10K PR, But No Cigar - And a few thoughts about missed goals

Preface 

(You might want to skip this part, but in put it in for those interested in all the little details)

When Amanda invited me to come race with her and Nicole in Estacada, I didn't think I would be able to go. Hubby was still hunting somewhere in the Wallowas.  I am still new to the hunting scene, but I am starting to understand that (like all things worthy of doing) it takes time-- and you don't want to use the time without reward.

We were blessed that he was able to fill his tag and pack a few hundred pounds of animal 6 or so miles out of the steep mountains. We have loads of lean, range-fed steaks, burger and sausage to show for it now! :)

During the time he was gone, I did very little running. That was fine, since my body could use the recovery from the last race anyway. What running I did was with the help of my in-laws watching the boys, or my friends Becci and Lester, who lent me a treadmill for late-night sessions. I hate running on a TM, but I was glad to have it!

The Prefontaine 10K was probably the perfect workout a week before this race: The Best Dam Run 10K. I felt fully recovered by race day (Saturday). Legs were still a little tight Friday (Back of knee tightness comes on every once in a while for me), but a 5 mile easy run, early, worked that out. I saw an opportunity to reach that sub 40 10K goal, and was grateful that my husband understood how badly I wanted to race again, and that he was willing to watch the boys solo for my overnight trip.

***

Race day

I woke up at 6:10 for a 10AM race. Amanda had graciously opened her home to me, and we had some driving to do. Breakfast was oatmeal, banana and coffee with milk and sugar. I showered (always do for races - not training! It's an artificial warm-up and mental thing) and geared up. I had been drinking Crystal Light pure fitness drink for the last two days to get plenty of fluids and electrolytes.

The three amigas at the check-in area in Estacada. Sporting my arm warmers for Nelly and Julie.

When we arrived in Estacada, it reminded me a lot of my own small town, except that it is on a different river, is a bit bigger in population, and has some "upscale" Portland influences. It was rural and scenic. The course was point-to-point and started up river, meaning it would be a net downhill race. The perfect set-up to reach my goal.

During warm up, I ran 2 miles easy and ran 5 strides of 100-200 meters at about 5-5:30 pace.  I saw the porta-potty lines (second trip there) and found an empty ditch with bushes instead. When I headed up to the start, I found Nicole (who was very concerned for us)- but not Amanda. The race director was counting down and with 20 seconds to go, I saw her huffing up the hill playing with her Garmin! Talk about cutting it close!

The line was not painted across the road, so we all got near the imaginary spot. When the gun went off, it was a serious downhill start. I could hear Amanda shout "GO RAINA!". What a way to start a race. What a friend.

A few men and a very cut woman in a bright Brooks racing tank and shorts were ahead. I am not sure why I went out at a 5 minute pace, but I did for while...then I talked myself into letting them ahead and settling into a reasonable/realistic pace. Perhaps that was an error, or going out too fast was. I do not know.

Mile 1-6:06 (best pace 4:49)

Miles 1-3 were gorgeous, with views into a canyon with the Clackamas river below.  It was a bit smokey due to wild fires, but the scenery was mesmerizing. I ran solo and focused on settling into a good pace. Looked at my watch a few times and wondered if it would keep tracking with all the trees and canyons. 

Mile 2 -6:24 (12:29 running total)

There was some gravel in patches and along the steep wall, but this was pretty minimal. It really just gave me something to think about in regards to not stumbling.

Boy scouts manned the water stations at 2 points in the race. I think I took water at mile 3- and just a sip.

Mile 3- 6:25 (18:55 running total)

We lost our shade somewhere in mile 4. It felt warm, but not unbearably hot. I stayed focused on hitting the tangents as much as possible to keep the course short. Many walkers were on the course at this point, but they were off to the right, and might have made a few of those tangents harder to hit. But they paid their fees and have right to walk the tangents too, I suppose. :)

Mile 4- 6:21 (25:16 running total)

Mile 5 came as a surprise to me. I should have looked at a profile map first. It was an uphill mile and my legs had been cranking hard for the last 4. I didn't do the math, but figured I had banked enough time in the first mile to rest a little in this section. But it didn't feel restful. When I saw the pace for mile 5, I knew it wasn't good, but still reasoned I had enough banked in the first mile to be under my goal. That was certainly a tactical error, if not a lazy mathematical one. 

Mile 5- 6:52 (32:08 running total)

I list the running total here to show that I thought I had almost 8 minutes to run one mile. 

