Earlier in the week, I said to my friend that I would pay someone to run this race for me. I was so not excited about it, so not feeling pumped up for it, just not in a good headspace. I mentioned in the other thread that my allergies have been bad lately, especially when I try to run fast. I can honestly say I haven't felt GOOD on a run in ages- I've been stuffy and I can't get enough air in, and I haven't felt fast in I don't know how long. Even at the Yonge St race, I didn't really feel GOOD, and I definitely didn't feel fast. I've also been really stressed out in other areas, and I just didn't want to feel pressure to run well. Over the week I tried to pump myself up, I promised myself new shoes if I ran well, and wine if I at least ran faster than last time... but my heart just was NOT into running today.
I felt all right for the first 5K- I actually paced reasonably and ran a bit over 22:00. Then the wheels totally fell off for the whole last 5K- I felt like I was running through mud and my head weighed about 30 pounds. At least my throat didn't close up.
It sort of reminded me of this one horrible half marathon I ran in Ottawa before finding out I was seriously anemic... in the sense that I wanted to lie down and take a nap by 7K. I think it's more likely that my allergy issues of late were responsible, but I have been lax with my iron lately so it's a good reminder to start taking it regularly again. I did come home and go straight to sleep for an hour, too, so who knows, maybe I'm coming down with something. I think for this course, pacing "properly" is not the best strategy... I really do run it better, obviously, when I run it stupid. I slow down, yes, but I have enough banked time that I still finish ok.
Anyway, my time sucked hugely- I have done many training runs faster, including one just last week, and I have run half marathons at a faster pace. Anyone who really cares can look it up. I know I ran a somewhat OK race 3 weeks ago, so I do believe today was just a flukey bad day. I am ok with it, disappointed but ok. I know it doesn't reflect my fitness, and hey I pretty much got paid to do it when you factor in the gift card. So, oh well. I'm not racing again till allergy season is over. So... till the fall unless I acclimatize.
Pat did well though! He has barely run in 3 weeks and pulled off just over 37:00.
