Final Placing: 30/4922 (10th in age category)
RACE REPORT
I had an overall good feeling going into the race....earlier in the week I had a good 8km run that felt great, and I felt like I was good to go. The only thing that was looming in my mind was my piriformis and hamstring muscles that have been giving me trouble for the past little while, but before the race my legs felt pretty good. The excitement was building slightly in the few days before the race, however I didn't think of it too much...however, it wasn't until I crossed the gate into the starting chute of the race when I got a TON of butterflies in my stomach, and the nervousness really sunk in. I felt like I was going to be sick, and this feeling continued throughout the first few kilometers of the race. It has been a long while since I have felt this nervousness, sickness feeling before a race, but I am glad that I got to experience it again, because it is an indicator to me that I am excited and pumped for the race.
Race Strong Point: As what usually seems to be the norm for me at some point in a long distance race, negative thoughts begin creeping into my head, saying that I can't finish the race. This happened at about the half way point of the race (just before the lift bridge). I believe this was one of the points where my pace began to slow down slightly, as these thoughts began to drag me down. What I felt strong about was that I was able to overcome these thoughts quite quickly for a few reasons....1) When I began to feel like I was slowing down and getting these thoughts in my head, I thought it was my body telling me that I needed some energy, so I ate a gel at this point just before the aid station to help get my energy back....2) With a little luck, I had a little inspiration by a couple other runners who were doing the 2-man relay. With fresh legs, two guys just beginning the 2nd leg of the relay began to pass me on the lift bridge, however, I felt like they were passing me because my pace was slowing down, not because they were faster. So I stuck with them for most of the second half of the race, which helped me through the hills and the back half of the race. I began to focus my mind on staying with these runners, and forget about those negative thoughts that were looming around. Another strong point I feel I had with the race is that the rain and cooler temperature didn’t really bother me at all. Normally, I am not a fan of racing in this kind of weather (especially if I am doing a triathlon and have to bike in the rain), but I seemed to completely block all of that out of my mind for the race, knowing that there wasn’t anything I could do about the weather, so I would just have to deal with it.
Race Weak Point: Because this was my first race in several months, and because I had it in my mind to be a little on the cautious side for fears of causing an injury to my hamstring, I don't think I was aggressive in my strategy and planning as I could have been. When I finished the race, other than a little soreness in my legs, I felt like I could have done another 12 kilometers easily and finished a marathon...I don't feel like I pushed myself as much as I could have. This was the first year I have finished the Bay race where I didn't feel completely warn out, exhausted, and given everything I had. I felt reasonably good after the race, and I feel I could have been more aggressive, especially early in the race....however, there is always the question that if I had pushed myself a little harder in the race, it is possible that my hamstring could have been aggravated...so even though I felt like I could have pushed myself a little harder, it was probably wise not to this time.
With all of this being said, I am left to consider this race to be a "safe" race rather than "go for it" race, where I could have left everything out on the course.
-E.D.
