Life's Like That

First, thanks to the support I received from everyone! I got a lot of encouragement and it's great to know so many people believe in me & are behind me. A lot of people have pointed out "7th place out of 160 in your category! Why are you complaining?" And I answer that while the placement is nice, I'm ultimately competing against myself. If I had run a sub-25min but come in dead last in the race I would have been thrilled. But running a disappointing race leaves me...well, disappointed in myself.

Onwards to today! We had 5x 100m reps and 100m recovery followed by 3x1k splits with a 1k recovery jog in between. My legs felt quite leaden this morning so I wasn't expecting much. I kept to the 26sec pace my coach had set me for the 100m reps.
For the 1k splits, I was given a time of 4.48min/km. I was curious to see how I'd go. I had struggled so much in Sunday's 5k race and this morning I was definitely feeling more sluggish than before. Actually, it felt like someone had injected my legs with lead overnight.
I joined a couple other gals who were about my pace (or rather, slightly faster) and off we went. And in a twist that life gives you, I ran every 1k rep faster than I can remember. My split times were:
4.41 / 4.42 / 4.38
And I was slowing it down so I didn't burn myself out. In other words, I could have gone faster than what I did. It would have been interesting to see how I would have held up after 5 or 6 reps. Maybe I would have crashed and burned, but maybe I would have kept the consistency.
But still, for feeling so much worse today, I ran so much better! Life's funny like that, sometimes.

Discombobulated

The Big Race Day. Today was a "test race" to see how I'll go end of August at Sunshine Coast 5k (if I'm not called into work and can actually race!).
What can I say? While I'd like to say...

I guess I should try to stay positive and call it instead a "learning experience".
My friends & family have very kindly rallied behind me and offered me all sorts of excuses as to why I ran so much worse than I had wanted. But there is really no way I can weasel out of this.
I wasn't injured.
It wasn't (super) hot or humid.
I had slept average the night before.
I wasn't ill, or getting ill, or getting over being ill.

Chris & I travelling to the start and posing before the 5k map before we started out races.



In fact, I got to the start-line feeling more than capable of running an awesome race. My A-goal was sub-24.30 and my B-goal sub-25min. All faculties were fully functional and I had been getting butterflies all week in anticipation of how awesome this run would be.







Flustered from the start (you can see me towards the left of the screen)





And then it wasn't.

My coach had kindly suggested I start with a 4.55min/km and then get faster the second half, aiming for a sub-24.30min. It seemed so easy. I knew I was more than capable. After all, the first couple k's of a race I'm so full of energy and excitement I usually have to slow myself down! And after training so hard I had expected - as per usual - that keeping the pace to 4.55min for the first two km of the race would be a breeze. But for whatever reason, today it was a struggle from the first minute.
 The gun went off and I was flustered to find my trusty (or not so trusty) gps watch wasn't working. Again.
I re-set it, but unfortunately the gps then took a while to pick up, meaning that I had no reliable watch to use until I got my bearings via the km markers.
Yes, those handy little markers that every race has for runners who don't have a working gps watch. I didn't see the first km marker and was starting to stress out that we wouldn't have any. My inward state of discombobulation continued.
But fortunately the second km marker was there, as were all the others, and I felt my inner mathematician relaxed. Now I could calculate out a race pace!




Passing by my lovely support crew, race photographer, & friend David at about 1.5km into the race. I was still trying to get my head into the right space.

Kudos to the crowd - one of the best race crowds I've experienced! People were cheering for me and calling out my name throughout the course. No, they weren't psychic - my first name was  printed onto my bib in big bold letters.

At the 2nd km marker I was sitting at 9.55min. And I was exhausted. Instead of having to hold myself back these first 2k (as I'd thought I would have to do), I found myself having to push harder just to keep a 5-min pace. Then we hit the bridge. AKA, uphill. Because my race wasn't already going down the drain, it was time to hit me with a hill!
I'd like to say I dug deep. I'd like to say I found a way through the pain and pushed hard to have a WIN at the end of the race. I wish I could say that I triumphantly conquered the odds and met my goals with a smile on my face.
But then this would be a work of fiction.