Except I didn't. 

As we entered Estacada, I saw the city limit sign, surrounded by signs that read 40, 40 mph, that is. I heard my watch beep for 6 miles and didn't bother to look.

Mile 6- 6:29 (38:37 running total) 

A little way after this, I turned the corner for the final stretch. I looked for the finish and the big clock. I saw the clock turn from 39:59 to 40:00 ..and my heart sank. I finished strong and was handed a beautiful 10K medal.

Photo by Steven Wagner

Final .25- 6:28 (40:13/ 40:14 official),
Average garmin pace: 6:26, goal of 6:25 or better. Official average pace 6:29.

I grabbed a water and went back to the finish line. A short while later I spotted Nicole and Amanda coming in, both with BIG Beautiful smiles on their faces! I was thrilled to see they raced so well and finished faster than their individual goals.

 ***

Post race

I did my usual cool-down and Amanda joined me; Nicole's sweet family came and they parted ways for a family day after Nicole's husband took our photos.

 Photo by Steven Wagner

The food was worth going to race for!! There was watermelon, pretzels, bagels, peanut butter, string cheese, bananas, cold sports drink. Did I say watermelon?

Due to some issues with computers going down, the race awards ceremony was changed to a table where you could go and ask for your award, but sometimes I prefer that to a ceremony anyway!

Wendy, the first female, finished in a cracking 36:49 (5:56) pace.

I really enjoyed talking with her and trying to learn from a pro. She is 42 and is shooting for a 2:40:00 at the Twin Cities Marathon this weekend. Since she started running at 30, and I was 33 when I really got started, maybe I can be that fast by the time I am 45! Ha.

Final stats:
2/236 females
1/35 in age group
25/413 overall

For a very detailed and well written review of this race, click HERE.

***

Some thoughts on missing my sub 40 goal.

I was disappointed, but I trust God. I know that sometimes He doesn't let us reach our goals because He wants to build character in us. He wants us to grow, to be more like Him. 

I worked hard, yes. But if I got the sub 40, this time, maybe it wouldn't have been with the right heart. I would rather have the right heart than the sub 40.

The following applies to me:

I have children and a husband. I have been called to care for them. For a while I am letting go of the goal, but for a better cause. That is not to say I don't still want to be a 39:59 or faster 10K racer, just that it is not going to be my pursuit every weekend if it doesn't help my family.
That is not to say I wouldn't race if the right opportunity came up, but it would have to be very right. Many races are on Sundays and I wish they weren't. I like to be with my church and family on Sunday. It is important not to be running off to races. A marathon once or twice a year, maybe, but not 5ks & 10ks every weekend. There might be a season for that someday, but probably not until my children are able to race those distances without hand-holding.

 ***

Some things I am deeply thankful for:

• I rarely get the chance to run with other people and I had the chance to do it twice in 8 days. 
• I have explored the depths of intense 10K training, tapering and racing. I raced 4 10k's this summer/fall. That's more than 2 other years combined!
• My husband has been a faithful supporter and watches the kids so I can train and race.
• My parents come to most of my races.
• Good friends.
• I have not been injured since February, and I have gotten faster!
• My 10K is almost 4 minutes faster than a year ago.- 17 minutes faster than 3 years ago, when I first started getting serious about distance running.
• I started home school for my 6 year old last week and he LOVES it. So do I!! I had been dragging my feet about doing it.  I didn't realize how much both of us would thrive from the organization and one-on-one time.

^{Col 3:17} And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

^{Jeremiah 29:11} For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Prefontaine Memorial 10K Race report

No PR.
No Sub 40.
No problem.

Sometimes it's worth sacrificing a  PR just to learn something new, gain some first-hand information or try taking on the seemingly impossible.

I put some goals out there and worked my butt off for them. I researched. I was nervous. I hoped. But I didn't do it this time.

After racing the Prefontaine Memorial 10K, I can now say:

• I didn't PR (for the first time in two years)
  
• There are some terrific people who were pulling for me. They left comments on my preview post, sent gifts by mail (you are both AWESOME and you know who you are!!), and gave cyber (non-)coaching advice (you are awesome too!!). Love was poured out on me! THANK YOU! I am incredibly blessed.
• Without a doubt, this was the hardest 10K course I have done yet (I am still pretty inexperienced, though).  I have avoided this one, and purposefully looked for easier, flatter races. I found a challenge here, (but not a sub 40- not by a long shot- or even a PR).

