Tonight was kind of bittersweet. It was my last race of the Bond Brook 5K Race Series for this year. I know that there is one more race next Thursday at 6:00 P.M., but I have a “you will attend event” for my wife’s work, so I will miss it. I have a feeling I would rather run the race, but sometimes you gotta do, what you gotta do.
I have really enjoyed this trail race series at lot!!!! The people who ran the events were great and the other runners that I have met were fantastic. I have also learned a lot and realized that racing isn’t that bad. Which is something that I needed and I feel a lot more comfortable lining up at the starting line of a race than I used to and I give a lot of the credit to this trail race series and the people that I have competed with during the race.
But the best part of this races series was that it was:
FUN!!!!
That was the most important thing that I learned during this series was that running a race didn’t have to be a stressful thing, with all the great expectations that I used to put on myself. So if I take nothing else away from this series, I will have that.
Besides trail running is getting in my blood and I plan to do a lot more of it.
Tonight’s race though, I just didn’t feel right, I tried an experiment in what I ate before the race and really wish that I hadn’t, my stomach was off a bit. I went out pretty slowly and then coming down one of the hills, I went ass over tea kettle and even though I got right back up, I just felt off for the next few minutes. When I got my stride back, it wasn’t the same pace.
I wasn’t the only one that fell, one of the women, who I have been competing with all summer, fell about 1/2 mile later and while she was okay, it did slow her down enough that I caught up and passed her and held her off during the last quarter.
The good news was that I set a new course PR, by 2 seconds. I really thought that I was slower than last time, but I wasn’t. The bad news, I didn’t break 26:00 like I really wanted to. Three things I learned tonight:
- Don’t eat a certain thing before running, it bothers my stomach
- Wear trail running shoes, when running trail races – they do make a difference
- When you fall, push yourself to get back to your pace as fast as possible, if you aren’t hurt. Otherwise you loose too much time.
Overall, a good race, a course PR and learning what to do next time.
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jfoyohealth
September 13, 2012 at 10:24 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Every time I look at your numbers and miles, I’m so impressed. Truly inspiration. I think making it fun is something we need to do more.
Harold L. Shaw
September 14, 2012 at 8:47 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Thanks, making running fun is what we need to do, we have enough doom and gloom in our lives and making running part of that, seems to me to be such a wasted effort. Running is work, but it also can be fun and if you are around other people who run, it can be even more fun
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coachdougbowers
September 14, 2012 at 8:17 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Trail running is great. I love it. 26 minutes even after falling down is fantastic! What was that “thing” that made you’re belly feel funny – if you wouldn’t mind sharing?
doug
Harold L. Shaw
September 14, 2012 at 8:45 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Doug – thanks, I am happy with how I am running right now and hope it gets better. As far as what made me feel funny, I would rather not say, it was something I trying out and it definitely didn’t work for me.
September 2012 Reviewed | A Veteran Runnah
September 30, 2012 at 9:33 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
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