Notes
Incredibly disappointing race. I was aiming for sub-19, but low 19s would have even been fine. In April, my 5k split during a 10k was 20:00, so I knew I could hit those times. Unfortunately, I had what is probably my worst race to date. I've had some time to think about it, and I'm going to list what I think went wrong so that I can try and avoid it next time.
To start, the actual route was never released. So going into this race I had no idea what to expect. It was a small race, so I knew I would be one of the faster ones there, yet at the start a bunch of little kids toed the line. Immediately from the get go I had to burst in front of the kids if I wanted to keep pace.
Coming off the start we made an immediate right, and it was uphill...the entire way to the halfway point. I kept expecting it to level off or even go downhill for a bit, but nope. Something else I didn't discover until I was there was that the entire race was on a path made of loose gravel. So going uphill on loose gravel meant that my feet were slipping with every step I took. It reminded me of running Montreal's icy winter roads. So for the entire first half of the race I was wasting a ton of energy just trying to maintain pace, and I couldn't even do that. Up until the very end of the race (when someone finally caught up and out kicked me) I had nobody in front of me to chase. I'm not the kind of person that can lead and hold the lead; I need people to pick off one by one.
So coming up to the halfway point there was an aid station with no signs. I wondered if this was the halfway point so I yelled ahead to ask if 5k'ers turn here. They clearly didn't expect us so soon, because they said no. So I kept going. Then they realized what I actually asked and called back to me "Wait what race are you doing?". When I put up my five fingers they quickly called me back. I literally slid to a stop in order to make a quick turn back to the finish.
By this point I was drained. Mentally, I knew I couldn't hit any of my targets and was already becoming disappointed in myself. Physically, it just seemed like I couldn't push anymore. Then, someone passed me in the final 500m and it turns out I did have a lot left in the tank, as I was able to make some progress on her.
My final time was something like 20:53, the same average pace I hit when doing interval workouts...including my recovery jogs. I know I am faster than this, but at the same time it's really disappointing. I got second overall and received a medal, which I am now calling my medal of shame.