10km Race…….How I did I Go?

How do you measure your performance in a race? For me I always have a goal, whether it is a time or a place I am aiming for. Sometimes it is both, but one consistency is that when I race, I am always chasing a Personal Best. I always bring it back to doing better than I did last time.

I haven’t run a 10km race for 2 years (6 months after I started running) and my time then was 55 mins. So I was unsure of what I could achieve. King Waz, my Coach, had in mind what he thought I was capable of, but I wasn’t sure I had that in me yet.

I have run many 10km’s in training and so I knew I could do under 50mins and recently I achieved 48mins in the middle of a 22km run, so my thoughts were anything under 45mins would be great. King Waz however, had other ideas. He wanted me to aim for less. OMG really?? I was sure I couldn’t manage that!!

He told me my goal time at my last speed session 4 days before the race. I freaked out and then put it to the back of my mind. I find this is the best way to deal with it so I don’t go into self doubt. By now I should know better than to question my Coach. Every time he gives me, what I would class as unrealistic goal, he is right, I have achieved it.

A couple of days before the race the predictable self-sabotage started, telling myself I can’t possibly achieve it, putting undue pressure on myself. What I have learnt in the last few months is to trust in the training and to have faith in my body.

King Waz gives me training to suit the goals I have, so I know I have put in the hard yards. Based on what I can give in a training session, he knows exactly what I can achieve in a race. There is a science to it, I am yet to understand. But Waz does and knows without a doubt what I am capable of. He has trained many elite athletes to great heights in the past and knows how to get me where I want to go. So at this point I just let go and trust in him, my training and my body. So by the night before the race, the pressure was released I felt much more confident. At worst I would still achieve a PB.

There are many variables that can affect performance. Preparation is one of them. Not having ever raced in the afternoon, I was unsure of how to prepare. Usually I get up, have a banana and go. With the race being at 4pm in the evening, I didn’t know what to eat when and how long before. I ended up having a one hr nap, which I don’t usually do and didn’t know if it was a good idea. All I know is I was tired, so I did.

My son and I

I arrived at the race and was delighted to see many of my friends; it took my mind off the race for a while. I wasn’t nervous at all. I went for my warm up and focussed on the race plan. I had a last minute ‘confidence building’ chat with the King and nestled my way up to the front of the start line. One of my friends encouraged me up the front so as to not get caught behind the crowd. I placed myself behind the elite male runners.

The starting horn sounded and as I was determining how my body felt as I raced along. I noticed I was getting caught up in the hype of the start and going WAY too hard. I was supposed to start at a nice comfortable pace of 4.20 min/km and I was doing about 3.35 staying with the men. I didn’t need to be doing that.

I slowed right down and allowed a group of runners to pass me while I followed my game plan. I have a tendency to go out to hard and suffer for it later in a race. Being a longer 10km race, I knew I had to follow the plan so I didn’t blow up.

For the first couple of kms I was feeling good so for the 3^rd, I stepped up the pace to 4.15.  I was to hold this pace until the last couple of kms. I seem to be breathing well and had gotten into a nice rhythm.

Couldn’t speak, managed a thumbs up

As I rounded the corner back into the crowd, I could hear friends yelling out encouragement. It always gives me a boost and a smile. There were camera flashes and ‘Woo Hoos’ all around. Heading out the other way was the mentally challenging part of the course. I seem to be heading out to the middle of nowhere. It was great to have someone in front of me to keep me focussed.

My pace slowed a little to 4.20 but I stepped it up again after the turn around point. I knew I had a little to make up and was coming back into the track part of the course which was the half way point. My son and coach were there with their encouraging words telling me I was right on track and to keep going. I was still feeling good.

I had passed a couple of the men and they were incredibly supportive, spurring me on with their words. I had no idea what my position was in the race, that was not on my agenda for the day, it was to aim for a time. One of the men told me I was the second female and to go catch the first. Second female?? Surely there were more ahead than that. My coach also confirmed I was in second place.

‘I wonder if I can catch her? No, just stick to the race plan, stay on pace. Don’t worry about anyone else, just run your own race,’ I was not going to have this battle in my head. I rounded the corner of the 6km mark and saw her up ahead. She must have slowed down, because I was still sitting on my desired pace.

Taking First Place

It took another km and I rounded her up just as we were coming into the crowded area at about the 7km mark. She was struggling with her breathing and her posture was beginning to slouch.  She clapped me as I passed her, what a truly selfless gesture. It meant a lot to me.

Heading back out to no man’s land, I could feel my body beginning to tire and it was all I could do to hold my pace. People were starting to drop back and I was passing quite a few of the men ahead of me. It was great seeing the familiar faces and the occasional clap from both men and women. It encouraged me to keep going through my fatigue.

I had my coach’s voice in my head and at the 8km mark I was supposed to step the pace up if I had enough left in my tank. I didn’t think I had enough in me for 2 fast kms, so I waited until the 9km and gave the last one everything I had, finishing on a 4 min km.

With having 500m to go, I could hear my coach yelling to ‘Bring it Home.’ I had trained to finish hard and fast. There was nearly a full lap of the track to finish in front of the crowd. As soon as I hit the track I was off. My son was running around the inside of the track with me yelling, ‘Come on Mum, you can do it. Push!’ It was nice to have him beside me when I was struggling to sprint to the finish line.

Overtaking two more on the home stretch with 80m to go.

At this point, I actually had no idea of whether I was on track to my goal time. Not once had I looked at my watch for time, only pace. I must’ve been behind time for them to be pushing me this hard. So I dug deep and gave it everything passing another two males before hitting the finish line. I could hear my coach being interviewed over the loud speaker as I hit the deck in exhaustion. I heard him say my time of 42.39. My net time was 42.34.

The goal time King Waz had set for me was 42.30. I followed the race plan and was 4 secs over. I had achieved it; I was ecstatic. I didn’t think I could do it, but I did. Hitting my goal time was a huge PB and was the only thing I was focussed on and taking first place was an added bonus.

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