November 1st, I ran the Space Coast Classic 15k. It is one of the Space Coast Runners race in the series. (One of these years I'm going to just sign up for the series.) This was the first year that finisher medals were offered. Did someone say medal? As soon I saw that, yup, I was in!!
Going into this race I was going to use this as a training run for the Space Coast Half. The timing was perfect, I don't know this for sure, but I think it's timed that way. I was planning my 3 minute run 1 minute walk plan. Trying to keep my 10:06 pace. I know training hasn't gone right for me lately but I really wanted to see if I could do this.
Murphy's Law 101: Don't change things right before a race PERIOD. Well I just bought a Tomtom watch two days prior and really didn't know how it worked. I was going to run with my Garmin, Gymboss and new watch. Last minute I just decided to go with the Tomtom.
The morning of the race it was cold. And by cold I mean 60 degrees. Oh and really windy.
Just before the start of the race I set my new watch to the interval setting and I waited for it to tell me the satellites were all good. The race started we were off and again I had a goal, 3:1 interval at a 10:06 pace.
Also during this race I was dealing with a family emergency. My dad was in the hospital and I was due to fly out the next day. My relationship my father is a very complicated one. I should probably be in therapy it's so bad. So I was dealing with emotions from this and having to run a race. This race was doomed from the beginning I think.
I glance down at my watch and I realize I've been running for 4 minutes and it didn't tell me to walk. CRAP... I was not about to run this race and try and figure out my own intervals. I can't do math well while I run. Now I'm thinking what am I going to do? Run until I can't run anymore and walk or do I run to each mile marker and walk just a little bit. Panic set in. I had no idea what to do. I thought about quitting. I had all the excuses and I just wanted to go home. I've never wanted to quit a race so bad. I kept running anyway. I figured if I was going to quit I had to figure out where I was and then figure out how to get back to my car. Finally after I figured out where I was and was running in the opposite direction of my car I caught up to a friend of mine. I know she's faster than me, but I figured maybe I can just stay on her heals and maybe I can push through.
I didn't want to distract her because I didn't know if she was really wanting to race this race or not. We had done a 3 mile training run together two days prior and we talked the whole time. I had no idea if she wanted a running partner or not. Well she finally saw me on her heals and we started talking. Let me tell you, if it wasn't for her I wouldn't have finished this race. We did talk while we ran which kept me distracted and thinking about all the things I had to deal with in the next few days.
At mile 5 I took my 30 ENERYbits. I do have to stop and walk to take them. That was the first time I walked!! And on a side note: I'm very grateful I checked to see how many water stations were going to be at this race, cause there were 2. Now you did pass one twice, but really 15k and three water stations? Glad I brought my own water. I did notice that a lot of other people did the same thing.
After the 10k mark I felt good and thought I got this. I had been staying on pace with my half marathon time. Thank you pace bands!! (No they don't pay me to advertise.) Then came the wind. I think the last 2.3 miles we had a strong head wind. Never been so grateful for my visor. I put my head down and just tried to push my way to the finish line. All of a sudden at mile 8.48 I just stopped and walked. I even said to myself WHAT ARE YOU DOING????? WHY ARE YOU WALKING NOW????? My friend saw me and she said get up here. So I did! Thank you again Betsy!! Next thing I know I see a lady walking with her daughter and greyhound. I ran up to the dog and said can I pet him? She said yes he's a lover. I gave that dog a hug and kiss on the head as I was thinking about my two greyhounds and just started to run. At the 9 mile mark I had nothing left. Betsy took off for the finish line, but I had no gas left in the tank. BUT I didn't give up I just kept putting one foot in front of the other.
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| Still smiling at mile 9.2! |
I finished with a time of 1:33:41. Which gave me an average pace of 10:03! HOLY CRAP!
This race proves that I can still run, maybe not as fast as I would like, but I still got it. It was a very emotional day. My friend has no idea how much she helped me with this race. If I had not found her, I would have probably finished in about two hours, if I finished at all.
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