Ten best things about Avis' 10k

Avis · Postby **Avis** » Tue Jul 02, 2013 10:28 am

I ran my third 10k race this past Saturday, which was part of the Demi-marathon de Sherbrooke event. My first draft of this report was so long that I decided to distill it down to the ten best things about my race. And here they are:
1. I finished!
2. Meeting up with my physiotherapist, Éric, right before the race. He had a tent set up where he was to provide free physio treatments to racers in need. We chatted a bit, and he gave me lots of encouragement. He even offered to hold my bag for me, sparing me the long line for check-in.
3. The weather. The morning started out pouring rain, but minutes before the race, the clouds parted and a cool breeze blew. Partly sunny and 18 degrees—can’t get better than that!
4. Running in “my” park. The third and fourth kilometres took us through the park I run in all summer. It felt like home. Even better, my C., my support staff, waited for me there, cheering me on and taking pictures.
5. The woman in the blue shirt. She leap-frogged with me for almost the whole race. I was mostly running my slow, steady pace, and she would briskly pass me, then walk. I would chug up beside her, then she would decide to run again. What was I—her personal pace bunny? I wanted to ditch her; she was getting on my nerves.
6. The water stations. Well-placed, and the one at 6.3k had a run-through shower archway. I had never encountered one of those before, and found it so delightful that I turned right around and danced through it a second time. Now I ask you, is that any way to race a personal best?
7. The hills. OK these weren’t exactly fun. This race had two big hills. The second one, in the sixth kilometer, was particularly long and steep. As each hill came up, I gaged my energy level and the challenge of the hill. Both times, I tried to bank a bit of time before the hill, walked the steepest part and made the most of the downhill. I used good strategy on the hills, and I was pleased that I neither panicked, nor got discouraged.
8. The last two kilometres. I was tired when I looked at my Garmin at eight kilometres. It seemed barely possible to PB. I mean, I knew I could run fast enough on a good day, but was this a good day? Dug deep and started hoofing it. Asked myself how badly I wanted the PB. Pretty bad, I decided. Left behind (for good!) that lady in the blue shirt. Walked a bit. Picked it up again—all uphill to the end! Thought of the advice mas_runner wrote in my journal—“DO IT!” A bit of a final sprint-- and I did it! The last two kilometres were the fastest of the race; the tenth was the fastest of all.
9. My finishing time: 1:14:52. Good enough for a (barely) PB!
10. My attitude. I kept positive and confident throughout, always believing I could beat 1:15, even when the race got tough (and that was often). Raced happy, and didn’t once ask myself why I was doing this. That attitude was new, better, and in-and-of-itself, a personal best for me.

So, on to the next! I have got to work on hills and longer training runs, but I am looking forward to doing those. And maybe, just maybe, I can imagine a half-marathon in my future.

La · Postby La » Tue Jul 02, 2013 11:09 am

Well done!

Jwolf · Postby **Jwolf** » Tue Jul 02, 2013 11:19 am

Nicely done and good race recap! Glad you are so happy about your running now.

HCcD · Postby **HCcD** » Tue Jul 02, 2013 11:21 am

Nicely done ... way-da-go, Avis .. :dance:

marymac442 · Postby **marymac442** » Tue Jul 02, 2013 11:23 am

And that's the way to PB, leave yourself room for improvement

orleansrunner1962 · Postby **orleansrunner1962** » Tue Jul 02, 2013 12:59 pm

Well done -- LOVE the report -- good job on leaving that lady in blue behind!!

scrumhalfgirl · Postby **scrumhalfgirl** » Tue Jul 02, 2013 1:36 pm

awesome report x10!

RA. · Postby **RA.** » Tue Jul 02, 2013 1:36 pm

Great report! Congrats on a great race!

Hammie · Postby **Hammie** » Tue Jul 02, 2013 2:33 pm

congrats! it's very satisfying when a good race is also a pb - and a bonus to have sprinklers involved!

