Lessons from My Third Racing Experience (First 10K)

I've done three races so far this summer, and have learned a lot in the process.  I blogged about my first and second and the lessons I gleaned from them, but the third was something different.  It was about twice as long as my first two (a 5K and a 3.5 miler), hilly, took place during the height of the day's heat and much more humid.  The field was also better than that of my first race, though not quite as overall solid as my second. It was also much less densely-packed than my second race.

Heading out the door for the race

The race was an 80s-themed 10K run through Somerville, MA in a loop.  It was the bookend to a month of races and events that started with my first race, included a three-day charity hike of the tallest mountains in the Northeast, a 3.5 mile race, and then this 10K.  It was only my third time running this far as I typically run in the 2-4 mile range.  I also went into the race with limited training as I had been dealing with knee issues as I go through my post-op PT.  My knee and muscle issues have lead to some foot issues, including serious blistering due to a funky gait, and the feeling of stress fractures between my third and fourth metatarsals on both feet - especially when I run more than 3 miles.  If you aren't good with metric to imperial conversions, 10K is roughly 6.2 miles, so this counted in the 'more than 3 mile' bucket, and my foot pain was keeping me from distance training or getting more than one or two runs in per week.  Not ideal training.

My knee pain had flared up a lot after doing the multi-day hiking, which also limited my non-running training.  I typically do 30-50 minutes of intervals on my elliptical trainer, but that hurt too much, so I was doing a mix of the hand bike and a recumbent bike (though not with great intensity to protect my knee).  Needless to say, my speed and endurance had taken a hit along with running-specific muscle development.  My original goal was to run between 46 and 48 minutes, but I had a backup goal of anything sub-50 minutes.  Spoiler alert - I ran it in 49:15.

The lessons I learned in this race were invaluable. While my learnings in my first race were all really about newbie mistakes or ignorance, and my second race was about the difference in the field vs my first, the third was really about me, my training and my mental game.

For starters, I put my prior learnings to good use and did a much better job of managing my energy and water. No bonking for me.  Well, sort of given the heat and distance, but not like on my second race.  I was good about breakfast, getting carbs and protein throughout the time before the race (but not so close that I'd have stomach issues), hydration, etc.  I used a nuun electrolyte tablet in my Nathan racing flask, which was probably my only fuel/hydration mistake since the thing got effervescent and cause water to spray out the bottle during much of the first mile.  I ran with my thumb over the top of the bottom to keep things together, which wasn't ideal.  I also drank a mix of Gu, chia seeds and water that had soaked together about 40 minutes before the start to ensure I had energy and liquid in me.

Pumping it into the finish

But my first challenge started to rear its head while I waited for the start - the heat.  I had sunscreen on, but could feel the strength of the sun really hitting me hard.  It was in the upper-80s as we headed toward the 10am start, and the mercury was rising fast.  It was also super humid.  So the first issue was the heat. Not too much you can do about that beyond dressing appropriately, and, if you can, trying to train in heat so your body is adjusted to it as much as it can be.  I made a wise decision not to use a compression tank top under my racing singlet.  I usually wear one when I run, and prefer to do so, but the added layer would have been too much.  I had found this on a run earlier in the week where it was hotter, more humid and I was in more direct sun.  The extra layer really made it dangerous for me.  My only wardrobe mistake was the racing singlet I chose. I have two newbodi.es singlets that I really like, but I picked the cooler looking one (in the pic above).  It's black, which isn't ideal for direct sun, but more importantly it doesn't seem to be as light or breathe as well as the white newbodi.es singlet I have from New Balance (see the post-race pic below).  Fashion (if you can call it that) should have lost out to function.

Just past the finish line (which I jumped through)

The second challenge was one I don't think I'd have had if my knee and musculature weren't an issue - hills.  I generally haven't run a lot of hills, and have sought out relatively flat training runs through my recovery to take it easy on my knee.  The impact of my recent hikes meant that my knee wasn't ready to take on hills just yet, so I couldn't train for the race with an elevation profile anywhere near what I'd encounter.  This touches on the third challenge - I had no idea what I'd encounter as I had zero familiarity with the course.  It was changed slightly the morning of the race, but I could have at least driven through the area of the original course to get a feel for the ups and downs.  I wasn't prepared mentally for the hills (the first was at least a half mile long, and had a good incline profile - not too high, but not shallow enough to be irrelevant), or more importantly the uncertainty of when a hill would end or if I was about to hit another.  That uncertainty really unraveled my mental strength and lead me to be almost scared throughout the race of whether my body was going to give up on me.

Post-race with my friend who ran it with me
(though finished several minutes ahead)

And that leads to the fourth challenge - the mind game.  I've spent a lot of time on runs talking myself out of walking. It seems like I'm perfectly fine, and then the idea will pop into my head that I could walk for a bit (e.g. to that street sign up ahead to catch my breath), and then I can't kick it. I almost feel like part of me is begging for it, even when I'm really doing fine.  My hiking experience put front and center the dichotomy between what the body can do and what the mind thinks it can do (the body is far more capable than the mind thinks it is).  The uncertainty of whether I was about to hit another hill or when the hill I was on might end really unnerved me, and I ended up walking probably seven times.  None of them was too long (maybe 30 seconds at most), but I felt defeated each time, and like I was cheating (myself, if not the race).  Others around me walked off and on, including some people who looked like far better runners than I did, but that didn't make me feel proud or at least ok about walking.  On my other two races, I either got a blow by blow from a friend who had run it or I knew the course directly myself from living and running in the area many times.  This time was like doing it blindfolded, and I wasn't enjoying it.  For me, I know I should at least scout out the course ahead of time (even if only with Google Earth).

So I hit my goal time, and should be happy.  I finished 96th out of 831, which is ok, but not in the top 10% like my prior races (this made me in the top 12%, if that's even a thing).  I really wanted to do it in 48 or better, and kicked myself for walking because that probably would have made the difference between 49:15 and 48.  In reality, there's no way to know since I could have run more slowly overall and end up with the same time (or a touch better or worse, but probably not 1:15 better).  I could also have passed out and DNFed.  Who knows, but it isn't worth beating myself up over an uncertainty.

We live, we race, we learn. We do better each time. We may not do better overall, but as long as we do better on the parts we've been learning about, we end up doing better overall.  That's how you enlighten.your.body.