What a day it has been! I was up super early for this race and felt uneasy all morning because I felt I was unprepared. I hadn't run outside in the past 40 days and only about 9 treadmill runs in the past three weeks. Getting out of bed was so hard this morning since I've had late nights for the majority of this past week! I woke up around 6:15am and thank god I had everything set out the night before so getting ready would take no time at all! I didn't get out of bed until almost 6:30am and I wanted to leave the house before 7am.
I got dressed and then had a moment of panic because I'm 99% sure my tank didn't match with my running skirt haha! OH WELL.
I had half my Luna Bar (chocolate dipped coconut this time!) once I got in the car, the only thing I can stomach before a race. I eventually made it to the PTI Airport and as I was driving, the rain got worse and worse in the 7 miles from my house.. on top of weather issues, I was anxious for my lack of readiness. Clearly I wasn't prepared so I mentally got ready by telling myself that I was using this race as a marker of where I am in my fitness and running endurance rather than a PR or trying to run fast. Right now, I am focusing on October 20th (Detroit International HM) so everything from here on out is training and building up my speed and endurance again. This race is just a marker right?? WELL, I got to the airport and got on the shuttle to the runway as the sprinkling got heavier and heavier. I made friends with the girl who sat down next to me (a fellow weight loss story- this was her first 10K after losing over 100lbs over the past 3 years) and we were both freaking out about running in the rain on a wet, slippery tarmac. When we got to the start line, we headed for cover under the 107.5 radio station tent (which was crowded and not very much cover) and this was our view for the next 45 minutes:
The race organizers decided to push back the race start for about 20-30 minutes depending on when the rain would subside as they tracked the clouds on the weather scanner in the 107.5 van. The rain slowed down to a heavy drizzle and ended up starting around 8:27 I think? I was super anxious but I told myself to calm down, don't look at my garmin for any reason other than to maintain my intervals and just to enjoy the run! It was heavy drizzling to light drizzling and then after the second mile it got incredibly hot/humid, which was unfortunate. I saw my mile splits pop up on my watch when I glanced down for my intervals and I instantly had a huge smile on my face. After mile 2, I knew I had my negative splits and I would PR so I just ran that last mile's run intervals a little faster even though I could feel a blister forming from my wet socks and shoes. I crossed the line with a chip time of 36:00!!! A new 5K PR!!! This was a pace of 11:32 min/mi!!! My moving time was 35:51 with a pace of 11:30 min/mi!!!! AND NEGATIVE SPLITS!!! It is my ultimate goal in my running life to negative split in all of my races and so this was extra special since I didn't even plan on running faster, etc.!
So Happy!!! I couldn't believe it when I finished how fast I was today after the May that I had!!!! Also, I am 97% sure that I'm going to be sick from being in the rain with wet socks&shoes&feet for so long. I can already feel it in my ears/throat..
Overall, this race was very well organized from packet pickup at Omega Sports to the signage from entering the airport, directions to race parking, and the shuttle to the race start. The race was definitely well worth the entry fee and it was such a unique course location! I will definitely try this race again if I am living in this area next year and hopefully I will be able to do the 10K on such a flat course!
Here are some of my stats from today via my garmin:
How do you deal with less than ideal race conditions? How do you stay calm when you aren't prepared for a race?
(I swear I acted like I would melt in the rain this morning but it really wasn't all that bad, and I have experience running humidity so I was fine after the rain ended too!)
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