Marathon100 IV Virtual Run 10K

The IV (and last) Virtual Run this spring took place from the 18th–20th April. I really wanted to take part in it since it was the last one but I didn’t know when would be the best time since I’m so terribly busy with schoolwork right now. It was also Easter weekend which meant that I had to balance family time, workouts and studying for my exams… Oh well, I thought it would be a good idea to get the running done on Friday. 

Couldn't really complain about my race number, could I? :)
Couldn’t really complain about my race number, could I? 🙂

Bad idea. 

By now I should have known that I absolutely need one rest day before racing. What did I do? 4 hard workouts with no rest days before the race. On Friday morning I had a pretty good idea that the goal to finish under an hour (for 10,4 km – read why 400 m more than 10K here – it means 5:45 min per km) or with a pace of 6 min per km was not going to happen. But I still decided to go out there and try my best.

Before racing I had a very light breakfast: banana smoothie. I was out the door just before 10 AM. I made a quick 1 kilometer warm-up, reset my RunKeeper and then it was race time.

 


 

On the first kilometer I was ahead of my target pace (5:45) but it sure was hard. I tried to stay positive but my legs told me that I’m not going to keep that pace this time. The weather was warm and sunny but the wind was STRONG. At first, the wind wasn’t at least against me.

splits
You can see that it started to get really hard on the 8th km.

I was running a pretty boring lap this time: to Kohtla-Järve and back, so the same road twice. I hate running back and worth, I like an actual lap that’s not repetitive better. I did see some cyclists, a runner and people walking. They all stared at my number like I was crazy. Who is this girl, running with a number 1 on her shirt? Why is she doing this?

18.04

I have to be honest: I also thought to myself why am I doing this. My legs were heavier than usual. They have been worse but I had to push myself to keep going. I was behind my pace from the second kilometer and actually never managed to speed up. I should have made Friday a resting day and raced on Saturday with fresh, well rested legs. But there was nothing I could change at that point other than finish what I started.

The really tough times started about 4 km before finish. I had turned around and started running back and the wind just not on my side anymore. It was blowing in my face and I almost felt like I was moving backwards rather than forwards. Fortunately for me, my iPhone started to play all the right songs and lyrics like “not giving in” and “I’m the champion” etc made me push myself. It was sunny and warm after all. Enjoy the weather and ignore the wind.

pace and climb

160 meters before finish I managed to somehow click “Finish” on RunKeeper. Oh, man, what more is going wrong? I moved my fingers faster than ever and quickly started a new workout session to run another 160 m. It was a race and I couldn’t send incomplete data back to marathon100.com.

After finishing I made a 600 meter cooldown back home. All in total: 12K.

 


 

I completed the race with a time of 1 hour 4 minutes and 14 seconds. Average pace: 6:10 min per km. I didn’t accomplish my goals: not under an hour and not 6 min per km. But I still improved my last Virtual Run pace of 6:17 min per km so I still shouldn’t be disappointed.

Results:

  • My official time: 1:04:14

  • Average pace: 6:10 min per km

  • My position: 5th (out of 5 that finished) –> yup, I was last in this race but with only 5 participants: I’m not that disappointed

  • My position among women: 4 (out of 4)

 


 

And really, I’m not disappointed. Not the best race ever but not bad either. It’s actually pretty funny how 2 weeks ago, I was thrilled about a pace of 6:17 per km but now I’m pretty neutral about running 6:10 in tough conditions. I need to not be so hard on myself! I’ll have to chance to accomplish my 10K goals in my next race: SEB Tartu Jooksumaraton on the 11th of May. 

Liebster Award / Auhinnaring

Today I learned something: never check the Internet just “one” more time before you decide to start studying. Why? Because someone might tag you with a Liebster award and you might get a HUGE urge to write a blogpost. Well, there goes Public Sector Finance…

Actually, I really want to thank Henry for giving me the award. It’s a pleasure to know that someone who’s blog you absolutely adore reading actually likes your work as well. Henry writes about a healthy lifestyle, sports and weightloss as well (among other things). He. Is. HILARIOUS. Check out his blog! 🙂

 


 

So, I have to answer 5 questions and then give the award to someone else and let them answer 5 questions. So without further ado, here are my answers to the 5 questions asked. Let me tell you, I had to think pretty hard on these!

liebster-award

1. If you were really really great at one thing. The best in the world. What would it be and why?

Public speaking. Wouldn’t that be great? I mean, being really motivating, inspiring an interesting to listen to. I would go around the world and preach only good thoughts, try to make people happier, more self-confident and loving towards each other. This might sound like a Miss World answer of “I want world peace to everyone” 😀 but having great public speaking skills and preaching happiness would be awesome. 

