Last night I watched the final hours of Ironman Hawaii with Noa and Andrew and was blown away by the performances of those pros. Amazing, just amazing. Just a mention for Mike Neill and Jasper Blake who both made it to Kona this year, which in itself is such a huge accomplishment!
A suggestion came up about getting pizza. There was no more talk for a few minutes and then it was brought up again. So we ordered in. Perfect pre-race food. The Joint on Warf Street is awesome. They make wheat-free pizzas - so hard to resist!
So this morning I woke up at 5:15am. The alarm went off. I didn't just hit snooze, I turned it off. Good thing I had it set for 5:20 and 5:25 too - it seems I know myself too well. Everybody has been in the position where they are lying in bed, eyes open, thinking 'I'm not getting up' but then questioning their reasoning. This morning was one of those days. I knew that if I didn't get up then I wouldn't be able to get food in before the run, which probably wouldn't turn out too well. But I really didn't want to get up! Threw on the stereo and turned it up - it's a good thing I don't have neighbours below me yet. Got dressed, relaxed, and headed out the door at 6ish. Because I am so close to downtown I ended up walking in. Still felt good, relaxed, really really cold, 'damn I wish I'd brought gloves'. Got warmed up to wait in line for the bathroom. Pushed my way through all the people that were lined up at the start - I was pushing it for time - and got to the front.
First km I went out way too hard - when I saw the people beside me and in front of me I thought 'oh crap'. It felt good, but I knew I would pay for it. The problem was that Simon was right beside me and there were maybe 10 guys in front so I couldn't very well drop back. Simon was cruising! Made it look so easy. From about 2km onwards I slowed and got passed and felt like my lungs were burning. Finished with a 4-min pb over my last 8k in January (really though, it wasn't exactly much of a time to beat...), and got a pb through 5k over my last 5k in July. I was like 9th in my A/G and 24th overall - don't think I'll crack that top 5 A/G spot for some time....one day, though! Just a bit more work...
What did I learn...? It seems that every race/experience I do or have leads me to the same question. That's because I learn something new EVERY time. This time I went in really relaxed, on top of nutrition, and with a greater confidence in my ability. I came out realising that I need to figure out pacing (something I know is terrible). If I had paced better through the first 2k I would have run faster.
This is coming off almost a month of time off and easier training loads. Everything is slowly moving in the right direction! And, I LOVE LOVE LOVE my Lunaracers!!! I have been running in them since July and they are AWESOME!
Time to make some pie!