Yesterday was the day, my first "public" run since I was a kid! I entered in the 10k event of 'Run Melbourne' as part of my preparation for the half marathon in October.
I entered in the 61+ minute 'wave', along with literally thousands of others. My aim had been to finish in seventy minutes or less, but as we all headed out - packed flank to flank like cattle in a run - my heart sank, as I thought, "well, there goes my chance to achieve my time". Still, I did a bit of ducking and weaving to get nearer the front of the group.
I could tell from my heart rate monitor that I was running a bit harder than usual, but not drastically so, so I kept it up. About 2km in, I hit my sweet zone. Of course, the biggest hassle in an event like this is finding your way blocked by others - for a lone loper like myself, this is very frustrating! However, as you are constantly being overtaken by faster runners from behind, and constantly overtaking slower runners who started ahead of you, at least the kaleidoscope of backs you face constantly changes.
I must admit (and these are not honourable thoughts!) that I did particularly enjoy running past very athletic-looking people wearing Lycra who'd run out of puff!
My strength as a runner is my persistence; I knew I was going a little faster than usual, and began to feel it, especially around the 5-6-7km zone. But whenever I felt that way, I just looked at the road, and drew on what's true: "My strength is that I just keep going." I zoned out the people who were overtaking me, focussed on the people I passed (who usually returned the favour within a few minutes!) and concentrated on running my own race.
I was able to grab a mouthful of water, without breaking pace, at the halfway mark. I may not have desperately needed it, but since the opportunity arose to grab it without slowing down, it seemed silly not to take it. And I made sure my paper cup ended up in the bin, not on the road, you naughty runners! Speaking of etiquette: if you must stop suddenly, please try to do it on the side of the road; I nearly ran into a few people from behind like that. Also: flinging out your arm to show a friend something on the side of the road is a definite no-no - almost had my nose broken ... Finally, I observed a clever little trick: if you really want clear space on the road ahead of you, be a very obese person shuffling along in the middle of the pack. Everyone else parts around you like a river around a boulder and you're left with empty asphalt ahead. Sweet.
Having run quite hard (for me), I was really glad to reach the 8km mark. 2km to go: that's the distance from the bus stop near the local Monash campus to my place. I began to visualise where I was in relation to home, and therefore how close I was to the finish line.
Towards the end, everyone sped up, of course; but there were some people who turned on a terrific turn of speed over the last km, including some whom I'd seen walking earlier. I couldn't understand why, if they were capable of that, they were part of our wave: why not run earlier? Or why not put in a more consistent effort? Each to their own.
The last 300m I ran with a huge grin on my face. At this stage I still thought I had probably run slower than my hoped-for time, but I was just so happy and proud to have done it! As I crossed the line, I stopped my monitor and running program, and that was when I saw it said 1:05. Very happy. As it turns out, my official time was 1:04:20, a PB over this distance. My previous PB over 10k was 1:06, I think, and that was part of a longer run.
So ... half marathon in October? Yes, I still think so. On the plus side, there's still lots of time to continue to prepare. On the minus side, I nearly psyched myself out of running today - but did it anyway ... we'll see.
Well, that's the story of my run! Thanks for sharing the joy.
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