Freihofer's Run for Women 5k race report.

No dramatic lead-in: You all know from my last post that I did not achieve my goal of finishing under 23 minutes. I was bummed yesterday but I'm OK with that today.

On with the race report!

On Friday, I went to the expo, picked up my bib and t-shirt and was able to sneak in a chiropractic adjustment (thank you, NY Chiropractic College!). Oh, so good. I got a little massage, the adjustment and some ART and left there feeling terrific!

The race didn't begin until 10:15 on Saturday morning so I had plenty of time to eat breakfast and leisurely get ready for the race. I had a pre-race breakfast of peanut butter & jelly on whole wheat, lots of water and some coffee. Then, Owen, Conal and I headed out on what we thought would be a quick drive to the Empire State Plaza. No such luck. Traffic (huh?) was backed up so we waited and waited and waited and slowly made our way to the parking lot. At one point, Owen suggested that I hop out of the car so I could go ahead and not get stressed by sitting in traffic. I did just that.

So, I warmed up, met up with my friend, Gina, who was running her first race (yay!), and eventually made my way to the starting area. There were 4000 women running in this race so the starting area was packed. I watched the elite runners file in from the side and just kinda gawked at their perfect little running bodies. Every one of them looked like they were made for running. I felt like a hulking who-knows-what compared to those lithe women!

And they are fast! The winner, Teyba Erkesso from Ethiopia, finished in 15:26. That's a 4:59 pace! Sheesh! The Ethiopians and Kenyans dominated, by the way, with the first American, Tera Moody, finishing in 13th place in 16:24.

Me? Not so fast.

I had a goal: 22:59. I visualized myself crossing the finish line in that time. I knew I could do it. I had put in the time with the speedwork, the hills, the long(ish) runs, everthing. 7:22 per mile was what I was going for. Didn't happen. Here's what did:

I went through the first kilometer in 4:40, so a little off pace but since I didn't want to start out too fast, that was OK. I told myself to pick it up and I went through the first mile in around 7:30. No problem. Pick it up a little more. I tried. I pushed through the second mile. I don't remember what the 2k split was (9 something) but it doesn't really matter because my undoing came at 3k/2m.

I made a huge mental error.

I was running through the second mile and just waiting to get my split. I saw the clock up ahead and when I was close enough to see the time, I saw 13:22. Wow. That's fast, I thought. When I ran past the clock it was around 13:45 or so. OK, really, I thought. That's too fast. You're going to burn out. Slow down.

I slowed down. I felt happy to be on-pace, but I knew I needed to slow down.

Only, I shouldn't have slowed down because the clock that I saw was not for the 2m mark, it was for the 3 flippin' k mark! UGH! As soon as I saw the clock for the 2-mile split, I wanted to cry. I had already slowed down, thinking I was ahead of pace, and then wham! I ran past the 2-mile clock in just under 15 minutes but I was so, so, so discouraged. It was just a big kick in the shins and my momentum was gone. How had I made such a stupid mistake? I mean, what was I thinking? Did I think that I had run the second mile in 6-ish minutes? Really??? Well, no. See, I wasn't thinking. Or, wasn't thinking clearly. I just completely messed up with the 3k/2m clocks and it set me back.

From there, I had a tough time with the race. I was angry with myself for my mistake and I knew that by slowing down at 3k, I was completely off my pace. To top it off, all of the negative self-talk was not doing me any good at all!

I ran as well as I could over the last mile and tried to finish strong. I crossed the line in 23:46. Not bad, I know, but not what I would have liked.

The interesting thing is that a year ago, I ran this race in 24:16. Had I run 23:46 last year, I would have been ecstatic! What a difference a year makes . . .

What did I learn? Well, the biggest thing I learned is that mistakes happen and it is how you deal with them that matters. I did not deal with my mistake well. I need to work on being mentally sharp so I'll have to figure out how to fit that in to my training. And, I'll just keep doing that speedwork. I know I have 22:59 (or better!) in me. I just have to bring it out.

Stats:

Finish: 23:46
Overall pace: 7:40
Age-group place: 30/489
Overall place: 299/3685
Age-graded %: 63%

* * *

The day finished off very well. Owen and I went out for a delicious dinner at a place called Marche. It was the best meal either of us have had in ages! Then today, Owen gave me an AWESOME birthday present: A Garmin Forerunner 305! WOO HOO! It is charging now . . . I can't wait to take it out for a run. I catching up, techno-world, so watch out!

~ Felice