Despite my best attempts, I slowed down. A lot.
To say I was disheartened would be an understatement. Running wreaks havoc with my emotions, putting me towards the extremes. (I hear it's true of lots of physical exercise). I was not disheartened - I was devastated. Thoughts of giving up danced through my mind. But I sucked it up. And I kept running.
At the 3k mark a fellow runner in my category had passed me. I let her go, as it was all I could do to put one foot in front of another. Going up on the bridge I noticed I'd closed the gap between us, but I was still too far back - and too close to giving up on myself - to give it much thought. But on the downhill side of the bridge I knew I had to give it my all.  That despite it all - because of it all - I still had my signature "sprint" finish. When we came down from the bridge that second time, I knew the finish line was just around the corner. So off I sprinted and left that gal in the dust. I nearly ran over a few kids doing the 2.2k (it had started 15min after our race) but they were so spread out no mishaps occurred.

Watch out, kids! I'm about to barrel you over! I am no one's friend in a race.

 

  I passed through the finish line in 26.09min. Not even close to my goal time. For those into math, I was nearly 15sec/km slower than my B-goal. David caught a photo of me at the end that I think sums it all up...

Slightly Bored

7k endurance run. Not much to say about this one. I didn't feel like getting up before 5am to run with the group, so I opted to sleep in and go on my own.
Positive: sleep in!
Negative: running on my own.
Once I got dressed it wasn't so hard to get out the door. But the trouble was continuing on for 7k. I did a couple of loops rather than one big out and back. At first my mind was churning over with so many thoughts I was very appreciative for the time to sort things out in my head.
But after a while I found myself glancing at my watch, wondering when it would be over. Clearly, I didn't have a lot of thoughts to sort this morning!
Next run will be my 5k race on Sunday. My A-Goal is a pb (24.40) and my B-Goal is a sub-25min. Wish me luck!

Race Prep Decisions

Although this upcoming race on Sunday is more a "test" race to see how I go for my actual race, I'm getting quite excited about it!
Today I had 6x 200m reps at 52sec each followed by a 20min jog. The goal of the reps was perfect form rather than speed. It was a great feeling to have to hold back. And maybe it is just me, but my form felt fairly awesome during the reps! Maybe I'm meant to run at that speed...ha ha ha ha!
Afterwards, my mind kept churning on a race plan. Last time I ran a pb I did it semi-sans-watch. So as I see it I have two options before me:
1) I ignore my watch and go by feel, which will mean pushing myself hard right from the start, then gritting my teeth and holding on. (This is how I got my last pb).
2) I set up a pace plan and stick with it. As my goal is a sub-25min and my pb is 24.40, my plan would be to start with a 5min km and get progressively faster.
Decisions, decisions!

Beach Run

Work had me up on the Sunshine Coast this morning. Specifically, Coolum Beach. I was excited when I found out I was also scheduled for a 5k recovery run.
Slow, easy run on the beach? Yes, please!
The day before it had been raining, but the weather this morning was beautiful! Although I didn't bring my camera (this pic is of the day before), trust me that there were just a few clouds in the sky.
As I ran along the beach, I watched the sun rise over the ocean.
I couldn't help but grin. It is days like this - runs like this - which make me lucky to be alive, lucky to be here, lucky to be able to run.
It was a glorious and humbling run, and I thanked God for every step of it.

Coolum Beach. I didn't want my run to end!

