to find (15Ks are pretty rare).
Z- It wasn't really hot. Just hotter than I was used to, and we hadn't seen that much sun in a long while. I managed to keep up my training over a brutal winter, but there is nothing that can prepare you for a sudden change in climate.
race obsessed
My race pictures are getting worse... DW has commented multiple times "Oh great now everyone knows what your O face looks like..."
hmmm...
As far as running/ racing in the heat. It sucks, it is hard, it can be demoralizing but the time spent is well spent and will pay off huge in fall racing weather.