Race Recap - Running into the New Year - literally!

How did you celebrate on New Year's Eve? I don't know about you, but part of my celebration was running a 5k! I loved the idea of this race from the minute I heard about it. A NYE 5k, how cool is that?!

Mustering a smile post-run

I have to admit that this race was a little disappointing.  I really wanted to beat my previous time of 28:22, and sadly, I was not able to do that.

Because of the weather, there were some last minute changes to the course, but it was still less than ideal. I appreciate the volunteers and staff of this event going out of their way and working harder to accommodate these conditions, and I understand there is only so much that could be done. Much of the course was pretty slippery, and the beginning was really narrow so there was some considerable bottleneck going into it. Because of the iffy roads and the freezing cold temperatures that day, a lot of people didn't show up and it seemed like morale was a little bit down. I know it was for me, because I was there by myself (Kevin had to work and couldn't come with me, and none of my friends were there). So I think that I and many others just wanted to run the race and get out of there.The festivity I imagined around this race just wasn't there.

Well, except maybe for these folks:

If the temperatures had been slightly more bearable and the roads/course not so affected by ice and snow, this event would have been a blast. And, I probably would have performed better.

I understand that these things aren't under my control. There is nothing I can do about the weather and the course conditions. Once it gets to that, I just have to do my best and be proud of myself for it.

I read a great article in Runner's World recently about bouncing back from disappointing races. The first step, they say, is to acknowledge what was and wasn't under your control. The weather wasn't under my control, but some factors were under my control.

Once the bottleneck at the beginning eased up, I overcompensated trying to make up the time lost from the slow start. That was a mistake. Before I even hit mile 1 I was worn out. My legs felt heavy and tired for every step of that race. For the first time ever, I wasn't enjoying a race, I just wanted it to be over. And then, the pinnacle of lack of preparation: my shoe came untied (really?? REALLY?!?).

Waiting to start the race...guess I should have been paying more attention to these laces!

Also, I think I had some unrealistic expectations going into this race. I really built this one 5K up in my mind and for some reason, it was uber-important to me to beat my previous time. This is my last 5K before I go on to bigger races (well, for the forseeable future anyway), and there's a chance I won't be as good or fast in longer distances, so I guess I wanted to get one last taste of victory before the hard stuff comes. I remember the thrill of my November 5K and how good it felt to beat my time, and I wanted that again. I actually trained harder for this one than the previous ones, and I didn't want all that to be for nothing. Or maybe it's just that it was the last day of the year and I wanted to go out in a blaze of glory.

It wasn't until my drive home that I realized I had become way too obsessed with this one race. I wanted to beat my old time so bad that I lost my perspective. This is just one race, it's not the be-all-end-all of everything. I had to remind myself that I have bigger goals - my halves and my full - and I need to remain focused on those. Those are what's really important, those are what I'm running for. I love small races and it's important to me to do well in them, but I need to remember to put things in perspective. Beating my goal 5K time and being higher up in the results than I expected are great feelings, but not as great as the feeling of crossing the finish line of my first half and then my first full marathon.

I also needed to put things in perspective to remind myself that just because I didn't live up to my expectations, doesn't mean I did that badly. I came in at 29:21, which is still a respectable time considering what we had to work with. I was 14th in my age group of 50 women. That's not bad at all! Hey, I'll drink a complimentary beer to that!

Since I had already taken 2 pictures in front of this thing, I was a little embarrassed to go back and ask another stranger to get a shot of me with my eyes open

"Linked together for hope": a world record attempt at 500 people running a 5K linked together! Don't think they reached 500 though :/

My next race (and 1st for 2014) is a 10K on February 2nd, one month from today. That's right, I'm movin' on up! A 10K will be much more challenging for me and I'm both nervous and excited to take it to the next level. Stay tuned!