This Saturday was time for yet another Virtual Run. It looks like they will be hold every other Saturday since the third one is coming in exactly 2 weeks but I have no idea how many there will be this year. I will try my best to take part in as many as possible.
The day before the race was pretty relaxed: swimming + lots of walking. I did worry if the 10,5K of walking the night before was bad for the race… I hoped it wouldn’t be.
I was originally planning to start my race around 10 AM but since I have had sleeping issues for months now, I was up at 7 AM as usually and began my race around 9.
My original goal was to try to beat my personal 10K best pace which was 6:59 min per kilometres at Tartu Tudengimaraton this autumn. Considering I was still injured a week ago, I didn’t really get my hopes too high.
The weather was beautiful when I got out of the house: around 5 degrees Celsius, some clouds but mostly sunny. It was quite windy at times but that made me feel even more powerful and awesome 🙂
I don’t really have a lot of memories about that race other than it was a good one! On my first kilometres I mostly thought half-marathon training thoughts and just enjoyed the weather. I noticed I was going pretty fast (for my personal point of view of course, to other people I’m always slow) and tried to keep that pace.
I also constantly thought about what I learned the day before in my triathlon seminar. We were told about the things that make a runner/cyclist fast. I tried to follow the instructions as best as I could and they obviously helped me.
“Don’t land on your heel.”
“Keep your arms moving parallel to your body.”
“If you want to be faster, move your arms.”
“You have to run from your hips not anywhere else.”
“No up and down movements or left and right movements.”
“If you don’t enjoy your run, you are not a good runner.”
“Keep your hips below your body, don’t lean backward/forward.”
Etc, etc, etc.
The first half of my race just flew by. I met other runners, lots of cute dogs (which made me miss mine even more) and many people staring at my race bib/number like I was crazy. A girl running around with a big number 13 on her jacket but no one else with a number. Who is she racing with?
Herself. Trying to beat herself and not thinking about other people. Running time is me-time.
Somewhere after Tähtvere pond I felt tired. Really really tired and felt my technique getting worse. I just told myself to suck it up and pay more attention to my running technique. Reminded myself the seminar and things got better again. Soon I was just running and thinking my thoughts again. And moving pretty fast!
When I reached the city center and ran pass my university, I felt my legs get really light again, just like last time I did the 10K there. Tartu is a beautiful to city to run in 🙂 I should run in the center/old town more often, it really gets me going. I love it!
For the last 1,5 km I felt just good. I knew my time was going to be good and I felt I had the energy to finish with a good pace. I just enjoyed every step I took.
And I did finish strong. The moment I pressed “Stop” on my RunKeeper, I knew I had just beaten my personal best. Goal: accomplished! My average pace was 11 seconds better than last time. I was so happy 🙂 I just kept wondering: “Could I run 21,1K in this pace?”
We’ll see in just 12 weeks. 3 months from now! That’s pretty soon and I can’t wait! 🙂
Results:
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My official time: 1:08:46
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Official distance: 10K
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Actual RunKeeper distance: 10,12K
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Average pace: 6:48 min per km (personal best!)
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My position: 24 (out of 25 that finished) <– yay, I wasn’t last 😀
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My position among women: 13 (out of 14)
- In my agegroup: 1st! Just kidding, I was again the only one in my agegroup doing the Virtual Run on all distances
Feeling very excited for my upcoming races this season 🙂
Nourish, Train & Flourish 