I’m keeping this short since the race was short. Ha!
Actually I am also keeping this short because I’m a little frustrated with my racing season and don’t want to dwell on it anymore. Plus, the mile is short (but not as short as you think), so there’s not as much to recap.
Okay, first of all, why does the mile feel so long when you’re running it? This was the third time I’ve run the Hopkins Raspberry Run 1 Mile and every time I run it, I think it is going to feel so short, but it ends up feeling so long. Ha! I start out running so fast because after primarily racing half marathons and full marathons, I have this idea that I have to start out so fast because it is significantly shorter than any other race I do. But inevitably I start out at about 800 meter pace and quickly realize I cannot sustain that pace.
But let’s back up a bit. I really wanted Craig and the boys to come to this race because I feel like they are my good luck charm. (That’s not actually true, but I do like having there with me.) Since the race starts at noon, we first went to church in the area, and then drove to Hopkins, so I could pick up my bib and do my warm-ups before the race.
Honestly, I was a little rushed trying to get my bib, do my warm-ups, and then I forgot my gel in the car, so I had to run back to the car to get it. I definitely felt a little more anxious than usual prior to the race, which is not ideal. I also didn’t have a great week of training after traveling back from Colordao the weekend prior. So I was feeling tired and a little beat up, and I even slept 10 hours two nights, which is unusual for me.
But anyway, I did my best to get in the right mental headspace prior to the race. The first wave at 12:00 p.m. was for those on a USATF team, and since I am not, I lined up with the second wave, which started at 12:10 p.m. I tried to position myself near the front of the start line, but I wish I would have wiggled my way a little closer as I got caught behind a couple kids and other people who were slower than me. (Although, maybe I should have stayed behind them to prevent myself from going out too fast.)
I may have had a bit of rage getting caught behind slower people and starting out at a sub-5 minute pace may not have been the best idea. (I swear I was being conservative!) Clearly I could not hold that though. The blue line of this graph should have been reversed. This is why a mile is longer than you think. There were so many times I looked up, hoping to see the finish, and it was still too far down the road. This race is straight down the mainstreet of Hopkins, which is nice that you don’t have to worry about any turns. I did my best to stay mentally focused, but I my brain and legs weren’t working together too well that day.
I crossed the finish line being so thankful it was over. My hamstrings were screaming at me because they aren’t quite used to that speed. I wasn’t even sure what my finish time was until Craig looked up the results. Seeing 5:32 as my finish time was a little defeating as it was eight seconds slower than last year and 12-13 seconds slower than what I was hoping to run. (I fully realize this is still a really good time.)
I know the weather didn’t help my performance either. It was 80 degrees with full sun and high humidity. I felt sweat rolling down my chest at the start, which is not usual for me. Other racers were also commenting about the headwind we had. I guess usually the race has a nice tailwind as we run west to east, but this year there was a headwind, and I definitely noticed it. I should have tucked behind someone and thought about it mid-race when I felt the wind more, but I would have had to run across the street a little bit to get behind someone, and I didn’t think that was worth it.
Who knows how accurate the online heat calculators are, at least they give me some solace that I could have run a lot faster if the temperature was more ideal. One a good day, I was hoping to run 5:19/5:20, which is in-line with this calculator from Runner’s Connect.
Oh well, at the end of the day, I am happy to be running healthy, which hasn’t always been the case throughout my career. This also makes me appreciate any new PR that much more when I “fail” so many times.
At least the boys had fun with their shave ice.
