Two weeks after the Harriers Pioneer 8k race, I was noticeably feeling better. At this point, the goal was to not be significantly slower than last year.
Therefore, I just came to the race to have fun without exerting myself too much. I also wanted to see some friends.
Above: Givin’ the thumbs up to all the volunteers and cool people that made this race possible.
The truth is, not every race is going to be a personal best. I wasn’t going to let knowing that this probably won’t be my fastest 10k disappoint me.
It’s very difficult because I want to get faster (as do all other runners who train) and I work very hard to try to make it happen (a lot of people can definitely relate to working hard for something that they would like to achieve).
Since I wasn’t sure what exactly was going on with my flu/cold, I decided to take it easy again. This time though, I would do everything in my power to not start too fast.
In many previous races, I would often start out at a pace that’s too fast for me to handle at this point and pay the price towards the end of the race.
At the start of Cobble Hill 10k, many people started too fast.
I let them all go ahead, knowing that some of them would inevitably slow down later on. If someone wanted to pass me, I wasn’t getting worried about that. I just let them go.
If you’re reading this, you probably feel like I may have lost my competitive spirit because I wasn’t striving to get ahead of the runner in front of me. Believe me, that’s not the case.
This is the only way I can learn to pace myself better for future races.
This race is a good race to experiment with pace because it’s still at the beginning of the season. I was thankful to be running at a relatively good pace given the circumstances.
By the time I reached the 5k mark, my watch read 20:46. Personally, I thought it was a great first half (not too fast and not too slow) for someone who was looking to finish the whole 10k in just under 42 min.
Then, for some reason, my watch lost satellite reception after the 7k mark…I tried to maintain the pace I was going before, but the 8k marker was nowhere in site.
I felt a little concerned because I thought that I somehow significantly slowed down. I asked the guy who was running beside me: “Where is the 8k marker?” He replied: “I don’t know, but the next one I see better be 9k.”
Luckily for both of us, it was the 9k marker that we saw right in front of us. That’s when I thought: “Only 1km separates me from finishing, so if I speed up, I can get there faster.”
As I approached the finish line, I could see the clock in the distance.
Above: Crossing the finish line…and staring at the clock to my right (can’t see it in the photo).
My time was basically on par with last year, which definitely made me happy, especially because I missed so much training.
In the end, I finished it in 41:38, which was good enough for 3rd place in my age group. Additionally, I was the 9th female across the finish line (out of 239).
Above: The Awards Ceremony for my age group
Last year, I did that race in 41:30, but it didn’t come as easy. This time, I may have been 8 seconds slower, but I finished knowing that I could have gone a bit faster if I pushed it more.
However, I’m glad I didn’t exert myself because my immune system might have been too stressed and I could have got sick again.
Being sick for that long made me appreciate the fact that I could still run this race pretty much as fast as last year.
I was looking forward to getting healthy and training more so I could do better next time. After the race, I visited Float House Victoria for a nice, relaxing float where I got to rest up, clear my head and analyze the race.
I love being a part of this race series. Next up is Cedar 12k. 🙂