SIDE NOTE: Thanks for the suggestions. I'm new to blogging...so I'm learning how to do it from reading other blogs. Sorry!
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| My new Curves moisture wicking tank! |
A week later, and here it is...
*It's kinda lengthy...sorry! But tons of fun pictures!*
I woke up Friday really stoked for the race.
That night, after work, I totally had the tummy butterflies. I couldn't sit still, so I just kept stretching and pacing.
I had a small meal that filled me. I couldn't eat all of what you see, so my hubz helped me out ;). I was told to find foods that don't aggravate your system, find what works and stick to it...nothing new on a running day. So I had a few chicken nuggets, fried rice, and some corn. Water, water, water...all day long. As far as food goes, this meal settled well for the race...no problems....so this meal is going in the "race day" prep book!We arrived at the golf course to find that there were only 20 participants. Not what I was expecting, but it was an added bonus that we knew so many of the people! Wells L and her spring into training group was there. We were adopted into their group photos.... :D
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| Awesome group! |
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| So many smiles! Guess NONE of us had a clue as to what was coming!!! :p |
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| T and I before our FIRST RACE EVER!!!! |
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| Me and the hubs. He's an awesome supporter! He walked the entire course to take pics of us and cheer us on!! |
So that's the pre-race stuff. Since this race was age and gender based, we didn't leave the starting line until 6 and a 1/2 minutes into the race. We started off strong (I have decided this was not our best decision, we tired out faster). Which, by the way, we usually don't start off that strong...did I mention that you're NOT supposed to do something new on race day?! We eventually got back into our intervals of 2:1. The hills weren't the problem, the worst part was the grass trails. They KILLED my ankles and I just couldn't bring myself to jog in it. T went ahead of me, jogging with the intervals. I tried to make up time every time we hit pavement again. Cross county style races are just not our thing. It's something T and I have agreed we NEVER care to do gain. Sucks that it had to be our first race and that it was such a difficult course. I actually reached a point where I told the hubs that I was re-thinking the mini we have planned to run(and is the basis for of our training we've been doing) since I was struggling so much with just these 3 miles!!! He encouraged me to just finish this race first. The route was pretty well marked, but we managed to get off course at one point and it ticked us off a bit....because that meant we had to leave the pavement and head back to the grass....boo! :(
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| Did I mention the mud?...yea...that made it interesting! |
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| Still going strong. |
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| This is a pre-race picture with T and her little girl A. Our after pics weren't this good looking! :) |
So here's the question for all of you that have experience with mini marathons....what's your pace plan? What happens when you feel like you absolutely can't jog anymore? What helps motivate you when you "hit the wall" during a race?
Great recap. The Half will feel so easy compared to this 5K - it was a killer for sure!!! When we can't jog anymore we walk through an interval so if we are doing 3:1 then instead of just walking that one minute, we'll walk the 1 + 3 + 1 and then return to the run on the next 3. We walked through A LOT of intervals during the Geist half. You can prevent physically "hitting the wall" by eating and hydrating properly. Now that you're on 8+ mile runs, you should consider adding chomps/gu/bloks/etc at mile 3 and 6 - that, in addition to proper eating throughout the day, will help you tremendously. As far as mentally "hitting the wall" - that's what your training buddy is there for!!!! It's about remembering the feeling you are going to have when you cross the line - it's about focusing on the bragging rights you'll have when you have the medal around your neck - it's about knowing that going far past your limit makes you a stronger person and that much like the army which breaks you down to make you stronger- that's really what a race does.
ReplyDeleteYou're doing great - keep doing what you're doing. Have confidence in the training you are doing. It's going to be enough - it's going to have you getting to the starting line, healthy and ready to crush the race!! And for what it's worth, when I run fast in 5K's I find them extremely difficult. You're right - stick to your plan no matter what - it's what you know, it's what you practiced - it's what you've become good at it.
Curious - with a week's rest, how are your shins feeling?
ReplyDeleteGreat recap... sorry you didn't like the XC race that much! I think I'd have a lot of problems running in grass, too!
ReplyDeleteWhen I hit some type of "wall" I usually focus on the music I'm listening to on my iPod or focus on the faces in the crows... anything to distract me from the task at hand.
Great job!
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