I had very low hopes for this run. For much of the previous week I'd felt low-grade crummy, my legs were leaden during my weekday runs, and on Sunday morning, the day of the race, I stayed in bed for as long as I possibly could. When I eventually left the house I felt as sluggish and unathletic as I ever had.
Things got better when I arrived at Iron Cove. Sri Chinmoy events are guaranteed to lift one's spirits with their friendly and welcoming atmosphere. Plus there are always running friends to catch up with and Iron Cove is a lovely setting. Still, I thought it was likely that this would be one of my slowest slow runs.
When the field for the 16km event assembled I self-seeded at my customary position behind everyone else. When we started, I was a bit shocked at how fast everyone else seemed to be going. I continued to chug along at the back. It was a lovely morning, cool and still, with the bay as calm as a millpond. There was no need to fret about being slow.
Gradually I started to enjoy the run more and noticed that my pace had picked up a little. By the time I reached the half-way point I was feeling very good indeed and was surprised to find that I'd caught up to my friend Linda who is normally a long way in front of me. We ran together and chatted for the next few km and Linda told me that she was taking it easy on this run because of some foot pain.
In the last part of the run I found myself a little way ahead of Linda and still feeling very good. It now occurred to me that I might even have a chance of getting in under my previous time for this event of 90 minutes, a time which I'd been extremely happy with. So I did my best to summon up a bit more pace. I could hear Linda behind me and was waiting for her to go past me, but as it happened we stayed in that order until the finish, getting there in just under 85 minutes - a big PB for both of us !
And the moral of this story ? Well, the only one I can think of right now is that I'm crap at predicting how a run is going to go :)
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3 comments:
That's a great PB Slowmo - you should be well proud!
It was nice to see you again.
Cheri
Lovely to see you too kb :)
"... normally a long way in front of me.." I don't think so! I have distinct memories of our first meeting, when you very courteously chatted with me for a few minutes before zooming off into the middle distance! and that was in the pre-circus tights days. Anyway it was great to chat and enjoy the run with you, you were really zooming along at a fair clip by the end :)
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