“A lot of people run a race to see who is fastest. I run to see who has the most guts, who can punish himself into exhausting pace, and then at the end, punish himself even more… to give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the Gift."
- Steve Prefontaine ,’72 Olympian, Oregon Running Legend
The feeling I get from this quote pushed me, I started hard...hard enough that I started feeling winded after 1k, and it scared me a little, I felt like I was going too hard and I would have to slow down if I kept up the pace.
I really had no goal for the Chilly Chase on Sunday, but I decided on the drive to the race that I would set my watch to run this 10k in 49 minutes, and see if I could pull in a sub 50 minute 10k for the second time in my life. Today was probably not the best time to try this, I have been lightly training for 2 months, only maintaining some base, I have gained 10 lbs since the Victoria Marathon, and I have done no pace work since the summer. In short I had no right to expect much from this race.
And so I used the training partner function on my Garmen, I told it to set the partner to run a 49 minute 10k with the intention of chasing this "Virtual Runner" to the line, and hopefully be less than a minute behind it at the finish. At the start I was 2 metres ahead, then 10, then 18, which changed quickly to 25m behind at the top of the first incline so I pushed again catching up. At the 5k mark I was 48 meters ahead, and feeling on the edge, I had one runner on my heels and was passing another one. The thought in my head was one of how far I could push, and what that would feel like, But I did not slow down, all I could think was "What was that Quote??...I Need to keep pushing, this is not pain..."
I started my mental countdown, from 5000 metres ahead to 4 and 2 then 1500, and I could see the finish. The pain in my lungs was uncomfortable, but not unbearable, and my legs felt unbalanced, but not weak. I pushed to the finish, and maintained my pace all the way to the line. I Crossed the finish line in 47:50:08 putting me 30 seconds away from my fastest, and best prepared 10k ever, and I did it by pushing harder than I knew I could. And I beat the Vurtual Partner, and even though there was nobody there, the belief that there was a time there kept me going.
Hello 2011, I am here, and I am not running away.
Ray
Great race, Ray! I so understand your comments about pushing the body to the limit. Congratulations on really feeling what racing is all about. It's a great first race of the year for you.
ReplyDeleteGreat seeing you out there, too. When I figured out you were running the 10K I didn't feel so bad about you passing me. :) I wrote a report too in my blog.
Ray, just awesome. Sometimes we just have to push the envelope of our comfort that little bit more than we think we can to find out just how alive we are. You did that.
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