Crappy Rust Buster: Labor Day Five Miler

Goal:
Run as close to 27:45 as possible
Top 2

Actual:
2.7 mile warmup solo
5 miles in 29:12
2.7 mile cool down with Sarah Powell and another guy

Saturday, May 30th, 2015.  98 days ago.  The last time I raced.  Seriously?  That's a really long time ago.

I'm pretty sure that's the longest stint of not racing that I've ever had...Those 98 days extended into a long break from racing that included two weeks in Turkey, one and a half terms of MBA classes, two weeks of sickness, six work trips, a trip to the beach, a decision to move long-distance from my husband to California, a trip to the Midwest to see family, and lots of hours at work.  Even though I haven't been busy racing, I've been busy in about every other aspect of my life.

Back to the race. I laced up my Skechers GOrun 4's for the Labor Day Five Miler in Columbia, SC.  With a small prize purse of $200, $100, $50 for 1-2-3, it seemed like a decent place to test my summer training.  But what really attracted me to the race back in June was the site that boasted a bonus prize purse of an additional $500 for breaking 27:45 and then another $500 for breaking $500.  I knew that best case scenario I could break 27:45, but that I was not in shape for sub-27:00.  After all, I only did that once back in 2013 at the Main Street Crit, two weeks before I PR'ed at the Cal International Marathon.

So, what happened in the race, you ask?

It was crap.

It was hot.

My time was slow.

I ran practically the same pace for my marathon two years ago.  I ran faster than this pace in a 4 mile tempo on Thursday of this week.  I ran my 2014 half marathon PR approximately 10 seconds faster per mile than I did today for five miles.

I'm done ranting.

Important to consider though is that I did put myself out there. I race to test my fitness and my mental fortitude; I use this to understand what to tweak in my training. This race was not an accurate indicator of my true fitness, but I do believe that it was an accurate indicator of my mental tenacity.  It's not where it needs to be. I've been worrying too much about little aches and pains, about my weight, and about my upcoming move.  It's time to really refocus my attention to all the small things that make a huge difference when it's comes to a giant goal race like the Olympic Trials.  With so many upcoming changes, it will be critical for me to focus my energy in the right places, in the positive places, so that that I can be as successful as possible.

Photo courtesy of Alex McDonald