Upon waking up at 5:30 a.m. Saturday morning, I decided that running an early morning race on my birthday was not a brilliant idea. I felt better about it once I'd had some breakfast.
My roomie and I drove to St. Paul, and as we were walking toward Harriet Island we heard a huge crash and boom. And then another boom. "Was that thunder?" I asked, starting to panic that the race would be interrupted by monsoons and lightning storms. "Maybe it was a bomb," suggested my roommate.
Turns out it was a bomb. Well, not really. It was a demolition. They blew up the High Bridge smokestack in downtown St. Paul Saturday morning. So we had some nice dusty cloud cover for the run.
Anyhoodle, the race went pretty well. I got a side stitch after mile two that dramatically slowed my pace during the last mile. My chip time was 27:03. (I guess I'll have to work on shaving my 5K another day.)
I was happy with my time, especially considering the volume of training I've been doing. But when I crossed the finish line, for some reason I was overwhelmed with feelings of bitter disappointment. And I was mad. Like "ready to hurt people hogging all the post-race 'nanners" kind of mad. Has this happened to anyone else? Usually when I finish I'm relieved (and might feel like throwing up a bit). This time I was downright cranky. I sat down and ate my post-race snacks, and eventually felt better about the world. Maybe it was just a biochemical thing.
My roomie got a PR (woo!!) and we had a celebratory pancake breakfast. Overall, a very successful race. Thanks for the birthday love, ya'll!
If you were angry, I suspect you are starting to expect more out of yourself. You have transitioned from running to finish to running to achieve time goals. Nothing wrong with that as along as - overall - you still enjoy the experience.
And nice use of the word Nanners. Haven't seen or heard that in awhile.
I don't think I've ever been downright angry after a race. I was bloody well pissed when I had to scratch a race off my calendar, but I'm usually pretty happy when I finish...even if it's not in the time I wanted.
Still it sounds like you had a pretty rockin' birthday!
Hmmmmm I think Nitmos might be right :-) Nothing wrong with that chica!! ;D
Nitmos: I think you're right, and that probably had a least a part to play in my temporary psychosis. And it's definitely a good reminder to focus on enjoying the experience.
Jess: It was a great birthday — and overall I'm really happy that I did the race (and finished at all).
Marcy: Ugh, I know — but I just hate to admit that he's right! ;)