Orienteering

In a sense, trail running is a multi-disciplinary sport. It involves running, walking, climbing, tripping, and the occasional orienteering. Yep! I got lost.
The only real shocker is that this didn't happen sooner. There have been many times when the group has darted ahead and leaving me to run solo at the back of the pack. But fortunately there have always been official or unofficial "sweepers" to check on my progress (and the progress of any other turtles in the pack), and the group has been pretty good at stopping at major intersections to ensure all runners know where to go. Besides which, I always carry a map of unfamiliar trails. Just in case, you know?
This last run was more of a comedy show than a serious run for me. Good thing we were all laughing!
To start, our fearless leaders of the day were...well, a little bit lost. I think we stopped twice (or maybe three times) within the first 3k. And this became a common sight...

Which way is north?

But with no trail head signs, it's an easy mistake to make! Still, the group as a whole decided to rib our leaders as much as we could. And we were all having a great time! I especially was grateful for the number of stops we had - what a great run to catch my breath and have a drink! There were lots of new faces and old faces that were new to me, since I hadn't really talked to them yet. So I spent a lot of the time yammering to the others. The atmosphere of the group was energizing to be around.

Not all of our breaks were because we were lost. At the top of a big hill, this was merely a rest stop.

The trouble began at around 7k. A few of our runners fell behind. We waited at an intersection for them, until everyone took off. I felt guilty about leaving people to get lost, but I didn't want to get lost myself so I pushed on. When I spoke with another runner, I found out he was familiar with the area and we came up with a plan: he'd wait to make sure the others made it to the intersection, while I kept going and would stop at the next intersection to point out the way.
In theory, it worked! In practise however, we hadn't considered a small factor...in taking the time to set this up, we had fallen behind the troupe! I waited at the second intersection as promised. My fellow runner came up and informed me that the others weren't coming - he figured they'd taken a short-cut to catch up with the group at another point.
No problem! We rounded the corner and came to a third runner standing at another intersection. But the trouble was she had no idea which way the group had gone. It appears that this particular intersection was over-looked as a potential point of confusion. Bummer.
We called out a few times but didn't get a response (not that we expected any). My fellow runner who knew the Toohey Forest trails suggested we go left. Having no idea where we were at all, the other gal and I quickly agreed. So long as someone could lead us back to the cars, I really wasn't fussed how we got there or how long it would take.
We soon hit the road - a prime spot to meet up with the group.
Only they weren't there. Hmmm.
Our guide suggested we go up another trail to give it a try, so off we went.
It dead-ended. Hmmm.
The only option was to back track. At this point I think all of us had figured that we should have gone right instead of left.
We started back and just as we came to our last intersection (where the trail hit the road), I saw the familiar red-orange shirts of my fellow Brisbane Trail Runners. Success!!!

Like a bright beacon of hope, the red-orange trail running shirts are hard to miss

There were a few happy cheers as we were all reunited (and yes, the other runners we had initially waited for had taken a short-cut and met up with the group before us! Ah, well.) And of course, a little bit more teasing to our fearless leaders - who apparently hadn't noticed there were some crew missing.
It was a fun adventure. If I had been alone and lost I may have been a bit stressed - but I'm careful to take a map with me.

 Group shot!

In the end, I don't regret asking others to wait with me for some of the slower runners. First, because the group is awesome! Everybody is in it together and nobody minds hanging back for the slower among us. And second, because I've been a slower runner - I'm still a slower runner, and I know what it's like to be left behind.

Run with Joy

On today's schedule was a 5k recovery run. That is, a "very easy" run. Fantastic! I considered sleeping in and going it on my own, but Park Run is such a jovial event and is a sure way to not cut myself short on the 5k. Not to mention we get photographic evidence that we were actually running! Today I was not militant about my speed...unless I was going too fast. I was not militant about my posture...but it is still an area of focus.
Instead, I wanted to feel the heat of the sun on my face burning off the morning chill. I wanted to hear the focussed breathing of my fellow Park Runners as they struggled to achieve their goals. I didn't so much want to smell the sweat from the other runners, but fortunately we were spread out and there was a gorgeous breeze so I didn't have to (for the most part).
Today, I wanted to run with joy. So I did.