Oh What a Night!

Race day was upon me. I got up at 7am, did my jobs, made breakfast and my lunch then walked to work. I left work a bit early and walked home at a nice gentle pace. Oliver was out with his carer until 6:30pm so I had some time to chill before getting ready. Joanne was asleep in bed after having a bad day in lots of pain. I made sure she was OK before I left and headed out, taking my Saucony shoes with me, they are light and have always been fast, plus they have the same drop as my new balance so the difference isn't felt in my calves.

Running 3.1miles - Ulverston 5k race    5.29/mile   17:09min

It was a bit of a rush to get to Ulverston tonight. Traffic was bad and I made it with about 30min to spare, registered and went for a warm up! My priority tonight was to get my hips and hamstrings warmed up properly as they had been tight today. I went through my usual mobility work and after a short jog, I did my Lunge Matrix that Gareth taught me. Its a really good way of opening up my hips and flexors ready for the rigours of a 5k. I did some strides and made my way to the start.
There were lots of running clubs on display tonight, all proudly wearing their colours and muscling in to get to the front of the pack. I felt a bit like the odd one out as I stood in my running top between all the young and lithe athletes, but that suited me tonight. I had a plan, run my race at my pace, be relentless and go for it.
The gun went or should I less romantically say, an old guy shouted 3,2,1 and "off you go". We were off at a breakneck speed, legs and arms everywhere as I jostled for an early place. After 200m or so it calmed down a bit but the pace was still above where I had planned to be. I  initially planned to be around 5:45 per mile but the pace was about 5:25. Although fast, it felt manageable as we rounded the first corner and a quick glance ahead put me in the top 15ish. I settled into this new, hard and fast pace, my heart rate already rising through the roof. I settled my breathing into a steady rhythm and concentrated on deep breaths, all the time keeping my cadence quick and my stride long to accommodate the pace. My Garmin beeped already: 1 mile 5.22/mile pace, a third of the short race, 2 miles to go.
I pushed on further into the race, passing a few runners whose premature fast pace was now finding them out. I relaxed my shoulders and concentrated more on my breathing, keeping it calm but strong and deep. As we passed the leisure centre I took another two runners and felt really strong, focussed, driven. Another Mile beeped 2miles: 5.31/ mile consistent with my pacing. My mind whirled at the possible times in front of me. I pushed them aside and concentrated. The pain had arrived, but not a muscle tear or cut sort of pain, the sort of pain when your out of breath, muscles full with lactate, your body screaming with every fibre "STOP...PLEASE STOP". My rigid mind, well trained knew what we could do, knew something special was on the cards. "NO...NOT YET" it replied, quieting the anguish of my body.
I pushed further into the pain, beyond hurt and kept pace with the pack of runners. I passed another competitor who was gasping for air. It was getting hard, keeping the relentless pace up was tearing me apart, but I was so close. "Hang on" I said to myself, "Just hang on". The sports club came in sight and my watched beeped for 3 miles. Id hung on to the pace: 5:35 for my last mile, only 100 yards left. It turned the corner into the finishing chute, my blood boiling, gasping for air and pushed myself as hard and as fast to that finishing line.
It was all over in an instant. I crossed the line, clawing for breath. I glanced down at my watch in utter disbelief, 17:09min stared back at me. WHAT! I exclaimed silently. I knew my PB was in danger tonight but by over a minute! That was unbelievable, how had I achieved that pace, that speed and been so relentless upon myself? I went for some water and stretched out at the side of the finish, welcoming in the rest of the runners, contemplating what Id just done.
Someone said the results were up in the hall shortly after and I stared at the printed sheet with an open mouth! My time was correct and Id finished in 9th place. But not only that, I noticed my name was the only one with a MV40 by it, meaning Id come first in my age category 40-45. Holy Shit! I could not believe it. Id even won a bottle of wine for my amazing efforts.

The smile says it all!

 

Im extremely proud of my achievement tonight. It shows what hard work, dedication and focus can do and just how much the human body and mind can go through. It had been an unexpected race that I had not trained specifically for but my fitness and stamina must be through the roof to have got that time. Even a year ago I could not have dreamed of a time like that! Ive completely amazed and shocked myself.  Ive earned the glass of red wine Im now drinking!

Food Diary:

Breakfast:
Nutribullet Veggie Smoothie: Spinach, avocado, pineapple, blueberries, raspberries and chia seeds

Green Smoothie..mmmm

Lunch:
Ham and goats cheese salad with Bulgar Wheat and egg

Ham, egg and goats cheese salad

Dinner
Small bowl of pasta 1 1/2 hours before the race, Chicken, Pesto, Courgette and Pepper Wholemeal Pasta

Drinks
Coffee, lots of bottled water, an extremely well earned glass of red wine.

Snacks
2x apples, banana, nuts and seeds, small bar of dark chocolate