The Tale of Two Races

I had two completely different race experiences recently. The first one was another 4-miler in Central Park the Saturday before Thanksgiving. I hadn’t run in about a month, so my expectations weren’t high that I would have an amazing race. And the weather had changed since the last time I ran, so I was also not acclimated to the cold yet. Yeah, I basically just wanted to run when I could, walk the rest and basically just cross the finish line.

First, I didn’t dress properly for before, during or after the race. I didn’t want to check any stuff at the race, so I didn’t have my winter jacket or a change of clothes with me. I also overdressed for the race itself, wearing a heaving Under Armour cold gear turtleneck underneath a fleece jacket and a long sleeve tech tee. I was freezing before and after the race and way too hot during the race. My lungs, due to the air that I was not used to running in, burned for the first mile or so of the race, causing me to stop running and walk often. It was not a fun race and the best I can say about it was that I crossed the finish line.

The second race was a 5-miler this past Sunday and the longest race I ever participated in. I decided I would walk at least half of the race, especially the first half, so I would have enough energy to finish the race. I decided to walk most of the first half of the race and then run most of the last two miles and hoped I could finish strong. This is a change from how I usually race, where I start off really strong and tire out during the second half.

This turned out to be one of the best races I’ve ever had (to think, I didn’t even want to do this race at all). I think there are several reasons for this. One, I think is because of what I ate. I seem to have a very sensitive stomach when I run, so I usually have stomach issues during and after my races. To combat this, I have been experimenting for a while with eating different types of foods before a race and experimenting with when I should start eating these different foods. Almost two days before this race, I started eating more carbohydrates, bland protein (chicken mostly), and less fiber and staying away from most dairy and very little fat. No, I wasn’t running a marathon, but I was trying to stay away from foods that take a long time to digest and might cause distress. Basically I ignored the good health guidelines for those two days and it seemed to work. No issues before or after the race. Success!!

Two, I didn’t get any cramps in my side during the race. I seem to get this usually about half way through most of races I’ve done. It is really painful and actually takes my breath away, so I find I have to slow down and walk until the pain subsides. I don’t know why I get this (it is always on the right side). I’ve done research on this and the experts don’t have any answers, so I don’t know how to avoid them. Maybe because I did more walking in the beginning of the race and was really able to warm up a lot, but I just didn’t get them this time. I hope this was the answer, but I will continue to experiment and hopefully will get an answer.

Three, I dressed appropriately for the weather this time, for during the race and even when I wasn’t. This time I wore my winter jacket to the race and took it off just before the race time (my honey Pete was there to hold my crap for me – thank you and <3 you Pete!!). For the race itself, I wore running tights, a long sleeve tech tee, a fleece vest (it’s not designed for running, but I’ve had it for years tried it out last year and found that it was perfect for running in the 40s), a running headband to cover my ears (I wore a hat last time and my head was really hot), and running gloves (was able to take them off easily when my hands got too hot). I also brought a change of clothes with me so I wouldn’t be walking around all day in wet sweaty clothes (once I stop running, I have about 5 minutes in cold weather before I cool down and get really cold).

Fourth, I just felt really good when I crossed the finish line. For the first time ever after a race, I felt as though I could have gone longer. I know it was partially because I walked so much of the race and was slower in the beginning of the race instead of at the end. I think it was also the other reasons I mentioned. I actually was smiling when they took my picture! And I smiled when I crossed the finish line! Of course, this was also because of the other reasons, but I just started to enjoy it again.

Running the 5-miler also made me realize how hard I was being on myself. I was taking this all-or-nothing approach to running. I felt as though I HAD to run the races in their entirety. When I would stop to walk during a race (as I have for ever race I’ve ever done), I was disappointed because I wasn’t achieving my goal I would set for myself. Then I would get frustrated and stop running for a while (like I did last month). This is what is known as the all-or-nothing approach and a lot of people trying to lose weight and get healthy take this approach. I don’t approach any other aspect of my health journey this way, so why was I being so hard on myself when it came to running these races?

Please don’t think I am saying a person shouldn’t push herself to do better. I’m saying that goals should be something harder to attain than something you already have achieved, but not so hard that there is no way to attain it. I think I was also just looking at these races and seeing what I hadn’t done and not being proud of all I had.

My goal for the 5-miler was different than any other race because I needed it to be if I wanted to be successful. And I was. I think the last time I felt that good about crossing the finish line was my first race in April 2010. It was great to feel that way again.

Next week I’m starting to train for running/walking a half marathon that I will do in March. It IS an ambitious goal, but I have run/walked over eight miles in one day, so I know I can run/walk 13.1 on race day. And yes, the goal is run/walk the race, not run it. Besides, a mile is still a mile, whether I run, walk, or crawl it. I’ll just have to do it 13.1 times.