This evening I set off with regular running buddies Mark and Jen to the second in the Todmorden 5k Series by Cannonball Events. Mark kindly drove again (I'd not be able to make these remote midweek races with as much ease if not for the driving skills of my mates!) while for Jen it was her first visit to the course. Another lovely evening, we had a good hour for a catch up on the way whilst I did a little test with one of the samples from my last Joggbox and treated myself (?!) to a Beet It juice shot which is supposed to be especially high in nitrates, boosting performance by increasing the amount of oxygen your muscles can absorb during training. There's a lot of study and conflicting opinion on this as you might expect but I figured today was a good day to try it as experimenting on Sunday may not be advantageous to my sub 40 goal given that it could go either way!
| It tasted OK, I like beetroot so that wasn't a surprise but aside from an almost disastrous last minute toilet need which may, or may not have been caused my my sudden beety ingestion, I can't honestly say I was aware of any difference whatsoever. reading further however, many studies do suggest that to achieve any result you need to 'pre-load', much like you with carbohydrates before an event, so it maybe that I just didn't get enough to find out. Or maybe I'd have died on my beetroot-deficient arse without it... WHO KNOWS!? I am now waiting see if it turns my urine pink as advertised. I'll be sure to post pictures later. NOT.  Before (Jen and I raring to go in our matching sock style-eee!)... |  A juicy pre-race treat! As mentioned yesterday, my only real goal for this race was to enjoy it, however following the excitement and third (almost second!) place in the first of the series, I was trying hard not to pile the pressure on myself and risk jeopardising my performance on Sunday, especially given that I raced last night too. It struck me though, speaking to various people before the race and thinking back to other conversations I've had, how common it is for runners to set themselves up with excuses, mitigating circumstances and reasons for not breaking world records on every race. As a teacher, I recognise this as a fairly common mental defence mechanism against fear of failure. If I don't really try, or have a good reason why I am not at my best, then it doesn't matter if I don't perform as well as I would like, or feel I should. Best case scenario of course is that you do well and can then appear to have achieved even more highly over and above your pre-stated handicap but if things don't go so well then you're covered. I know I do it and judging from observation it seems most of us do. So. I am rebelling against this negative mindset as I suspect it can actually cause you to do less well than you might have done. Cut the excuses and (beetroot coloured!?) crap. This is the deal; I'd have liked to PB. I'd have liked to break my 5k and the course record and come in under 18 minutes. I'd have liked to win a prize and made my club proud and bask in the glory. Who wouldn't? |
HOWEVER I also recognise that you can't get a personal best on every race (the logical conclusion of that is what? Teleportation? Time travel!?) and that some days you just don't run as well as others, regardless of how intricately you have followed all the pre-race advice and rituals. Lucky safety pins and beet juice shots or no, sometimes you just don't go as fast. I could tell you about why my performance was reduced as I raced last night, or how I held back as I got a hip niggle on the first lap and I wanted to leave some in the tank for Sunday. I could suggest I didn't run like a gazelle because there was a vegetable juice war going on in my digestive system or blame a delayed race-start for compromising my warm-up routine. I could blame the wind, the sun, the undulating course, question the current planetary alignment or cite other runners getting in the way but the fact is I ran my best at that time and my achievement (which it still is, regardless of the specifics) is mine and mine alone. I ran as well as I could and that's enough for me! I found it a little harder than the last race and was a few seconds slower but with a respectable chip time of 20 minutes on the nose (well, there was .06 of a second but we'll call that 'loose change') I think I did pretty well. Not the sub 20 (19.54) I managed last time but not far off! What can you do in 6 seconds anyway? Actually, I think that's pretty good and as for this race the organisers had brought in chip timing, meaning I can look at my lap times too, it's good to know I did pretty well paced 3 minutes 50 (ish) kilometres. The Garmin gave me an average speed of around 6 and a half minute miles which is still pretty speedy. and the primary target of enjoying the run was certainly achieved with no trouble!
The details of a sixth place (Ladies) finish!
| The other thing I enjoyed about the race tonight was, as always, the social side. I'd enjoy pretty much any event that involved getting my run on I think but it was good to see Autumn (who pipped me to second place in 2 awesome seconds at the last race) achieve another sub 20 PB at 19.49 (despite her pre-race excuses!) and also to get thoroughly confused by seeing a Salford Harrier in a Trawden AC shirt (how is this possible!?) before discovering that he really does have a twin and I hadn't got sucked into a dodgy 1980's sitcom involving shirt-swapping in the toilets. Some potential for fraudulent race results there I think, we shall have to insist on a three legged entries only to ensure no suspicious behaviour! Well done to Jez anyway who also achieved a PB, having said at the start that he wasn't really feeling it! Many thanks again and congratulations also to John at Cannonball for another awesome and improved event. With more than twice as many runners and an improved timing system I can tell the next two races of the series will not be disappointing! I was also very grateful to him for letting me claim my goodies for coming third last time, so I didn't go home empty handed despite not coming in any higher than sixth lady! Not bad for an evening's jog! |  ...and after. Not a drop of sweat doth sully our brows. Ahem. |
If you would like to check out all the details, you can find the results online but I am now going to chill out and take it easy for a couple of days before attempting my first sub 40 minute 10k at the We Love MCR race. Watch this space... No pre-loaded excuses, I'll just have to run my best on the day and we'll see how it goes!
