We did a little shopping Friday and Saturday.
Our plan was to lay low Saturday since our race time was 9 pm. We had never ran a night race but had ran at night. My hubby and I neither one really knew exactly what to eat all day or what we should or should not be doing. It was just so different than the day before a race we normally would have. Getting up and running a race first thing in the morning doesn't leave a whole lot of time for nerves to build. Waiting around all day long on race time there was a lot of time for pre race jitters (at least for me!).
I managed to get in a 2 hour nap before having to wake up and get myself dressed and ready to go. I think the nap was what I needed to revive myself. I had (or am) been dealing with a summer cold and I just knew that was going to hinder my running a lot but I tried not to let it bring me down too much.
As I said before I had hoped to make it under 33 minutes but anything under 33:58 would be a PR and a PR is great. Right!?! Right. So, as always I told myself it is a new course and the time of day is different than I am use to running in as was the weather...do your best and give it your all.
I could have done a little better and there were times I was running to fast and instead of pulling my pace back to a slower run I stopped and walked just a few seconds to catch my breath. I am ok with that but I really wish at those times I had picked the pace up and just kept running harder. I have been reading the book "Run Like a Mother" and had gotten to the chapter about mental toughness. Man, how I wish I had read that chapter BEFORE my race instead of after!!! A lot of great advice in that chapter (and pretty much the entire book). If you haven't read it, you should. Or maybe if you wait around long enough someone in blog land (ahem) might do a give away featuring said book. ;)
Me pre race.
And my hubby, who remembered his shoes this time!
I am so thankful to have him by my side (at least for the start) and waiting on me at the finish line.
Like I said, the race started at 9 pm. The sun was just barely setting at that time. The course was flat and fast. It was an out and back type course, which we both found we aren't really big fans of. I prefer a change of scenery when I am running. Down and back kind of has a sense of dread..does that make sense to anyone? lol
My hubby finished in 30:39. I forgot my watch at home and therefore was bummed to not have it on my run. I like to have it so that I can keep up with my time and see at what point I need to kick it up a notch and push harder. It was hard to not have it. Boo. I came to mile one at 10:05 and new I was doing really well. I guess I slowed down a bit because I got to mile 2 at 21 minutes. From that point I knew I need to just keep running and the end would soon be in sight. I kept thinking I would see the clock and would just push really hard. When the clock came in sight I swear it was so blurry I couldn't have seen the time it read if I had been on top of it! This bummed me a little because normally if I see the clock and it is close to my goal time I really push hard and sprint to the finish. This was not the case last night.
When I finally could see the clock it read 33 minutes and some seconds so I pretty much knew I did't make my goal of under 33 but knew that I had PR'd so I honestly didn't push hard and sprint my way to the finish. Shame on me! I don't even know what I was thinking as I came into the finish but when I found my hubby and he told me my time I was slightly bummed. I know a PR is great but still I wanted to PR by more than 15 seconds! lol Hubby said he thought I finished somewhere around 33:45 but had heard someone from the timing crew say there was an issue with some chips not picking up....
Post race and still smiling!
They gave ice towels at the end. Let me tell you what a nice treat that was after a hot and sticky race! I loved that. Hubby chose not to take a towel and I was sure to let him know what he missed out on! haha
We went to a late dinner after the race and made it home around 11:30. I thought I was going to be worn out and ready for bed as soon as we walked in the door. WRONG! I ended up not falling asleep until well after 3am! Whoa. I guess that's what I get for a late evening nap and lots of caffiene late in the evening!
This morning when I woke up at 9:30 I went straight to the computer to see the results.
And that is where the disappointment set in.
Apparently, I was one of the lucky one's that had a messed up timing chip. Boo. My time is no where to be found on the results page. I know I PR'd though and that makes me feel better. But you better believe I emailed the track club and let them know I was disappointed.
I do want to say that I did have fun and I am proud of my accomplishment. Every race I run makes me realize how much I truly love running and makes me want to push harder to go father. And I love sharing my experience with you guys!
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