Labi1995 Clubopener
Geregistreerd op: 19 Jan 2019 Berichten: 322
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Geplaatst: 25-09-2019 02:43:45 Onderwerp: that I might win this thing |
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Thrilling, exciting, and just a tiny bit disappointing – those are the words that best describe my experience running the Global Benefit 5k in Pembroke, NH this morning. It was an awesome day for me, and not just because I had my first top 3 finish in an official race.With three kids in the house (including a 3 month old baby), I don’t get to race very often, but I try to make the most of the experience when I do. I had known for awhile that since we would have family visiting this weekend who could help out with the kids, it would be a Nike Air Max 95 Femme good time to plan for a 5K. I’ve been running well lately, so I was excited to see what Nike Air VaporMax Damen I had in me in a race situation. I chose this race for purely practical reasons, mainly because it was located close to home. It’s new this year, and I had no idea what the course would be like or how big a field it would have, but beggars can’t be choosers – I had a chance to race, and I was going to take it.I arrived at the race to find a fairly small crowd – for a number of reasons this is what I expected ($30 is pretty pricey for a 5K, but it was for a good cause). I scanned the crowd quickly as I usually do to see who would be competing, but aside from a lean teenager in a flashy pair of Nike flats, I didn’t see anyone who looked like a ringer. The local big guns seemed to be absent, and I began to think that maybe I’d have a chance to Nike Air Max 270 Homme place, and at the very least win my age group (the kid looked fast, so I didn’t really consider Nike Internationalist Mujer an outright win). After a brief warmup jog, I saw a guy show up at the last minute who I know from previous races is a lot faster than me (more on him later – we’ll call him the pro) – at that point I resigned myself to the age group idea or maybe a top five finish.At the starting line I was standing next to a trio who were discussing places to buy new shoes (naturally, my ears perked up at this!). I politely offered a suggestion of a place that has a varied selection, including Vibrams (which to me at least indicates open-mindedness), at which point one of them commented on my “stylish” shoes (I was wearing my Brooks Mach 12 XC flats – see picture below – they worked out great!). She asked if I liked them, and I explained their racing Nike Air Max 90 Dames virtues as a lightweight, low heeled shoe. One of them offered that her favorite were Asics Nike Air Max 270 Mens because they have “gel in the heel.” I chose not to launch into a tirade about marketing gimmicks To be honest, I was feeling stiff and sluggish at the starting line. I didn’t sleep well last night, and three days off running had left me a bit tight. I also tend to get pre-race anxiety really bad when I don’t race a lot, and my adrenaline was flowing in excess, raising my heart rate way higher than it should have been at the start.When the signal to start was given, I took off quickly, and it didn’t take long before I got comfortable and found myself alone in front with the kid and the coach of our local tech college’s cross country team. After about a half mile I was alone in the lead and not quite sure what to do with myself – I had never Nike Air Max 2017 Donne been in that position before. I think I slowed up a bit around the one mile marker since pacing was difficult out front, and somewhere shortly after that the coach caught up with me. I looked at him and said something along the lines of “I’ve never been a frontrunner before, I don’t know what to do!” He laughed and replied ” Just keep running faster than everyone else.” Sound advice, I’d say. I learned today that being the frontrunner is really hard, and I gained a lot from the experience – it’s challenging to push when you’re not chasing anyone. If you have any advice on how to handle this, I’d love to hear it (though I suspect this won’t be a frequent occurrence for me!).For the next half mile or so I ran with the coach, and he alerted me that we had some sizable hills coming our way (it was a very tough course – elevation Adidas Superstar Femme profile is below, and it was hot and humid). The kid had fallen off at this point, and wouldn’t be seen again until the finish (I think he was seventh). At the turnaround of the out and back, I headed back downhill, realizing that I had a big climb back up to the main road ahead of me. I was now alone in the lead once again. The thought that I might win this thing began to cross my mind, but I was scared of that hill.The hill turned out to be as bad as I expected, and it pretty much did me in. My pace rose above 7:00/mile (see pace/elevation graph below), and at the top I knew I was in trouble. I looked over my shoulder and saw the pro gaining ground – he’s a strong finisher, and as I said before I knew that he is usually way ahead of me in most races. Sure enough, he managed to close the gap, and at about mile 2.6 or so I relinquished Nike Air Max 90 Mens the lead and fell back into second place. I did manage to gain some ground back on the pro in the final quarter mile, and wound up finishing only a few seconds behind him – a result that I was thrilled with. |
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