Pre Race:
I got a pretty good night's sleep thanks to my parents who went out of their way and booked a hotel for us on the bay. It was a breezy 49F at 8 am- but warmed up by race time (which was 10).

For breakfast I ate oatmeal and drank coffee with milk and sugar (usually I use stevia). I also had some Gatorade about an hour before the race, and had been drinking a bottle of Powerade Zero for each of the 4 days leading up to the race. I put on my Brooks Launch and headed to downtown Coos Bay, OR.

When I got to the start it was still pretty early, so I looked around and ran into Ronda. We visited awhile and then I started my warm up.

After about a mile and a half of easy running I did some strides in an alley way (6 x 50-100 meters fast), since the crowd was getting pretty thick at the start. The high school runners started their 5K (due to OSAA rules, they can no longer compete in the 10K with all other racers- boo!).

There was a good-sized crowd for such a small town (The late Steve Prefontaine's Hometown), and no timing chips or mats.

I ran into an acquaintance who is the cross country coach for Yoncalla High School. I asked, and he told me he was shooting for under 45 minutes.

The community college cross country athletes lined up on the line and I got right behind them. Behind me were about 800 people, many of them in crazy costumes. Lots of fairies and a few dinosaurs and even a pair of gorillas. Music from the 80's and early 90's hair bands was blasting, and they played "The Final Countdown," just before starting us on our way.

 Not sure where this photo (above ) was taken, but if it looks flat, it is deceiving.

The course was essentially out and back: uphill for the first mile, downhill for the second, uphill for the third, downhill for the fourth, uphill for the 5th and downhill for the last mile- until the end, which was flat for a few blocks before heading up the hill to the finish.

My goal was to try to run under 6:40 uphill and under 6:15 downhill (I realize now that this still doesn't average to 6:25 pace, so maybe I need to work on my math too!). My splits are messed up due to my hitting the lap button 12 seconds into the race, but more or less they show where I struggled:
12 secs..
mile 1 -6:40 (on goal)
mile 2- 6:14 (on goal)

 Heel striking and trying to catch the man in the neon tutu.

mile 3- 6:52 (12 secs slower than goal, nice hill)
mile 4- 6:20 (5+ secs slower than goal)
For a while I could see the second female in front of me, keeping a steady pace and leading by 50M or so. I finally caught her and we ran together part of miles 4 and 5 in a stretch called agony hill. People were cheering because they knew we were 2nd and 3rd at that point. Then she got ahead of me on the downhill.  I tried to reel her in, but to no avail.

mile 5- 7:24 (way off of goal- 44 secs slow)
mile 6- 6:20 (5 secs off of goal)

As I entered the track for the last .2, it seemed as though the finish line was so far away still. I did my best to put some power in my kick, but got passed twice! First, the coach from Yoncalla came out of nowhere, and passed me like I was walking. Hitting his top speed, he left me in his dust! Then, as if that wasn't enough, as I got close to the clock and could see the BIG old 40 (turning to 41) already on there, another guy sprints by me. DUDED TWICE! ha :) I had nothing left.

When I finally crossed the line at 41:09 I wasn't upset about it. This time I knew I gave it my best and just couldn't hit that time goal on that course. Nothing really went wrong, I just couldn't hit three hills that were a mile long each, and maintain my goal pace. I still feel I could hit a sub 40 on a flatter course right now. I want to do the Scandia Run over again!

Post race refreshments were all types of Gatorade on the Marshfield High School football field.

Thanks to Ronda for sticking around to watch the chaos of a super-long awards ceremony.

There's a lot more I could put in here about the stress of awards ceremonies and mostly potty trained 2 year-olds, but I will save that. I am just glad I found my bag with my wallet after I left it in the bleachers.

Stats:
41:09 gun time
3 / 391 females
1 / 51 35-39 age group (AG record on this course is 38:05)
35 / 803  overall

Late Edit: You can read the online newspaper article about the race HERE.

***

Afterwards we found Danny! Everyone except my parents (way too exhausted after watching the boys all morning) went to a pizza and play place.

Danny got in the bounce house and ALL the kids came running! 

Matthew and Nathan found some moose and bears to hunt (that is a Lollipop- not a cigarette!)

.

Ronda let Danny win at air hockey. :)

 Levi made some hoops!

 ***

We were blessed to have some exceptional weather on the coast. 

