Ras Na Heireann 5K race OR how Ana-Maria finally broke 20!

Garmin stats: 3.12, 19:26, 6:15 pace.
Official results: 19:26, 6:16 pace.
1st 30-39 AG.
8th/2599 women
82/5029 with men

I was thinking about doing another 5K for a while now, but the thought of puking AND failing to meet my goal kept me back. Lets face it, I have been chasing the sub 20 for almost a year now, and have been running courses that are too long, or too hilly, or accurate but I would vomit and have to slow down. So when Jenn emailed me to wish me luck, I really had no idea if I am going to do it.

This week I went about my training as usual. I ran 55 miles, after 2 weeks of 60 miles. Sometimes yesterday I decided that I would do the race, and ran only 5 miles easy as prep. This morning I woke up with shaking hand. Literally. I did not feel nervous but obviously I was.

Chris and Petru drove me to Somerville for the race and left for Petru's drumming class. I warmed up for 3 miles (not on the course since I got lost...) at a slug's pace (as Katie suggested!) of 9:45. I never run this slow these days!

I lined up toward the front. This was a 6000 people race, with many elite runners (the course record for women is 15:59!), so I did not feel like going right in front. Plus, the race was chip timed. That was a mistake as there were tons of slow people in front of me, that I had to go around...or maybe this helped my race.

Mile 1: 6:28
I got a bit worried as I got to .5 and my pace was 6:47. Really? WTF? We took a turn and found some clear path and pushed the pace a bit to get to the 6:28 average. Much better. I did not feel great in this mile, my legs were a bit heavy. The entire mile was a false flat going up which I did not think off when I ran the race, even though I had seen this on the course map.

Mile 2: 6:14.
This was all rolling, and I pushed hard on the downhills. Here I started to think about when the puking feeling will start. It did not. I was passing people left and right. It felt great. I felt great. This was the best mile for me.

Mile 3: 6:13; .1 @ 5:20
I kept waiting for the puking feeling, but it did not come. The hurt did, but I was prepared. I had this song on twice and played it in my head, modified version.

" You know I know how
To stop em stop and stare as I go by
The club RACE can't even handle me right now
Watching you watching me
I go ALL OUT
The club RACE can't even handle me right now"

I felt amazing, passing people, feeling the flow. We ran the last .5 mile on a bike path and it was nice to see the finish so early on. There was a young girl in front of me and I tried to pass her, but she put up a fight. I let her go, but passed her in the last 100meter. Not v nice of me, but I do have a nice problem in races that I need to get over, so this was good practice!

So no puking. I had some nausea, but nothing that bad, really! I think all the racing I did at Fresh Pond got my system ready for harder efforts. Funny how, in retrospect, my best races have not felt like the hardest efforts.

Since the race was so large and had so many elite runners, I knew I probably did not place (WRONG!), and ran 5.5 miles home ending the day at 11.5 miles. I stopped at a bakery and picked up a diet coke and a muffin only to get home and see that Chris got me the same. He knows me well.

It is amazing how a little 5K can make me feel so good. It's the things that you work hard for that matters most!

And now, off to chase a sub 19, because I have no doubt I CAN DO IT!