Every year I sign up to run the local 15K road race and end up regretting it come race weekend. Why? Because the anxiety of racing makes me miserable. The reason for this pre race anxiety is a mystery. One can only assume it is the anticipation of discomfort that comes with putting it all out there. Self talk helps a little but ultimately end up with the same old question “Why am I putting myself through this? “ Enough about that. What matters most that in the end, I get to the starting line and run the race and feel terrific afterwards.
Five days prior to race day: I begin getting short tempered, grumpy and revert into myself. Maybe get a bit weird as I try to relax…
Saturday before race day: I get up and run a 3 mile shake out run with Zoey. The pace is easy and if there is something of interest, I might even stop take photos and walk a bit. I’ll eat a breakfast of oatmeal with dried fruits. My lunch will be a salad although not as much spinach but accompanied by a baked sweet potato. Dinner is pasta with a light marinara sauce. I prefer whole wheat pasta but will cook a protein packed brand if I haven’t had much protein earlier in the day or day prior.
I walk over to MVCC (a half mile walk) and pick up the race packet about 8:30 am. Not sure why but every year the person looking for my bib is thrown off by spelling of my name so I spend a little extra time while they look, re-look, get someone else to look for my bib. Once that’s found, I get yet another commemorative glass and Boilermaker event book. This year we all got can openers! As usual, seeding assignment is a disappointment as further explained below.
Keeping myself busy with household chores and playing with the dogs helps me re-focus negative thoughts. Maybe even a good “chick-flick” if there is one on the TV. Hmmm…”TV”. That seems so dated now. Should I be saying “Podcast” or Netflix or one of those other streaming services? Lets be real. I’m old school and it will always be “TV” to me. Moving on, my running outfit is laid out in the bathroom so I can get up, get dressed without disturbing Ted.
Sunday Race Day: I’ve gone to bed at the usual weekend time of 10 pm – 10:30 pm only to get up at my usual weekDAY time of 5:25 am. Eat a CLIF bar at 5:30 am. Head out for a quick jog with Zoey around the college about 1 ½ miles. At 6 am, I’ll take a 5 Hour Energy shot which I have found will solve any bathroom issues within about 30 – 45 minutes. That’s important because the thought of having to stop during a race and use a porto potty really bugs me.
I’ll putter around the house, check out Facebook, change the bed, etc. while waiting for 7 am to roll around.
This year, I did things a little differently. Because it was cool this year, 55 degrees, I saw no need to get to the start by 7:15 just to be cold while standing in a bathroom line. I waited until 7:20 before Ted and I headed down to the start. He dropped me off and I found my place in the proper corral by 7:45 am.
I found my friend and her daughter for a nice chit chat which helped to calm my nerves.
I want to add something about the corral assignments. I think sometimes ones seeding comes down to who you know. I knew of 4 other women that I have either beaten in races or run the same time. When I signed up for the Boilermaker this year, I wanted to avoid the masses at the start so I put in for a time of 1:05. I was seeded with people around the 1:15 estimated finish time. Those other women with whom I run the same pace were seeded well up ahead with folks running about a 1:10. Like I said, I’m pretty grumpy pre race.
At 8 am sharp, the race began. My Garmin clocked on at 8:01. My pace was where I wanted for those first 2 miles starting at a 8:29 then 8:06 then it didn’t ramp down as much as I’d like. I took a gel going into the golf course from Valley View road. My fastest lap coming out of the golf course was 7:20 pace, held onto a 7:43 for the next mile then went up to a 8:34. 7:52 pace turning off Burrstone then an 8:14. If I could have only done better up that hill on Valley View turning off the Parkway! If I could have only ramped up the pace for that final mile. “If only….” right?!!! Net finish time 1:15:53. About 30 seconds slower than last year.
Thinking about it, I did okay considering my training felt so slow and labored BUT it was a lot cooler this year than last so what was the issue?! We’ll see what happens as training continues this summer for New York City marathon then my key race, California International in December.
Now about that after party, it was frustrating this year. The security was unusually high and we could not cross the roads. It would seem the vendors on Varick should be most annoyed because no one could get to them. Ted texted me that he was in Lukens.
After grabbing food and a beer, I made my way back up, was told I couldn’t go back up and had to go back down, across, up and, well, everywhere but where I wanted. Frustrated, I went through two sets of barriers and luckily was caught by a “nice” cop who understood when I said I just wanted to get to Lukens. That didn’t go well. Ted wasn’t there. He had gone over to Nail Creek. I tried for over an hour to get back to Nail Creek. Cell phone would not work. I could see Ted from across the street but couldn’t talk to him. My texts would not go through. I ended up meeting him at the end of Varick and we went home.
Post race happy face
Caught the fly-by on the way home. Four planes total with the first pass being the best when they were close together but I couldn’t get a photo fast enough.
Will I run next year? Probably. Will I end up regretting that I signed up? Most likely. What should I do to get over those extreme pre race nerves? I’m thinking race more shorter distance races.
Joanne
