Clinton 10k

Well, another race, another goal checked off.

Pre-Race:

My least favorite thing is going to races alone. I really hate it actually, it is no fun and I don't seem to enjoy it as much, but sometimes, that 4am alarm goes off and no one really wants to come with you. It do be like that. I jumped in the car, and headed almost 90 minutes west to Clinton. I made the ingenious decision to not get any breakfast except two peanut butter Clif Bars. That was a great idea, but I was also used to running on an empty stomach, the dining halls do not open until 7 or 8 so most mornings I do not eat before I workout. I got to the race site, got my packet and was on my warm up all in about 15 minutes. I had a goal of a sub 35, and I had a PB of 37:04 so it was time to see my progress.

Race:

So, unsurprisingly I went out hard. First mile was 5:38 or close, and that wasn't horrible but I should have paced a little better. I also did not know there was a HUGE hill that was essentially the entire second mile, which I did in about 6:00. I knew I was hurting way too much for the second mile already so I backed off a little, and cruised to a 5:55 mile 3. I think those peanut butter Clif Bars were not quite agreeing as much as I thought they would. I went through the 5k over 18 minutes. I thought "Well, Shit. I have to run sub 17 to even come close to 35" So, me being really dumb, cocky and slightly masochistic, says "fuck it" and picks up the pace hard. I went 5:30 on my fourth mile, and new I still was a ways behind my goal. Now, before this my 2 mile PB was something slow like 10:50 or something. I ball out, and go low 10:30 for my last 2 miles, and finish in a 1:12 400. Now, this was horrible. My stomach hurt, my chest hurt, my legs were telling me no, my mind was the only thing that kept pushing. Final time: 34:52. I learned something weird about myself that day. I'm really fucking stupid. Like who decides to go out to a 10k and run the first half in 18 and the second half in 16:50's? What moron decides that this is smart? Me. I am that dude. Sorry mom.

Afterwards:

Well after this race I got stuck in traffic and then had a good rest of the day. Pretty standard. Honestly I was pretty stoked to break 35, but it felt a little hollow. Like, cool, but what is next? Where do I go? I have done everything I wanted to this year. I won 4 races. I broke 2 hours, I swam and got my bike power up, and now I am running well. Where do I go from here? I never thought I would be able to do any of these things, but somehow, looking back, I don't know how I ever doubted myself. Just having a coach who knows you can do anything makes all the difference. Having someone who believes in me, more than I do, is the key. It takes a village.