Saturday morning, we were all up bright and early. We looked like bumblebees -- the race shirts were golden yellow & we all had on black running pants! (I'll try to post a picture at some point). My game plan was to run the first mile and then do intervals (3 run/1 walk) for the remainder. They started the race 5 minutes earlier than posted, so we nearly missed the horn!
I started off at a slow comfortable pace. It seemed like the mile was inching along. I was beginning to wonder if they had the miles marked. I didn't realize it at the time, but I stopped about 100 yards shy of the 1 mile mark. I was frustrated with myself and then negativity began to creep in. I ended up walking the next half mile and then started intervals. I realized shortly after I started the intervals something didn't seem right with the timing. Sure enough - I looked down and my intervals were not set correctly. GRR! and more negative thoughts. I tried to keep an eye on my watch and do intervals the best I could and then gave it all I had for the end of the race.
My goal was to finish under 40 minutes. I finished at 41:36. More frustration and disappointment went through my mind. This was a hard race for me mentally - I expected to do better because the course is relatively flat compared to what I am accustomed to running at home. It wasn't until the last half mile or so that I decided to get rid of the negative thoughts and OWN the race.
In hindsight, I will celebrate --
- finishing strong after 2.5 weeks of not running & a time very close to my personal best
- enjoying the company of friends and be encouraged by them regardless of where each of us finished
- a time faster than last year's race -- nearly 8 minutes faster I think
How do you kick your "stinkin' thinkin'" to the curb during a race?
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