Sale 5 Mile - Race Day

Monday: I slept rather well for a pre-race night, perhaps due to a general lack of sleep anyway and fatigue from the weekend. Getting to the race by bus would mean changes buses (plural) and I insisted on a lift, so the other half and the kids accompanied me. We nearly got lost but found the park in time. It would have been nicer to have got there earlier, as I didn't get much of a chance to warm-up, busy registering myself with the organisers and trying to calm the kids down (who wanted to race with me...). I had emailed a fetchie last night to inform of my last-minute change of plans, and it was pleasing to see her to say hello. A very nice lady in her 60s, who I fmailed long ago in a fit of panic over my first race, and she has kept in touch ever since, always a kind and supportive fmail before a race. I spoke to some other runners too, very friendly people indeed. The race began on the athletics track and as the hooter went, the (mostly club) runners shot off and I was trailing in the distance. Luckily, my first race had been a club race and I expected this situation, and didn't feel too disheartened (the trick being, start at the back, so overtaking runners don't depress me, lol). I'm learning with each race the importance of focusing on running my own race. It was a very sunny day, strong winds though. I had new sunglasses and a bottle of SiS GO to sip (I am finding shades really help to focus the mind, away from the glaring sun, no hat today incase of overheating). Initial problems were twofold: music and shoelaces. My earphones refused to work properly, constantly cutting the sound, and after a a while, I gave up and, seeing I was so far from all runners, I switched the mobile's speaker on to hear the music. Before the first mile was up, my right shoelaces came undone, a problem I have never had and threw me a little - should I stop or keep going? I realised it was stupid to keep going, risking an injury, and so I swallowed hard, and let myself stop for a few seconds to redo the laces properly. Setting off again wasn't as difficult as expected, perhaps because it was so early on in the race. I was pleased that despite the stop to redo my laces, I did the first mile in 9 and a half mins. It was difficult in many places, the poor diet over the weekend and lack of proper training perhaps catching up with me. The course was flat at least, and rather scenic, taking place mostly in the park. My main annoyance was with the lack of race markings; despite race marshalls at certain points, there were turnings that were not manned nor marked out, and I very nearly got lost. I had to keep my head up (I often look down as I run) in order to see which way the runners were going, way in the distance. I often lost sight of them, which I am pleased did not bother me nor affect my running confidence. It felt good to have experience behind me, and feel confident and happy to run alone, not letting the fact the others were miles ahead worry me. In that respect, it was an enjoyable race for me. There was more crowd support than I expected, and it was so lovely to see smiling faces and hear their support. Towards the last 2 miles, I got closer to 2 runners ahead of me. I was just behind one and I kept myself in check, not overtaking rashly, sticking to going at a pace that had me panting like mad but a pace that would allow me to make the end of the race. I think the runner wasn't pleased with my music playing on the speaker and I did consider switching it off, but the runner in me urged to do what helped me, and forget about manners (does that make my inner runner a real bitch, lol). It felt strange to see mile markings, which I realised as I was puffing along, come along later than km markings. As the race neared the end, I planned on sprinting ahead of the runner, with anything my legs had left. However, the heat had clearly got to my head... as the crowds cheered, my eyes rested on a long strip of blue tape that seemed like the end of the track, and I sprinted, overtaking the runner... the crowds started going 'watch out, she's overtaking you' (damn biased crowd, hehe) ... as I neared the tape, 2 secs ahead of her, I realised that wasn't the finish line and there was a sharp left to take... the runner was older and wiser, and having run/fast walked the race, she burst into life too, knowing to turn left quicker than me... it was a race between us to the end... I gave it everything but that mistake cost me, she forged ahead faster, and her time was 1sec quicker than me... oh, the drama of it all! My time was officially recorded as 51mins 08secs, which delighted me, since my 'a' target was 54mins :o) I may have adjusted my 'a' target to 50mins, had I known earlier that I was definitely racing, so if that had been the case, I would have beaten my 'b' and been very close to my 'a'. Point is, I am pleased :o) It was lovely to see the kids cheering me on as I raced, and they enjoyed it. The goody bag was rather disappointing, I was already forewarned not to expect a medal, but I paid £8 for race entry and I get a plain pen, a capri-sun drink and a cereal bar? Just as well I was ecstatic over my race time! As usual, I basked in my selfish post-race glory, with Irn Bru and Ferrero Rocher :o) The legs ached in the evening but were fine. The main issue was blisters; I felt 'blistered' with a mile and a half to go, and when I got home, I discovered a blister above the right arch of my foot, and a 'blister on a blister' above the left arch. They had been uncomfortable during the end of the run but sipping GO to deal with the heat and listening to music helped me focus away from discomfort. I was pretty pleased with today. I came 127th out of 128, maintaining not being last (lol) and it is a great feeling to be approaching my birthday with 4 races completed, instead of 3. The body felt extremely tired, not so much ache-y, but really tired in the evening (though my mind was hyper with Bru). Doing 3 races in 3 weeks has been exhausting, constantly pushing to train harder for upcoming races. As much as I love running, I think I am going to enjoy the next couple of days off as rest. I feel pretty satisfied right now and am feeling happy about my progress so far. The next major goal is the Glasgow Half Marathon in September, but for now, chilling is the order of the day :o)