As a running coach, I am definitely much harder on myself than I am on my athletes. I don’t mean that from a physical/workout perspective; no, more so from a mental/emotional perspective. For some reason, I have this crazy notion that because I am supposed to be a running expert, I should PR each race I run & I should place in my age group at each of those said outings. That’s ludicrous. I am neither elite, nor even sub-elite—this I know & would never assume otherwise. I am an everyday person who sometimes, has good race days & sometimes, bad race days.
The beauty of becoming an established runner is the appreciation that comes over time with each less & less common PR. During the first 2-3 years of running, I would PR at nearly every race—simply because I was gaining race experience & I was training with more base mileage being established. Those PRs, I did not work as hard for & they were not as coveted. Nowadays, when a PR comes, it was HARD WORK & very much appreciated—never ever taken for granted! Enough about that—but before I move on to the races, if you gleam anything from this recap, just remember to savor every PR you earn!
That being said {spoiler alert}, I did not intend to PR {& didn’t} at either of the races I ran this month. Would that have been nice? Sure thing. Was it realistic to expect? No way. I have learned over the last 5+ years of running that I am NOT a hot/humid weather racer. I would MUCH rather run fast when it’s 30-40 degrees out, rather than 60-70 degrees out. Again, the beauty of running, it takes all kinds. I am always uber impressed with runners who can go out & PR at a race like the VA Beach Rock ‘n Roll half marathon!! Pure insanity.
On to the recaps—this month I ran 2 races. One was planned & the other was impromptu.
Two weeks ago, I spontaneously decided, about 48 hours prior to race time, to run the Lee’s Friends Run on the Wild Side 5K. After learning that the following quote is their primary mission, I was sold. “To offer person to person help and needed emotional and practical support to cancer patients and their families who are facing the crisis of diagnosis and treatment of cancer.” In case you missed it in a prior blog post {you can read here}, my mother was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. She would ultimately undergo the first of many surgical procedures for this diagnosis, about 48 hours after the race was completed. Cancer can kiss my you-know-what!
Race morning began with overwhelming fog—to the point where I could not even see the water as I traversed a bridge, en route to the race. Since the race started about 2 miles from my house, I jogged over to save some fuel & get my warm-up in. Double bonus! I arrived just in time to register, talk to some friends, & then toe the line. Once we got started, I was surprised when I looked at my watch & saw 6:xx during the first half mile. Slooooow down, girlfriend! The rest of the race I kept the pace in the 7:35-7:55 range. It was a humid day with 88% humidity {dew point 63-ish}, so naturally not PR-type conditions! My goal was to just finish in 23:xx. Mission accomplished—official time: 23:57 (7:42/mile). This time earned me 2nd place in the 30-34 age group & I ended up being 8th female overall.
On to race #2 for the month—the Elizabeth River Run 10K. This race was held today, on a gorgeous 72 degree day in Hampton Roads, with only 38% humidity {dew point 45-ish}. Easily, PR kind of conditions. However, my body had other plans today. Anyone seen my mojo?! I’d like it baaaacccckkk. Ha!
Leading up to this race, the distance had changed multiple times. Earlier in the week, they deemed the sea wall unsafe & dropped the distance to a 6-miler, in order to cut out the precarious part. Then, with help from the city police department, they re-created a route that equaled an official 10K distance. However, on race morning, the navy alerted the race director that a medical evacuation via helicopter was necessary for 6 soldiers at the naval hospital. The route had originally run us by the helipad. Naturally & of course understandability, this portion of the race course was omitted from the route. Per the official results, this dropped the 10K to a 5.7-miler {my Garmin however showed even less mileage}. None of this even matters. What really matters is that a great race was held & I sincerely hope those soldiers are going to be okay!
The ERR today was one of the harder races I have done lately. Overall I felt blah in the days leading up to the race. I woke up on race morning & didn’t even want to run. Maybe it’s the weather changes. Or dehydration. Or just overall fatigue. Or aching only women can understand. Or, it could just be the half a tub of gelato I ate the night before! All of this doesn’t matter either though & I’m definitely not making excuses. I too am allowed a sub-optimal race day {or so I told myself!}. With the “bad” race performance today, I also learned/realized/remembered a few things: 1) even when I think I am drinking enough water, I probably am not, 2) I really need to resume my strength-training {I haven’t attended Stroller Strides in a month!}, 3) my drop in mileage over the last few weeks probably negatively affected my race {May is absolutely the busiest month for us…. every.single.year}, & 4) sometimes it is just nice to run a race & not race a race—you usually enjoy the scenery much more.
With that said, my Garmin time was 45:12 for 5.54 miles (8:09/mile); however, the official time read 45:20 for 5.7 miles (7:57/mile). I think my watch pace is more accurate—I definitely was not sustaining sub-8s during the entire race!! Heck, one time I looked down & saw 8:27, although it felt like a 6-minute mile. This time put me 9th in my age group—which I am 150% okay with!
If you made it this far, GREAT! If not, the cliff notes version is:
- I ran 2 races in May, with neither resulting in a PR
- Even without PRs, I have learned a lot about myself as a runner
- Wintertime running is my happy time & the only time I usually PR
Momma runner friends Kerry & Kara (with their pretty girls) at the Elizabeth River Run
Up Next For The Running Blonde: In June I have a 5K planned with the local twins group & then, my favorite annual race—the CHKD Run/Walk for the Kids 8K!
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