It's not often that I have a junk race to play with. This morning, I was afforded that opportunity at the Car2Go Marathon Relay here in Austin. A fellow Rogue had a free entry to the race (6 team members, 4.37 miles a piece) and I jumped on it. We all went into this with no intentions, have fun (some of us were just logging miles, some of us were using it as a workout, some of us were just using it as a means of sweating out the sins of last night). I was using it as a workout as I missed a QW two days ago and wanted to get back out and get one in after Sioux Falls two weeks ago.
4 am to 6 am
Not knowing the logistics of a Marathon Relay, I woke early and figured I would log a few miles with my TRPM teammates. I wanted to be around for a few miles to check in and see how everyone is (A lot of them are coming up on races and I like keep in tune with them). So I got 1.5 in with them and headed back to Rogue.
6 am
Back at Rogue I rolled, fiddled on my phone, watched the new half marathon groups filter in, and waited... the beginning of a long wait.
7:10 am
Time to get a second little run (1 mile) down to the start line.
7:20 am
At the start, National Anthem, Hoopla, Start... at this point, we don't even know our leg order minus Emily who has claimed first gig. We quickly work out that Stephanie will go second as she is racing with two teams, Sandra third, Minh fourth (he is running the first four legs, but the forth with the timing chip embedded in a baton)... that leaves the fifth and sixth legs. I give Andy the choice, and agree to run the sixth leg as I am the relay noob.
7:30 am
The race starts and we wait... the beginning of a long wait and getting to know a few of my teammates that I had never met before this day. Good conversations, a lot of watching the race, and a lot of calculating when the next person should be waiting in the corral to take on the next leg of the race.
7:30 am to 10:25 am
A WHOLE LOT OF WAITING :) and trying to keep myself loose. At one point I even go out for a short run and find my TRPM crew coming in from their 20 miler that I started with them at 5:30 am. I am intending for this "race" to be a workout like I mentioned before, but it is definitely the most segmented workout ever due to the lag factor. I will have to remember next time to not start my "warm up" until closer to my leg (and to know what leg I am running the day before). It is starting to get hotter, the sun is coming out and I am hoping the heat of September in Texas can hold itself off for one more hour.
10:38 am
I see Andy rolling in, jump out of the corral and grab the baton. Workout time! I innately turn on my Garmin..... and then do something I have never done in a race before. Switch my Garmin to time of day function so I couldn't see my pace or mileage....
The Race (or workout)
Consider this turning over a new leaf for me, or turning over my Garmin as a lot of runners call it. It was empowering. My mind and my Garmin got me in trouble in Sioux Falls two weeks ago, so I wanted to try to eliminate this from the equation. My new mantra for this race, "Take what the road will give you, and then steal a little more".
I felt great from Riverside to about the rise on Cesar Chavez coming past Lamar. I was very tempted to switch my watch to pace mode and peek, but didn't give myself the chance. My stomach started working on me as I made the stretch from Lamar to the bigger rise right before Mopac on CC. The turn at the top just didn't want to seem to come fast enough. I still noticed I was picking people off at this point, and I felt strong. The stomach issue, and the heat, were very much bothering me at this point though. Thoughts in my head.... "It isn't an injury, it's discomfort and you have run through this before."
Normally, I would be looking at my watch and obsessing about how slow or fast I was going. Today, I was just trying to take what I could from the road and steal more.
Coming down the hill back into the city on CC, my legs started getting into a rhythm again. I was struggling to control my breathing, but was making a concerted effort to bring my breath back to a steady rhythm in hopes that it would settle my stomach. I was still picking off people at this point, and I had a few friendly "targets" that I know in front of me. It is always good to have someone to chase.
When I hit the bridge coming across South 1st, I knew I was running slower. My legs were feeling it. I also knew, that I had to push that out of my mind. Unlike every other race that had taken me across this bridge, I knew I had a lot longer to go to hit that finish line. Not only did I have to make a right on Riverside and take the long stretch to the finish, I had to veer right at the finish, run past it, go down to Lamar again, and turn around back to the finish. The race was not over in any sense of the word. So I continued to control my breathing, and took the turn onto Riverside.
There is something about a crowd that gets you going again. Cheering, random strange comments, people who have no clue, people who have every clue in the world. Either way, hitting Riverside got me going again. Zoned and ready to roll for one last push. I do have to admit, my one in race mistake was longing for the finish line as I passed it the first time, but I quickly put that out of my mind and got back to work. Made the turn around at Lamar, and hit the turbo button.
Pace? Results? Respectable, but it doesn't matter at this point. I felt the pain, I harnessed it, and raced a smart race while listening to my body. I put the watch away and just ran a race for the first time in my life. And, for the first time since Cap 10K (As my coach would like to say), "the race didn't happen to me". I took what the road gave me, and stole back a little more than it has stolen from me in past races.
Takeaways/Wins/Thoughts
- Without the element of pace, your are afforded the opportunity to pay attention to the workings of your body (not thinking about what you should be running, but actually running).
- Not one person passed me in my time on course. Talk about a confidence booster. If I can pick off 32 runners on a 4 mile course, I will stop using my watch completely.
- The day/elements will affect your race. Embrace them, but don't let them overrun you. This was not my fastest day, but it was hot/humid and getting later in the day when I raced. I could have easily remembered 50 degrees in Sioux Falls two weeks prior and let that affect me, but I had to remember I was in this here and now.
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