It has been around two months since I ran the virtual half marathon. The virtual half was to replace the cancelled Vancouver BMO marathon on May 3rd. The virtual half did not go as I was hoping that it would go. It left me feeling unmotivated and under the running weather for a few weeks. I am happy to say that in the past 2-3 weeks I have been feeling back on track with running and dived back into marathon training at full force.
The virtual race day was here and I started day the same as any other pre race morning routine. It was a slightly overcast, cooler day making for ideal race conditions. It was the perfect combination not to worry about being cold needing extra layers but additionally not warm enough to worry about overheating and dehydration. Despite the weather conditions being great, I was not mentally prepared. The two biggest reasons for my lack of preparation were only deciding earlier the week before to do the virtual race and secondly I struggling with taking the virtual race seriously. This lead to me not being in the right mind set to truly show up and push myself into that next level of suffering one does on race day. Looking back on the morning of and the week leading up to the race I was truly just going through the motions of my pre race routine rather than completely engaging in them; in the experience.
My pacing was off from the beginning; I did not have clear idea where I wanted to be and it resulted in me running too fast at the beginning. My 4:30min/km pacing was too ambitious for the day. I knew realistically that I only need to run 4:40min/km to reach the goals I had set out for the race. However I believe there was a small part of my stubborn brain that wanted to think I was faster than I was. As you can guess this did not end well for me. It is a classic mistake to run too fast at the beginning of a race, one that sadly I have made a few times. The results being you ended up being gassed half way through your run. It always better to run a negative split.
Overall yes, I was disappointed in my performance for the virtual half knowing that I could have run harder and pushed myself into that next level of self suffering. However, I still managed to run a personal best half marathon and therefore can not be too upset by the end results. My time was 1:42.
This was great indication of where I was in my training and how close I was to achieving my marathon goals when it came to the real race day. It did eject some extra confidence to my mental prep for my goal race. I know that if I could stick to my pace, to my race then I will be able to handle the longer distance at the slightly slower pace intended for the marathon. I believe it will also help me prepare for those sections of the run that are not filled with spectators; having already completed a race without any lets you know that you can do it. I am already mentally preparing for the suffer fest that I will undoubtedly be creating for myself over the 42.2km of running i face when we can race again; typical type 2-3 fun.
Turn around point came and I just wanted to call it at this point, luckily I had to get back to the car one way or another so I kept running. I was totally missing the cheering crowd pushing me to not slow down to show them weakness. To run mile after mile in that constant state of tired yet in that peaceful mindset of I am a marathon runner I can totally do this. I was able to push myself to finish but I continue to slow down throughout the second half, running a positive split. Simply, today was not my day and it came down to not being mentally prepared, and mentally tough throughout the virtual race.
If I do another virtual race, or planned time trial in my upcoming training program I am more prepared of what to expect and I will do my best to correct the mistakes I made in this past one. I know that I am stubborn enough to not let myself not be mentally present and ready to suffer twice in a row. My competitive streak with myself is too high to let that happen again. I know that it does come down to that specific day and there is some part of race that is ventures into fate but for what I can control I know I will have it under control come my next race day.
That’s the thing about running: your greatest runs are rarely measured by racing success. They are moments in time when running allows you to see how wonderful your life is. -Kara Goucher
