It’s been nearly 2 weeks since the Broad Street Run and I’m glad I wasn’t able to recap this race sooner. A little perspective changes everything.
This race is a clusterfuck each year. A nightmare of crowds and congestion to get there and get home. Forty thousand runners packed into a small space. But the course is flat and straight and perfect for a PR. And the crowds are pretty amazing too. That’s why I keep running it each year.
Last year I was 5 weeks pregnant and in PR shape. Common sense prevailed (or rather Matt prevailed) and I ended up not running the race. Of course I could have run it for fun but I’m too stubborn and race results live on the internet forever.
So this year I was excited to get back to Broad despite being nowhere near PR shape. I feel like I’m in this frustrating transition space. I’m no longer pregnant and running races for fun but I’m not 100% yet so PRing is not likely. Lining up for a race is a total guessing game with regard to pace. Hence the reason why I hide the pace field on my Garmin during races and just run based on effort. Effort is the only thing I do know right now.
So many runners. A view of the front and back of my corral.
I can’t say Broad didn’t go as planned because there was no plan. I definitely wasn’t anticipating feeling crappy at mile 1. I tried to turn it around – maybe I needed to warm up – but it still felt hard at mile 5. My lungs burned a bit (I just got over a cold the week before…apparently it was still lingering) and it just wasn’t my day. It sucks when bad runs happen to fall on race day.
I tried to keep my effort consistent and have fun. I wouldn’t say it was a death march but it definitely felt like that at times. I finished in 1:23:41 (8:22 average pace). Splits: 7:52 / 7:57 / 8:16 / 8:21 / 8:21 / 8:27 / 8:33 / 8:42 / 8:39 / 8:24. Maybe I should unhide the pace field…I’m clearly all over the place.
I was initially disappointed with myself until the next day. I woke up with no soreness. This is a far cry from how I felt after the LOVE Run in March. I was sore for 3 days. Like post-marathon sore. The day after Broad I was able to run. Hooray for progress with structural fitness! And I checked out what my “predicted” finish time for a 10-miler would have been based on my 1:53 finish at the LOVE Run – a 1:25. So despite not feeling it at Broad, I still did pretty well. (I do take race predictor charts with a grain of salt…unless I’m faster than the predicted time. Don’t we all?!)
I’m getting there. I just need to keep plugging along.
Unrelated but what’s with the new mamalete hashtag? #motherrunner isn’t enough (or obnoxious enough)?!
I would say that’s a pretty good 10 mile race time for just having a baby! I can only imagine how many hastags will be invented by the time I have my baby, and I will use them ALL.
You might not still be pregnant, but that doesn’t mean you and your body immediately return to the previous state. You ran a great race and pushed through when it wasn’t easy and (if you look objectively) you can see you really are making progress, you are just being really hard on yourself 🙂 The logistics and crowds for that race are insane! Congrats on a great race!
Congrats on being able to run it this year, and you’re right, you should be proud, you did great!
I’m still trying to get into PR shape, and I started back at it, in October, and I don’t have a cute baby to show for it. 🙂
Tell Hawk hi!
Kristy! Ugh, I’m sorry you didn’t have your best run that day. I think we’re very similar in that we both have high hopes for ourselves and get insanely frustrated when they don’t come to fruition. I still think you’re incredible for doing so well at a race a few months post-partum. Also, I <3 you re the mamalete comment 😉
I’m sorry you had a tough race, but hard work will pay off, just believe in yourself!