I’m so proud of J-A! We both ran the Lunenburg 5k race on Sunday (13th), and we both had great races. Admittedly, she’s a little bit disappointed with her time: she wanted to run under 35 minutes but got a 35:10 – however, according to her Garmin, the course was a bit long and she crossed the actual 5k mark at about 34:40. So, really, she not only crushed her previous PB by close to 2 minutes but she also achieved a very ambitious goal. Now, a Garmin record is not as satisfying as an official time, and I get that – but what makes me happy is that the whole thing has made her hungry for the 5k in Digby in August. And the funny thing is that she still says she doesn’t like running. I don’t really believe her anymore, though.
I felt great about my race. We lined up under sunny skies. There was some heat – close to 20, I think – but it wasn’t enough to seriously affect the race. The start was neat this year because they had a local girl sing the national anthem. Normally, I never get a chance to really focus while in the starting pack. Usually, I’m listening to the race directions or chatting with the folks around me. But during the anthem, I was able to go inside and focus on what I needed to do in the race – plus, it’s a neat feeling to listen to the anthem before the event – like the pros.
Anyway, when the horn went off, the front line of folks (me among them) rushed out to get a good position. Unfortunately, this meant a bunch of us went out a little too quickly, but that was my game plan – to be aggressive. I’ve learned this year that I haven’t yet developed the ability to surge or to switch gears in a race – or, at least, I haven’t learned to switch to a higher gear mid-race – I’m quite skilled at going slower! Once I’ve established a peak pace, my body doesn’t like to go beyond it – so I figured I’d establish a good pace early and then hang on for dear life.
I also made another tactical change this race to improve on my mistakes from the last one: I left my Garmin watch at home. In fact, I wore no watch at all – so I had to run without knowing what my splits were. It turned out that this was great – it meant I focussed entirely on what my body was telling me and on what was going on around me. I was racing – not just doing a timed workout. It sounds small, but that was a huge change for me.
So through 1k I had seeded myself in 4th or 5th place. I had passed N, who had burst out of the gate a little quick and was trying to rein it in, and I was ahead of my other training buddy A, which surprised me a little because he is definitely faster than I am (actually, N and A are both former varsity runners – N is a former AUS champion on the track and A is a former CIS champion – at their best, they are both a world faster than I am). I was running stride for stride with a young guy – and I was amused to see that someone had gone out with R, the eventually winner of the race.
Around the mile mark, the course starts climbing up a fairly nasty and long hill. This is where the race is decided every year: guys either go way too quick on the hill and spill their guts before reaching the top or folks fear the hill and climb too conservatively. This year, I went at the hill aggressively, and everyone behind me took it too easy. As I climbed, the young guy I was with fell back and A (who loves to climb) finally passed me. By the top of the hill, I was in 5th, and I couldn’t hear anyone right behind me.
Flying down the hill, I was tired, but I knew I hadn’t spent it all – I had run well – a rare thing for me. After the downhill, there’s a long flat stretch, and I tried to relax and open up my stride. I watched as the 3rd and 4th place guys chewed up the distance between them and the guy who’d gone out with R. I think that guy learned a little too late that you’d better be prepared if you go out with R – and now he was struggling. It was great having him there, though – it gave me something to focus on as my mind was screaming at me (as it always does) that I was going too fast and that I should stop. Instead, I kept wheeling and felt the distance between me and that guy close.
As we turned the corner back towards town just before the 4k mark, I finally passed the guy who was struggling. It felt great. I was a bit panicked, though, because I felt that some guys were close behind me – but I didn’t want to look. Some racers benefit from knowing how close behind them people are – but I’m not there yet. I tense up if I feel I’m being chased – and the only way to keep speed is to stay relaxed. So I just focussed on my own stride and climbed the really crappy hill in the last k. From there, I coasted downhill towards the finish.
The finish in Lunenburg is around a corner, so you don’t get to see the clock until less than 100m to go. When I rounded that corner, though, I saw that I was right on the bubble for getting in under 17 minutes. As the seconds ticked away, I gave everything I had to put on a final burst. I went to face and was grunting like a pig trying my utmost to cross the finishing mat before the clock turned – and I did it – with only two seconds to spare! I was 4th and I was sub-17 – I was elated.
This result was also good because I got a bunch of Timex points – and with 3 out of the 7 races on the series done, it’s looking really positive for me to make the team that will represent Nova Scotia at the national Timex race in Toronto. The series is far from over and anything can happen – but my point average currently puts me in third spot overall – and second in the open category (the top guy is in his 40s so will go as the top Master runner, which leaves 3 spots in the open category).
On top of this, I won the honour of wearing “the shirt” during cool down – an honour bestowed on the runner who wins among a few of us who train together. The shirt is one of those cocky novelty shirts: on the front is a reproduction of one of those “Hello my name is” stickers, but it says “Hello, Nice to Beat You.” And on the back it says, “We should do this again sometime. Call me!” But not only is the shirt obnoxious, it is also was originally D’s (who is a world-class female marathoner), so it is a ladies small slim fit shirt – I’m not a ladies small slim fit guy – so the shirt looks absurd on me. Regardless, I wore it with pride! Really, it looks best on D, but she’s going to have to beat me to get it back!
Anyway, I was able to recover from my run in time to watch a bunch of friends have PB finishes and to watch J-A come across the line in her big PB time. It was a great run – a really great run. And the homemade muffins afterward were great too – they somehow managed to make 8500 muffins for close to 600 runners!! All in all, a great day in a great town at a great race.