It was a beautiful day at Sunset Bay on Friday (day before the race)- so the boys and I relaxed there for few hours soaking up the sunshine and the last days of summer.

Here I leave you with a few photos:

Prefontaine 10K (goal race) Preview

It's just a 10k. Right?

It's not normal for me to be this anxious before a race. I have several questions in my mind and I am trying very hard to quiet the noise..

This might surprise you (or maybe not), but I haven't ever trained for a 10K, (or a 5K, or a half marathon). This marks the first time. Yes, I have raced those distances, but not with a solid plan that led up to that race. My method was to run a certain baseline mileage, maybe do day or two of tempo or fartlek each week, and take a day or two off before a race and seeing what happened.

So, my reason for doing this training period was based on curiosity-- to see what I could accomplish if I trained specifically for the distance. I have a funny feeling I will still be left with bunches of questions after Saturday's race, though.
***

 I am hoping that the energy of racing on the roads that Steve Prefontaine ran, with so many other people (including many high school cross country teams), will inspire me to dig deep-
deeper than ever before in a race--

because I picked a tricky course for a final exam.

This blogger's post on the race last year provided me with some helpful Garmin course profile info:

I hope it's not as scary as it looks: 160ft gain in about a mile, and about 120ft in mile 2- but there is downhill too! Oh yeah...and mile 4.

Just for comparison, the Butte to Butte 10K only had one big hill:  250ft  gain in the first mile- then all downhill and flat.




OK. So it's not a perfect course. But it will provide a chance to recover between hills, right?
***
Preparation

Ten weeks of training for this race should help.      I hope.

I didn't follow my plan exactly. I did execute the quality days to the best of my abilities and hit my max planned mileage 65 MPW +/-,  though it ended up being sooner than planned. Some days were good, some fell a little under my goals. Most of my easy paced running was done at 20-30 secs slower than my current Vdot lists.

My most recent speed workout was Tuesday night:

• 4x1200 Threshold pace (goal 6:41 pace) with 2 minute recovery run,  
• 4x200 Repetition pace (goal 42 secs)

I had the wind at my back going uphill and in my face going downhill.
What I ran was:

• Warm up at 8:53 for 1.5 miles
• 4x 1200 Threshold   6:28 & 6:37 (uphill/tailwind), 6:43, 6:48 (mostly downhill/ headwind) 2 minute easy run recovery between each
• 4x200 Repetition  42, 41, 43, 42 with 1.5-2 minute recoveries 
• Total: 6.58 miles

Wednesday I ran under 4 miles, easy, and I plan to run one more 3 mile (or less) run either today or Friday.

A few questions I have right now are:

• Did I start reducing mileage soon enough?
• How strong should I attack the hills? Still not sure here.
• If not sub 40 on this hard course- can I still PR?
• Can I distract myself from this race, take my negative thoughts captive, and turn them into positive thinking? I admit I am struggling with this. I really hope that God will just quiet my heart and give me some peace regarding this race and other events surrounding this week.
• Will I be brave enough to wear the skirt Amanda sent me? Or will I even remember to pack it?  (I forgot to pack another skirt for my July race.)
• What will be waiting for me at the post office today?? :D

A few positive things to focus on:

• In this training cycle I have learned a LOT about myself as a runner. I know now that high mileage is good, but a lot of quality work (speed days) makes it very hard to maintain high mileage & longer runs. I stayed with my mileage goals, but learned to reduce my long run in favor of quality work.
• I have had some excellent training days, and despite not running my easy paces at goal, most of my speed work was at goal, or very close (both faster and slower).
• During the 10 weeks I did something I haven't done during a cycle before- raced- and set new personal records both times. (Scandia Run 10K and Eugene Celebration Mile)

Eugene Celebration Mile in August

• Noteworthy stuff: I was able train hard and make it 10 weeks without getting injured!! That, in itself, will keep me with Jack Daniels formula.
• I will get to run this race with friends - Ronda, Danny, and a high school-aged neighbor!! (and hundreds of other cross country team members).
• It will most likely be perfect race weather, (60's F), so long as it's not windy. 

• I have some really awesome support  (bloggers, facebook friends, high school friends, and family, especially my husband and parents) who support my insanity habits. YOUR encouragement has meant the world to me. I honestly don't think I would have ran my last race without some of that encouragement. Thank you!!! I am Blessed!

P.S.
If you see a midget, dressed as an old man, running around the slot machines at the Mill Casino, it just might be my oldest trying to win Mama a trip to Boston!