In my book and in my blog over the years, I've written extensively about the notion of a self-fulfilling prophecy. It's mostly been in the context of worrying about a race time excessively, to the point of sabotaging my own performance in running. But what if you turned that on its head and instead "manifested" something positive?
I was supposed to run the Firecracker 5K on July 4, but due to an extreme heat advisory (86 degrees and sunny) I decided it wasn't worth it. I have a history of immune system issues triggered by racing hard in the heat, and it wasn't worth the risk for me. So I decided to stay indoors and run on the treadmill on Independence Day, and instead run the Birthday Bash a few weeks later.
Before the Race
I woke up, got dressed and had a UCAN gel. I typically do not eat breakfast before a 5K because I don't want food sitting in my stomach. A UCAN gel keeps my energy level steady without upsetting my stomach or making me feel heavy. The night before the race I had salmon and rice, and I drank beet juice earlier in the day.
I wore the Mizuno Hyperwarp Elite- the same shoes that I had worn in my most recent 5K. They are not Achilles-friendly with their 3.5 mm drop, but they are super light and fast, and I love the ride.
We arrived at the race about an hour before it started so I had plenty of time to get my bib and go to the bathroom. Thankfully I used the porta potties early because when I tried to use them again about 10 minutes before the race, there was a huge line. I decided not to wait in the line and that I would be fine.
I've been running races organized by PR Races for many years and usually they have plenty of porta potties. But there were only six at this race and it was clearly not enough. After the race, one woman told me that it took her 15 minutes to get through the line, so she had to start a minute after the gun went off, and then weave through hundreds of runners.
Before I started my warm up, I decided to record a short video for Instagram. I didn't really have a goal for the race so instead of putting a goal out there like I typically do in my pre-race videos, I decided to make a prediction. This was a spur-of-the-moment thing, as in I didn't decide to even make a prediction until the camera was rolling! I randomly decided that 20:47 was a good time to shoot for. I wanted my average Garmin pace to be under 6:40, and I figured the course would run a little long, which felt like it would result in 20:47. I didn't really think about it too much, it's just what randomly came to mind.
The reason I didn't have a more defined goal (aside from sub-6:40 pace) was because I hadn't run this exact course before so it would be hard to gauge what I could do. When I ran the Ringing In Hope 5K at the end of May, my average pace had been 6:47, so I figured running under 6:40 would be a big improvement.
I warmed up for two miles and took a caffeinated Maurten gel 15 minutes before the race start. I like to take a Maurten gel right before a 5K because I feel like it gives me a quick hit of energy.
Weather
The weather was typical for late July at 8:00am: 72 degrees with a dew point of 67. Mostly sunny. I had zero complaints because we have had several recent heat waves, and it was nice to just be "normal" for this time of year. On my personal weather scale, I give it a 3 out of 10, with 10 being ideal and 1 being horrible. As I said, I have zero complaints about the weather, but 72 degrees is 72 degrees and my weather scale is absolute without accounting for the race distance and time of year. But yes, for a 5K in mid-July, the weather was acceptable!
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| Mile 1 |
The race started and I went out fairly quickly. The first quarter mile is downhill, so I bolted out. I typically try to run "race pace" at the very start of a 5K while everyone else goes out much faster than their goal pace. This means I get passed a lot within the first three minutes. So this time, I decided to be like everyone else and just start really fast. A quick look at my Garmin after three minutes showed that I had averaged a 6:15 pace up until that point.
About half a mile in, I saw Greg cheering for me and taking photos. There were a lot of runners around me but the course was wide so I didn't feel at all crowded. Usually this is when I start to pass runners who bolted out much faster than their goal pace. I decided that I wasn't going to look at my Garmin during this race, except when it beeped at each mile. I was going to focus on effort and pushing hard.
My first mile came in at 6:36 and I was very happy with that.
Mile 2
I wish I had looked at my Garmin during this mile. It was net uphill, but not super steep. I think I just settled in and didn't push as hard as I could have up the hill, figuring I would save energy for a wicked fast downhill finish. I remembered a 5K when I ran the first mile in 6:50 and the last mile in 6:13, and I thought I could potentially do something like that again. If I had looked at my Garmin, I think I would have kicked it into a higher gear, realizing that I was not going as fast as I knew I could.
Towards the end of this mile, I was passed by a female runner who I knew. She looked really strong and I assumed she would pull far ahead since she was passing me relatively late in the race.
Mile 2 clocked in at 6:48. I was somewhat discouraged by this, but I knew the downhill was coming so I vowed to kick it into a much higher gear for the rest of the race.
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| Approaching the Finish |
It was "go time". I wanted to make up a ton of time here and I'm a strong downhill runner. It wasn't long before I caught up to my friend and we ran together for a minute or so. And then I pulled ahead. And then she caught up. I don't remember exactly what happened, but I think there was some leap frogging until we had about half a mile to go, at which point she told me it was "all me" and that I only had two laps around the track left. It was definitely motivating to have some competition.
I felt really strong and I gunned my final kick early. I didn't want to feel like I left anything out there on the course. My time for this mile was 6:26.
The Finish
As I approached the finish line, I saw the clock ticking towards that 20:47 that I had predicted. I couldn't believe it. There was no way I wanted to be slower than my prediction so I gave it all I had at the very end.
I ran the final 0.17 miles at an average pace of 5:40. And as I expected, the course measured 3.17 according to my Garmin, despite running the tangents.
My official time was 20:46. I placed first in my age group and I was the 11th overall female. This was my fastest 5K of the year!
After the Race
Afterwards, I reunited with Greg and chatted with some of the other runners. I cooled down with the friend who I was running with at the end of the race, but a stomach cramp caused me to stop at several points. Sometimes I get really bad side stitches during my cool downs. Except it wasn't a side stitch, it was closer to the center of my upper abdomen.
Final Thoughts and Key Takeaways
I think it was mostly dumb luck that I ran within one second of my predicted time. As I said earlier, I blurted out 20:47 without too much thought or analysis, and then I ran the race without looking at my Garmin too much or even knowing if the course would measure 3.12 or 3.17 on my Garmin. And that matters a lot in a 5K. I simply ran hard, and landed at 20:46.
But part of me wishes that I had blurted out a faster time. Maybe 20:37. Why not be more aggressive?
Would that have made a difference? Would I have worked harder? The reason I think this might have been a factor is because I ran a 20:08 5K last year on a goal of 20:10. But what if I had gone for sub-20:00 as my goal? Would I have been able to do it? So much of running is mental and you have to believe you can do it in order to actually do it. Sometimes I think I sell myself short. Maybe I set soft goals when it comes to the 5K.
All that being said, I did smash my goal of a sub 6:40 average pace. According to my Garmin, I ran a pace of 6:34 for 3.17 miles, which is much faster than my Garmin pace of 6:47 for the 5K I ran in late May. That's really strong for me in 72-degree weather. Especially on a course that I had never run before.
My next two races are the Army Ten Miler and the Marine Corps Marathon. But I want to run another 5K in late August or early September. I want to continue to work on my 5K speed because I think that will actually help a lot in my marathon. I am naturally built for endurance as opposed to speed, so working on my "weakness" will help at all distances.
I'm really glad I did this race, I had fun, saw some friends, won my age group, logged an amazing workout, and enjoyed the morning.