Habs4ever · Postby **Habs4ever** » Tue Jul 02, 2013 3:08 pm

Way to go Avis. Congratulations on a PB. Every race has a "blue lady". :lol:

Avis · Postby **Avis** » Tue Jul 02, 2013 3:15 pm

Thank you, everyone! This race, because of those hills, was harder than either of the previous two. It was a very hard-earned PB, and very satisfying!

runJrun · Postby **runJrun** » Tue Jul 02, 2013 4:26 pm

Congratulations on the PB!

mas_runner · Postby **mas_runner** » Tue Jul 02, 2013 5:18 pm

Sounds like a great race. I too end up racing a "guy in white" or whatever. It's easy to get stuck behind someone and then lulled into their pace. Best to just tick them off as you blast past them. That fast last km should give you a lot of confidence that you can pick it up earlier in the race and smash your PB next time out.

Jo-Jo · Postby **Jo-Jo** » Tue Jul 02, 2013 5:29 pm

Love your race report.
And congrats on your PB.

You ROCK!

trixiee · Postby **trixiee** » Tue Jul 02, 2013 6:44 pm

W00t! Congrats on the PB! :dance:

Robinandamelia · Postby **Robinandamelia** » Wed Jul 03, 2013 6:26 am

Congratulatoins on the PB!! Awesome result.

grimskot · Postby **grimskot** » Wed Jul 03, 2013 8:35 am

Nicely done!

Avis · Postby **Avis** » Wed Jul 03, 2013 8:59 am

mas_runner wrote:Sounds like a great race. I too end up racing a "guy in white" or whatever. It's easy to get stuck behind someone and then lulled into their pace. Best to just tick them off as you blast past them. That fast last km should give you a lot of confidence that you can pick it up earlier in the race and smash your PB next time out.

Thanks! Re: blasting past someone: I did pass a number of people, just by sticking to a pace that was steady. They started too fast and faded. The lady in blue had an erratic pace and that was what made her so irritating.

Re: confidence: It's getting there, and this is why I need to do more long training runs. I'm still never quite sure I'll have enough oomph to run well to the end of 10k. It depends on the day, the alignment of the stars, what-have-you. But yes, being able to speed up at the end of a long run tells me I may have more left in the tank than I think.

La · Postby La » Wed Jul 03, 2013 11:59 am

Avis wrote:The lady in blue had an erratic pace and that was what made her so irritating.

That bugs me, too. Especially on the bike. The down side is that sometimes by trying to get away from them I end up expending too much energy and it comes back to haunt me later in the run/ride. :roll:

Avis · Postby **Avis** » Wed Jul 03, 2013 12:27 pm

La wrote:
Avis wrote:The lady in blue had an erratic pace and that was what made her so irritating.

That bugs me, too. Especially on the bike. The down side is that sometimes by trying to get away from them I end up expending too much energy and it comes back to haunt me later in the run/ride.

Exactly--her overall pace was close enough to mine that I would have had to expend more energy than I wanted to, just to pass her. She would have been determining my pace, if indirectly, and I couldn't let that happen, especially early in the race. (I showed her what-for in the end, though. :mrgreen:

)

Spirit Unleashed · Postby **Spirit Unleashed** » Wed Jul 03, 2013 5:33 pm

Nice report.

Stampie · Postby **Stampie** » Wed Jul 03, 2013 5:47 pm

Well done Avis, what a great & creative report!

La wrote:
Avis wrote:The lady in blue had an erratic pace and that was what made her so irritating.

That bugs me, too. Especially on the bike. The down side is that sometimes by trying to get away from them I end up expending too much energy and it comes back to haunt me later in the run/ride.

This is annoying to no end. As hard as it maybe, I try to just ignore them and run my own race. Having said that, depending on how I feel and where I am in the race, I will try to track them down again and pass them for good.

barebuns1 · Postby **barebuns1** » Wed Jul 03, 2013 7:45 pm

Congrats on that pb.