On Sunday I ran the Scotiabank half and beat my previous PB by about 2 minutes. It was the hardest half I’ve run but one of the nicest routes. This was a lesson to me in how NOT to try to run a PB. While the end result was good the means does NOT justify the end.
On November 4th I am running the Athen’s Classic Marathon so coming up to the Waterfront event I was torn between treating it like a race or just making it my long run of the week. I had completely rational advice for either choice but instead of making a choice I did both. DOH 🙂 Thursday I ran hills, Friday I did what was supposed to be a very easy 16k but turned into a pretty fast 16k. I did take a rest day on Saturday but topped it off by going out for Indian Food around 8 pm. After a very restless sleep I arrived at the start line feeling a little less than raring to go. I was running with a friend who had a goal of 1:40 and figured I would try to keep up with him (Congratulations to Robert on his 1:36 finish!). At 6k, slightly ahead of pace for 1:40 I waved him on. While I know it takes me 7-10 k to warm up at 6k I knew this wasn’t going to be one of those races where you find your zone and cruise on through.
Nevertheless, I pushed on cursing my sluggish body and my decision (or lack thereof) to try to run a PB a month before a marathon and without a taper. I never did get to that point where things seem easy and you can go forever but with 6 k to go I knew I had a chance of making my 1:40 goal, I just had to maintain a 5 minute/ km pace for another 30 minutes. Surely I could do this? I could and did slipping under the finish line at 1:40:40 wearing my Running Free shirt, cw-x tights and Nathan Hydration Belt.
Thanks Andy, for your advice to race it and get a PB. Silly me for not heeding the rest of your advice and skipping my Friday run. In the end perhaps this race was an example of having your cake and eating it too.
