On Saturday I got up for parkrun not sure how I was feeling - I contemplated trying to smash it, then I wondered about running my average time and then I thought about running with my friend Michaela who was pacing 30 minutes. In the end I ran naked (without my watch) and just went for it, trying to stay ahead of the 25 minute pacer. This resulted in a massive 21 second PB and an only very slightly frustrating time of 24 minutes dead. I spent the rest of the day feeling smug and like my training was paying off!
On Sunday I had a local 10 mile race planned- according to my plan I had to do 10 miles anyway so thought I may aswell use the race as a training run. 
(Testing out different fuels)
My legs felt a little heavy after the previous day's PB and it was warmer than I expected, but I started well - I maintained my target "race pace" of 9 minute miles (which would get me under 2 hours for a half) until about 6 miles, but suddenly the wheels fell off. I've never suffered quite so badly in a race before - the combination of a tough course, warm weather and tired legs plus messing up my fuelling strategy meant I ended up with stomach cramps wondering if I was even going to finish. Usually I love local races but this one ended up being quite lonely- it was clearly a popular club race and I was much further back than I usually am which meant that for most of the race I was on my own. I stopped at the water station at 8 miles and it was a real effort to get going again. I stopped at the bottom of a hill with the 9 mile marker at the top and leaned over with my hands on my knees wondering if I was going to be sick. Runners who had already finished started driving past me and I briefly considered flagging down the St Johns Ambulance that was driving the course. Ultimately however I dug in and kept moving. My 90 minute target was long gone but I stumbled across the line in 95 minutes. I felt awful but knew that I'd won the mental battle and that that would stand me in good stead for future races.
Once I'd recovered I vowed to do a few things differently, including not running hard at parkrun the day before a race!
Have you ever had a really bad race? What did you learn?
Well done on finishing what sounds like a really tough race. Maybe the PB the day before had taken more out than you'd thought? I often find running hard over a 5k distance tougher than a longer run as I'm trying to go - almost - flat out! Hope you're feeling better now!
ReplyDelete