Lessons learned from recent Races

I have completed 2 races in as many weeks - one 10K and one 20 miler.  I learned lessons in both.

The 10K went well, very well for me.  This distance is good for me.  I was able to maintain a pretty good pace - average 8:17.  I came in 2nd in my age group.  The lesson I learned is this - I am not to only one trying to pick people off at the end.  Hello?  I know, this seems silly but my focus has always been on ME over taking someone else.  In this race, I was BLOWN away at the end.  I did not even know she was behind me...never gave it a single thought.  There was really no one in front of me to pick off at the end so I was just cruising along, and this woman came outta nowhere at full speed...not enough time left for me to get up to the speed I needed to catch her, even if I could have <not altogether certain I could have caught up with her even if there was enough time>.  So, I came in 2nd in my age group instead of 1st.

Not too shabby though, for two 50 year olds to come in 4th and 5th overall females.

Lesson:  Do not cruise at the end of a race, there may be an unseen force coming for you :) Finish strong, every single time.

20 miler.  This race went well through mile 13.  I had 13.1 under 2 hours, which is a PR for me.  But this was not a half marathon I was running, it was 20 miles.  This race did not go well for me after mile 13.  I ended up walking, walking a lot.  I had music on, I tried singing along in my head, I switched to an audio book, that occupied me for awhile.  I tried going through my "I am so grateful for" list - I would like to say that kept me busy for a long time, but that would be a lie.

I was not mentally tough in this race.  It is embarrassing to admit that but it is so very true.  I wanted to quit.  If there had been a shortcut back, I would have had a hard time talking myself out of taking it.  It just blew my mind that just last month I ran a full marathon without even thinking of walking and here I am freaking walking in a 20 miler.  WTF?  It's not like I couldn't breathe, I wasn't hurting, I was really bored and just wanted it to be over with already!  

I did end up with 3rd in my age group (only because 2 in my age group went in as Masters).  

It so was not my best.  I don't have to "place" every time for it to be my best, I just have to do my best and this was not it.

Several things I learned from this race:

1.) I need to spend time before the race visualizing the race.

2.) I need to pay attention and eat enough in the days leading up to the race, 

3.) I need a plan to fight off the negative voice in my head.

4.) I need to plan how to deal with boredom effectively.

5.) I can not take any mileage for granted.  Respect all distances.

6.) I need to put my race bib on my leg, not my jacket as it is a PITA to remove it during a race and re-pin it to your leg.

Things I did well:

1.)  I finished strong - passed 2 runners well in front of me.

2.)  I wasn't happy with myself but I didn't leave - I stuck around until the event was over (even though I was totally by myself).

3.)  I got out of bed and ran/walked 20 freaking miles.

I need to learn my lessons well, and Rock On.