We're All Human

And we all make mistakes.

I sure made a big mistake in the opening mile of the Human Race.  Big as in 14 seconds big.

I've had a string of bad races over the past six months.  My last solid race was the Victory 5k over Labor Day weekend.  All of this makes sense because I kind of stopped training intensely right around that time.  I got a new job, which was a major change, winter set in, and suddenly I'm 15 pounds away from race shape. 

So I own my 28:39 time in the Human Race.  I am okay with how slow I ran, but a little disappointed with how I got there.

My plan was to open with a 5:50 mile, and then take stock of how I was feeling.  If I felt good, I'd slowly start picking people off.  And if I didn't feel great, I knew I could cruise in at 5:45-5:50 for awhile and get in under 29:00.

Well that plan lasted about half a mile.  I saw a group of runners I usually finish just in front of, tucked in behind them, and all of a sudden I was "accidentally" racing.  It's funny, you'd think over the course of half an hour one little lapse in focus and judgment wouldn't make or break a race.  But we've probably all been there before.

Mentally, once I make that leap, I have a new, race plan.  It's like jumping from one train track to another.  And there I was 1/2 a mile into the race, going out hard to see what happens.  I hit mile one, asked the guy next to me what our split was.

"5:36," he said.

"Ooops, " I said.

And then I passed one more guy who like me, was going out too hard.  After that, I was able to hang onto a pack until about mile three.  Then I lost contact with them and for the last two miles I parked myself in the far right lane and watched the fast moving traffic pass me on the left.  All told, 25 people probably passed me after mile one.

Like I said,  oops.

If I had run smarter, would my time have been any faster?  Maybe just by a little.  But I would have been a lot happier.  I am not used to positive splitting.  While I am used to finishing in the middle of the pack, I am not used to getting there by having the pack catch me.

The physical component to my running will come around as I get back into the swing of training.  I knew that going into the race.  What surprised me was how much I need to work on the mental part.  My focus wasn't there at the start, and my ability and willingness to get back on the original plan once I got off track was also missing.  I have a lot to prepare for between now and the Brian Kraft 5k.

For more Human Race reports and news check out the Run Minnesota blog.