Going into race number 3 of the year, a 5-miler on Sunday, I thought it would be nice to break into the top 100. See, after placing 284th/6216 and 123rd/4007 in races #1 & #2 respectively, placing in the top 100 seemed like a logical next step. I also had this crazy idea that I would try to run a 6min/mile pace.
Crazy idea!!!
Not only did I NOT run a 6min/mile pace, I HAD to stop, walk, and catch my breath - just shy of the 4th mile marker!
Once I start a run...I don't stop until the run is complete. Even practice (non-race) runs. Even when I run with others as their pacer and they need a break...I keep jogging on the spot while I patiently wait on them to find their second - or third - wind.
I've stopped one other time...resulting from a combination of starting out too fast and an ankle injury. But this was before I had devised mental "tricks" and fail safes to keep the "when will the finish line show up" thoughts at bay!
On Sunday, my mental tricks were no match. The "counting to 100" didn't work. The "focus on nothing but my breathing and slowing it down" didn't work. The "looking down at one foot in front of the other" hypnotic spell didn't work. The "can I find a new pattern on my running shoes that I've never seen before?" didn't work.
My mental reserve took a big hit. I got tired...and so I stopped. And saw runners go by one after the other. After what felt like a good minute and a half at least, I caught another wave of energy and was able to sort of finish strong...but not without losing on a head-to-head sprint to the finish with another runner.
So, not one of my top performances, to say the least....but I quickly brushed off the experience (maybe too quickly as I didn't even look to see my finish time as I crossed the finish line). It helped even further to move on when the guy who had sprinted to the finish ahead of me came back to give me a fist-pump and to tell me that I'd been his pacer the entire way...and that when I stopped he was like "oh no, how am I going to maintain this pace". He concluded that he rooted for me to get back running again...for selfish reasons, of course, and smiled.
I smiled in return, because I would have done the same thing, if the roles were reversed.
Later on in the day, when my curiosity got the better of me, I went online to check the results and didn't quite believe what I saw:
A finish time of 33mins 44secs (6:45min/mile)...and placed 44th/4186 total finishers (9th/265 in my age group).
It appeared that what by all accounts seemed like a disaster of a race (at least in my head) turned out not to be so. I did break into the top 100 like I had envisioned for myself and though the 6:00min/mile pace is still a dream...it now doesn't seem like such a crazy idea anymore!!!
- Ayo Yusuf