POST MORTEM

I think I have to stop watching the weather reports. The local weather people keep freaking me out with their “Operation: Winter” graphics and talk of a cold snap. To listen to them you’d think zero degrees was the coming of the next ice age. I nearly talked myself out of running this morning because of it. Luckily I was wide awake at 4:45, so I got up and went for a 10-mile run – despite the weather.

I was going to post this yesterday, but I thought answering Mike’s question was a little more exciting. About once a year I get a wild hair…and focus on the mental aspect of the sport. I usually grab a book on the topic off the shelf and dust it off. One of the books has an exercise where you answer a list of questions after each race. I’ve done it in the past and find it beneficial, especially the parts on what did you do well/poorly. So, since I raced last weekend, I thought I’d answer the questions here.

Name of race: Winter Carnival

Date and Time: 1/27/07, 9 AM

Location: St. Paul, Sheppard Road out-and-back

Distance: Half marathon

Competition: Road Race

Weeks (months) since last race: 3+ months

Weather and course conditions: 15 degrees, Mod NW wind, toughest from 5.5 - 6.5

Goals: Time - 1:24 + or - 1 minute. Non-time - Run smart. Don't give up at the end of the race.

Race strategy and possible mishaps and contingencies: Run smart/controlled first half, then pick it up.

Mental preparation strategy: Relaxation, visualized race.

Duration of warm-up and cool-down: 2M w/up and 0M c/d.

Arousal level (1 low, 10 high) on the starting line: 4

Finish time: 1:24:06. Overall pace: 6:25.

Place: 19th out of 1311 overall (1.4%), 19th out of 788 men (2.4%), and 9th out of 233 in 30-39 age group (3.9%).

Splits: 42:25/41:41. 6:20 first mile and 1:04:00 thru 10M.

Things I did well in the race:
Didn't let the weather or the "false start" psych me out.
Great pacing early on (6:20 at the mile). Felt controlled.
Didn't worry about splits, just ran.
Hooked up with Melissa and another guy by mile 2 or 3 and worked together until mile 10.
Ran my own pace up the hills at miles 5 and 10. Didn't worry about the gap that formed – just regrouped on downhill.
Didn't let the first half split of 42:25 bother me. I was confident I could run negative splits.
Passed 8-10 runners during the 2nd half, including 4 in the last mile or so. No one passed me.
"Normally" I'd have been content to finish where I was at, but I kept pushing and passed 4 people at the end.

Things I need to work on:
Found it hard to get a good draft when heading into the wind.
A few negatives thoughts creep in towards the end.
Need to add some affirmations.

Performance rating (1-10). How close did I come to what I was capable of running that day? 8-9
Mentally playback the best parts of the race. Check here___X___

Other comments about the race: 39 seconds faster than last year on less mileage, but more tempos. Dressed just right; long sleeve shirt, arm warmers, fleece vest, thin pants, hat, gloves and mitts. I also usually list times of key competitors and people I know in this space.

Quote of the day;

“Goal setting is not a mind game. It is a process of developing the internal willpower to accomplish what you have set out to do.” – Joan Benoit Samuelson