500k Relay: Beached Pirate Day 3, Race #5: Toowoomba Cri

This was another race I had done before. But unlike Griffith Uni, I really like this one. The morning in Toowoomba was cool and the cri was a flat 3-loop course around the uni. There is a slight downhill going out from the start line and a slight uphill returning back, but hardly noticeable even for me.
I slept in until 3.40am today, but the big thing was that - unlike Friday night - I actually slept.
My legs were so sore and stiff from the day before that I told everyone that my warm-up would be in lap 1 of the race. But then I decided to bow to peer pressure and join the hoards of runners doing a warm-up jog.

Some of my fellow cri runners and I, all warmed up and set to go.

Waiting for the race start. We all looked like we had *bundles of energy and excitement*. It was there, but well contained at 4.45am.

We started off, and who did I see in front of me but the same gal from race #3. The one I'd passed in the second half of the race. As memory served, she was pretty fast in the start but burned out in the second half of the race.
But there was no time pressure on this race, and once again my Big Race would be my second race of today (and last race of the relay!). So I settled in comfortably behind her and kept my pace at "gentle".

At the end of lap 1 I was feeling pretty fantastic. So I kicked up my pace - just a notch - to pass the gal in front of me. I wasn't into the territory of "difficult" yet but I was feeling good and felt I could go a bit harder. It was a super short distance, after all!

My third and final lap I decided I was feeling terrific and I should just go for it. Again, not all out war against the race, but I could definitely kick it up into "difficult" for the last lap.

Total distance: 3.75km

Total Superhero time 2012: 19.04
Total Beached Pirate time 2013: 19.22

Average Superhero pace 2012: 5.04min/km (goal pace: sub-5min/km)
Average Beached Pirate pace 2013: 5.10min/km (goal pace: sub 5.20min/km)

But there is a difference between last year and this year. Last year I was going hard, trying to get a sub-5min pace. This year I was going easy, focussing on keeping the legs limber for race #6 rather than pushing to my limit first thing in the morning.
And this also marked the first race where my ankle didn't hurt at all. Not even a niggle to remind me it had recently been damaged!

 Flying into the finish

Going into this race, my coach told me this race would "make or break me". He was thinking about my injury and overall fitness, as was I. And I can say that it is absolutely true about this race. I had watched broken hearted over Friday and Saturday as some of my fellow runners struggled with injuries.
But I was one of the lucky ones. Day 3 found me getting stronger, better, faster.

Take THAT to my doctor who told me there was no way I could run this race. Take THAT to my little conscience of doubt nattering on my shoulder these past 7 weeks. It made me really confident going into race #6. There was nothing I could do about race #4 yesterday, but today had given me a fresh start and a fresh confidence.
For the first time since my injury, I had felt comfortable and confident running.