Tonight was the second race in the Vernons 5k series. Last month I got a 5k personal best time of 23 minutes 20 seconds but I had serious doubts as to getting anywhere near that today because I haven’t run since last Wednesday due to a very painful back. I also still have a cold and found myself toeing the start line coughing up the odd bit of phlegm (nice).
I'd like to be able to tell you that I proved myself wrong and had a storming race due to the week's worth of rest... but I'd be lying.
Truth is, it was terrible!
The worst part though is that I actually felt like I was running really well. I felt quite strong and light on my feet and when I crossed the finish line I was really excited to look at my watch and see my time as I felt like it was quicker than last month so I was incredibly disappointed to find it was over a minute slower than last month!!!!
OVER A MINUTE - ON A 5K!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I know it's irrational to be annoyed when I haven't been well (and am still not over my cold or bad back) but I think it's because I felt so good in the race that I felt sure I had done at least as well as last time and it's the extent of how much worse I did that I'm dwelling on. A few seconds I could handle but over a minute is huge in such a short race.
Excuses I know, but my performance also won't have been helped by how cold I was at the start. The start was supposed to be at 7pm and we even got an e-mail yesterday stating this but it didn't actually start until 7.15 which was ages after I (and everyone else) had finished my warm up. I'd already done 2.5 miles so didn't want to do any more and was getting pretty cold on the start line. A few people complained to the organisers for not telling people this and were told that the start would be 7.15 for the whole series now. We were all shivering away at the start line and a lovely girl named Clare gave me a big hug to warm me up.
Ah well, it's done now, nothing I can do about it. Just fix my back, train harder for the next one and hope I don't get another cold!
Total distance - 5k plus warm up and cool down
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