Meals and Miles: Carolyn's Brunch Blog

Summer Fast, Some are slow

July 20, 2010 at 11:40 pm 3 comments

I’ve been putting off blogging about Saturday’s run because a) I’ve been too lazy/busy and b) I was so embarrassed! After reading a recent “alanecdote” about the race, I felt so much better- Alan, not that you battled mentally with this race, but that I wasn’t alone in feeling a little crappy about it! Aren’t blogs wonderful?
I really hadn’t given much thought to the race until Alyson, Amelia and I got to Stanley Park Saturday am (early for a race for once! aka plenty of time to pee). More or less as soon as I crossed the start line, my heart wasn’t in it. There was nothing wrong with me. I’m not injured. I wasn’t on an awesome trip to NYC the previous week, or even hungover. Or again, injured. I just ran slowly. The whole run I just couldn’t shake that feeling of having yet to get in a good groove or rhythm. In the interest of full disclosure, because what good is a training blog if I’m not totally honest, here is the km by km breakdown. Thank you, Garmin, for shaming me into sharing this.

KM 1- 4:37- “hey, I should try to get my splits!”
KM 2+3- 8:33- “damn, I forgot to press lap at KM 2.”
KM 4- 4:49- “I can’t believe I’m not halfway yet.”
KM 5- 4:56
KM 6- 5:02- “I don’t care about this at all.”
KM 7- 5:07- “Why am I running slower than I do every Wednesday run club?”
KM 8- 5:15 <— what the heck? “Oh hey, Jason, and Kristine. And also Alan.”
KM 9- 5:20- ?
KM 10- 5:08

total time: 48:52.

This was such a bummer! But then, not even really. I was more mad at myself because I knew deep down I didn’t suck it up (princess) and try my best, that when it got hard, and hot, I just stopped running fast. Just call me Debbie Downer. The day wasn’t all bad though- Memes had a PB, as did Ken, and it was awesome to hang out with the whole crew and eat homemade cookies post-race. Congrats everyone!

Many ‘Lessons Learned’ from this one:
1. Alan and his buddy Scott Jurek are so right- the noise DOES destroy. That was a totally lame effort on my part and I have no excuses. I need to learn to turn the negative talk in my head OFF during a race (and training too!) and stop telling myself I can’t do it! This was something I struggled with in swimming as well, and a quote I love from my wise old coach JP- “Swimmers who think… SINK.”
2. Racing is hard! I think I have to stop thinking if it’s not marathon distance, it’s no big deal. Whatever distance you race is going to be hard.
3. Returning to Dave‘s ‘homework’ of taking a weakness and making it a strength… I thought it was hills all this time (and it still is), but even more so it’s FINISHING. DUH. Rereading my previous race recaps and looking at the above splits speak for themselves. How do you make yourself a better finisher/2nd half racer? Am I not fit enough? (ahem, Dave, we all know you read our blogs… what’s the answer?)

Moving on. Sunday was a lovely long run with the marathon crew, circling false creek and returning to the scene of the Summerfast crime in S. Park. We covered about 19k and our pace was ~5:20-30 with walk breaks (I left my Garmin running for a while back at the store, oopsie). It was such a beautiful day and I was so tempted while on the seawall to veer off course and take a little pacific dip. Next time? Great post-run ‘refuelling’ at the Regal Beagle as well. So great to have more brunch buddies.

Today was more MCAT maddness, and I ended the day with a lovely run in the dark on the sea wall, sans Garmin. It was so nice to just RUN and not think about pace or time, or crooked chicken-wing arms, and it felt the exact opposite of Summerfast (aka fun). I think sometimes I get a little too focused on what I think I should be doing, and forget that I run because it’s fun and it feels good. I’ve obviously been having a ton of fun with the clinic and training so far, but tonight reminded me what a great de-stresser and rejuvenater running is. Ok nighty night.

PS. What do people think about this? I think bullshit.

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/amateur/story/2010/07/16/sp-us-relay-medals.html

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