2. What did you learn from ’50 Shades of Grey’? What are your expectation to men now? (If you haven’t read it, which I’m sure you have, what shows do you follow?)

Here’s the thing… I haven’t read it 😀 I’m a weird person (as I’ve stated many times before): I don’t really ever feel the need to read/watch/listen to the “what’s hot now” things. I haven’t read the Twilight saga or seen the movies. I don’t follow Game of Thrones. I don’t know a thing about Harry Potter. Et cetera. I wonder how I even dragged myself to the movies to watch the Hunger Games…

I’ll answer the back-up question then. I regularly follow Downton Abbey, Bones and Õnne 13 (you’re all allowed to laugh out loud!). Downton Abbey is a recent favourite, I think the actors/actresses are great and I love how it’s tied together with real history. Bones is an old favourite of mine, I used to have no problem watching it (= blood, bones and dead bodies) while eating lunch. Õnne 13 I’ve watched all my life and it would just feel weird to miss it. Other than that, I don’t think there’s much else. I don’t have that much time for TV. I’m busy with real life 🙂

3. Who did you want to become when you were little and who do you want to become now?

When I was little, I wanted to become a hair-dresser or a makeup artist. I always liked going to the hair-dresser with my mom, cutting my dolls’ hair, making braids and messing around with makeup. I got my first set of eyeshadows, mascara and lipstick when I was 9 years old, after annoying my mom for a LONG time (talk about persuasion skills!). I was on top of the world when I could play around with these things at home. Ofcourse I didn’t start wearing makeup in public when I was 9. 🙂

Now… That’s a more complicated question. 😀 I love what I study at university, economics is just perfect for me: enough maths and enough everything else. I have dreamed about a position in public sector for quite a few years now… We’ll see what the future has in store for me. 🙂 Maybe something in the public sector that has something to do with public health? That would be pretty great.

4. What’s in your 5-year plan?

In 5 years I’ll be 27 years old. Now I’m pretty scared. 😀 But the main things:

  • Have a Master’s degree in economics.

  • Have a job I enjoy doing.

  • Be independent.

  • Have completed a full marathon, at least once.

  • Have travelled to most continents but especially to NYC, my dream travel destination.

  • Have a loving man in my life 🙂

  • Have a lot of new amazing friends!

  • … but also have my old friends still in my life!

  • Start thinking about buying some property to actually own a home.

  • Start thinking about kids.

  • Be happy every single day.

  • Feel like I’m useful for the world 🙂

5. Which blogs do you follow and why (what do you get from them?). Name 3–5 blogs.

I actually have sub-categories of blogs I follow in my Bloglovin’: nutrition, sports, beauty, travel and other. So I’ll name one blog out of every category (but you can see more in my LINKS page).

Nutrition: who to pick? Toit, trenn, kogemused. Kristi blogs about nutrition, workouts and weightloss. She’s so inspiring and has a lot of great thoughts.

Sports: this one is hard because there is a lot to choose from. I have mentioned many bloggers in my posts before so in this one I’m going to pick someone new. TRIO TO RIO. Lily, Liina and Leila Luik are Estonian marathon running triplets. They are awesome! They also are a part of TÜ ASK, my sports club. 

Beauty: FleurDeForce. She also has a beauty channel on YouTube. She shares great beauty tips, is very relatable and generally a beautiful person from the inside out.

Travel: new york ilma glamuurita. As I mentioned before, I want to travel to NYC. It’s a dream. This woman is living there and she’s Estonian. And she takes great photographs. Not much more needs to be said.

Other: Erle Kaasik photographs. I absolutely love photography and have a pleasure to know this girl personally as well. She is VERY talented and has breathtaking work.

 


 

 

These were my answers. I tried my best, they were hard! 🙂 

Now the even harder part… Who the h*ll do I nominate? So many great blogs are out there. I pick Toit, trenn, kogemused aka Kristi Värik’s health blog

My questions for Kristi:

1. Describe your life in 5 years. Kirjelda oma elu 5 aasta pärast.

2. What’s the biggest workout goal you have? Milline on sinu kõige suurem trenniga seotud eesmärk, mis endale seadnud oled?

3. Describe one memorable situation from your childhood. Kirjelda üht meeldejäävat seika oma lapsepõlvest.

4. Name 3 of your favourite books, explain the chioce. Nimeta 3 oma lemmikraamatut, põhjenda valikut.

5. What’s your favourite quote / moto? Why? Milline on sinu lemmiktsitaat / moto? Miks?