It was still hot and humid but there was no beating sun, so that made a huge difference. I was nervous about this race. With my back still sore and having suffered a strange stomach pain all day ... I was unsure if I could walk let alone race. The good news was my hamstring was feeling GREAT. Just before I left home I decided to roll my back/SI joint over the foam roller and then the crochet ball. Wow what a difference that made.
I warmed up well and lined up with all the super fast young guns. Half the field were doing 5000m and I was lined up with the young ones doing 3000m. It was a full field taking up the whole curve and I had lane two..... I hate the first 4 lanes as unless you can really get a good start you end up getting boxed in.....and sure enough, I got boxed in for the first 100m and had to sit in lane two the whole way to get around them all. I got through the first km in 5:31 and thought WOW I actually feel good and strong. The heat was a factor but it was the same for everyone.
I find our track to be very spongy and absorbent so you have to work hard to get a fast time on it....its like walking on carpet (as Dane put it) or in treacle. I was actually pleased to hear Dane make the same comments of how much work that took. Made me realize that if the elite struggle to walk on it then it validates how I have felt about it too. Its perfect for runners but not so good for walkers.
I started picking off the younger walkers and each one I passed I would give encouragement and told them all to keep going and use their arms. At 2km realised that I was leading female for the 3000m....cool as I had not expected that. I tried to pick up my pace to catch the lead male but just fell short to him at the finish line.
My finish time was 16:51 and I was totally extactic with that.
No comments:
Post a Comment