a mostly uncomfortable experience

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this race was different for me compared to my other races because it was the first repeat experience, on the same course/same distance/etc. i didn't spend any time "taking it all in" after the gun went off. i had fun sure, but i had one thing in mind:

to make myself as uncomfortable as possible.

i think i might be a part of a small group of people (or large?) who gravitate toward slow starts. that's me in a nutshell. i have always been like that. ease into a topic, get a little familiar with it, study it a little more (and then even more after that, and more, and more, and more, until i'm an expert), then finally, full speed ahead! what can i say, i admit it, i'm kind of a conservative dude most of the time. ok all of the time? hehe.

so for this race it was important for me to make sure i was uncomfortable with my pace at all times. i don't mean this in a bad way, but this was a race! i simply could not be clipping along like this was a training run. when you've been running at a "comfortable pace" for 10 years on a treadmill and on the streets, racing is a little tougher concept to grasp. for me anyway.

i wasn't gasping for air throughout the race but i was uncomfortable. mostly. my race day thought that i repeated (silently in my head of course) was:

"marathon uncomfortable"

the fatigue i felt during the last 6 - 8 miles of that marathon is not something i have experienced in athletics before. i tried to tap into that feeling as best i could. if i ever felt close to comfortable, i kicked it up a little more. this race is only once a year!

basically, i was trying to run hard enough throughout the whole race so i would be near puking stage at the finish. i didn't puke though, i probably could have pushed myself more during the last 1 - 1.2 miles of the race. crap! next year, next year. i will puke, i can do it! hehe.

i can't believe i beat 53:00. while seemingly a modest goal, i felt so great when i realized i did it. racing is awesome. what a cool thing for adults to do...race! on a street! like kids! with a race # and a chip! running as fast you possibly can and crossing a finish line. how cool is that?
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here is my race. like i've been mentioning for the last several months, my stupid polar needs to be recalibrated!! stupid polar. i knew it was off though. i need to recalibrate it before i use it even ONE MORE TIME because its near useless while inaccurate like this. anway, the trends are legit. you can see "mile 1" was slower because it was too crowded. my buddy and i pretty much ran over and through people for the first mile. pretty consistent pace throughout the race though! essentially no kick at the end however. green is altitude btw, and blue is speed.

once again, congrats to my buddy who ran his first ever race, this 10k, in 53something. sweet!!!!