*** I'm way overdue to post this. It's mainly copied from the post I did for the online running forum I'm a part of ***
“If you can train your mind for running, everything else will be easy”~ Amby Burfoot
This was the Runner’s World Daily Kick in the Butt that showed up in my inbox the morning after the race. Perfect.
As I've talked a lot about recently, I’ve been working on my running and racing since late June. I was unhappy with how things were going for me, so I decided to step back – not do a fall marathon – and really concentrate on shorter distances, improving my paces, and strengthening my mental approach to racing. In addition to not hitting the goal times I’d been training for in marathon after marathon, I was struggling with crippling anxiety each and every time I was lining up at the start of a race.
I enlisted the help of a friend and awesome runner who had helped me before. I followed his plan, and I improved my paces. I dropped some weight, which made running easier, and I started to really like running again. My goal race was the Long Beach Island 18 Mile Run – a race that has been a part of my life since I was a little girl. My dad was the race director for years, and in fall of 2006 – the year I started really running – I ran it for the first time. I set my PR that year, 2:44, and then struggled in the heat and anxieties that I dealt with the next two years. This year, I wanted to PR. I wanted to run with a strong mental base, and I wanted to feel good about my race.
After running a PR in the HM a few weeks ago, I felt confident as the race weekend approached. I wasn’t certain of the race plan my coach had for me (he was running Chicago the same day) but when we finally spoke on Saturday, he confirmed what I thought I should do, and I was calm and ready. The weather looked good for race day – mid 60’s and light winds – and I believed I could run the paces I was supposed to to get my PR. Already a success.
When the gun went off (and my dad dropped the start flag!) I crossed the mat and started my watch. Here we go. Plan was for me to run 8:40ish for the first 5 or 6 miles and then crank down to lower 8:30’s after that. Don’t go faster than 8:30 until later in the race, coach told me. After mile 14-15, just run. I started a little fast, but tried to run my own pace while watching runner after runner pass me by. Two of my friends took off ahead of me, but I held my pace. After the first fast mile (8:24), I slowed the second mile down to 8:35 and would end up holding it right around there through much of the run. (Splits below.)
As I cruised through the early miles, I felt like I was running slow – but knew that I needed to hold that pace. I saw friends at the start, another at mile 2, and I’d continue to see people I knew all along the course. My parents bunny-hopped the length of the run, and became rock stars themselves when the runners around my sister and I would notice these 2 people continually popping up the length of the island. Mom snapped a pic of me, mid-stride:
Here’s the thing – this course is not an exciting one. For most people, it’s really boring. You start at the south end of this barrier island and run straight up to the north end – 18 miles. The only turns you make are in the last half mile – a left and then a right into the finish area. By mile 14 you can see the lighthouse at the finish, but it’s a terrible tease, because you still have to run 4 miles to get there. Having grown up on LBI, though, and running there often even now, the race isn’t as boring to me. I pass friends, businesses, the street I grew up on, my grandmom’s house, and so much more to look at and look forward to along the way (and as I passed my grandmom's street this year, there she was in her nurse's car, waving to me!). Yes, the run is long, straight, and boring, but I enjoy it. The only thing that would make it better is if the course took us right along the ocean…
So as I ran through the first half of the race, I soaked it all in – how easy I was running, how great the weather was, how strong I felt mentally. I made sure to take water at the stops and thank all the volunteers. A friend of mine, C, is a sergeant for the local police, and he was patrolling the course on his motorcycle. He pulled alongside me and asked how I was feeling, for the first time, around mile 6. I smiled and told him I was really good. He’d continue to check on me throughout the day, and I’d always say the same thing. When I hit mile 8, I passed my parents’ street and noted that this time the last 2 years, I was overcome with the heat and started walking. Not this year.
I kept running my pace and kept feeling good. Miles 9 through 11 take you through a couple towns where there were people out cheering and businesses flank the street. After mile 11, though, you start into the north end of the island where it’s mainly residential and the spectators are generally thin. Seeing my parents and my nephews along the way made it fun. My left knee started bugging me around mile 10 (probably because of the crowning road) but by mile 14 I wasn’t really noticing it. I had taken a gel at mile 6ish and another around mile 12 or 13, and still felt good. C had let me know that my sister wasn’t feeling so great, but that she was still running, and I started to see my two friends up ahead.
This is L and G, post-race. They both finished just minutes behind me.
I passed my dad at mile 14.5ish and he said
after mile 15, start picking people off. I chuckled, because I had already started doing that.
I caught up with my first friend before mile 15 and he was ok, but slowing. I caught up to my other friend right near 15, I think, and we ran together for a few minutes, but I felt myself slowing near her and I wanted to push the pace. I went ahead. Miles 15 and 16 came and went, and I fully realized how well I was going to PR. I cranked it up a notch for mile 16, and then concentrated on hammering home for miles 17 and 18.
My legs were starting to feel it, but I dug in. Miles 17 and 18 would end up being my fastest miles of the day! When I got to the end of the straight and made my left turn, C pulled up next to me and told me he was giving me a police escort to the finish line. Cool! Lights going, he rode next to me the length of that street. When I made that last turn into the finish, he told me
great run and let me go.
I waved to my nephews, looked up at the clock, saw the time, and felt successful before I even crossed the line. I knew I had done what I wanted to do. I crossed the line, stopped my watch, and made my way through the chute. I had just run an 11 minute PR!
After catching up with my friends and seeing my sister come through (she didn't like her pics, or I'd post one with her), my mom took some pics and we headed home.
My friend, R, who placed 20th OA! And it was his birthday!
Everything I wanted out of my training this summer/fall showed through today. I got to the start mentally prepared and feeling strong, I ran a solid race, and I improved my pacing. The only thing left to do was enjoy a jump in the ocean and a chocolate milk to cap off a great day!
Mile paces:8:24, 8:35, 8:33, 8:34, 8:34, 8:34, 8:36, 8:36, 8:36, 8:33, 8:35, 8:35, 8:34, 8:28, 8:34, 8:29, 8:09, 7:59
Chip time: 2:33:26
Pace: 8:31
7/52 AG
220 OA (although they handed me #218 when I crossed and one guy is listed in the results 2x)
40/287 Female
And, the kicker – if I still had my LBI driver’s license, I’d have gotten 2nd Overall Islander Female.
