How to Deal with Missing a Personal Record

My last 10k Personal Record was 1:00:00…crazy huh?

After finishing my first half marathon in September, I decided to scale back my running for the rest of the year and focus my sights on a Thanksgiving 10k. I picked a 10k training plan and set it to finish right on Thanksgiving.

2 weeks before, I ran a 5k on Veteran’s Day and beat my previous 5k personal record by 0:51. Logically, I figured I could easily break my 10k personal record too. After all, nearly every race I had run this summer established a new personal record.

However, a lot of “life” happened in the 2 weeks between my 5k PR and intended new 10k PR.

What all happened?

I was actually on a work trip when I did my Veteran’s Day 5k. That 3-week trip ended, and I had a 24 hour drive back home. Aka…2-3 days of driving.

Luckily, I bought my husband a one-way ticket out so he could drive back with me. This helped and we turned the trip into 2 long days.As much as I try to eat healthy in the car, it doesn’t seem to work. I’ll end up snacking on junk food, sipping on a Frappuccino or Mountain Dew.

I have no problem saying no to these foods normally, but for some reason I can’t seem to resist on road trips.

Does anyone else feel the same way?

[convertkit form=878335]

Ok so along with eating some not-so-great food, I missed a couple runs in the last week leading up to my 10k.

I didn’t feel my greatest in the last few days before the 10k, so I was expecting that there was a good chance I wouldn’t hit my goal given the situation. My husband even tried talking me out of going to the race.(Ha!)

I focused my sights on the real reason I entered a Thanksgiving 10k: burn a whole bunch of calories before enjoying a delicious Thanksgiving meal and mitigate extra weight gain.

The reality is, I will probably eat a whole bunch of food and drink some delicious cocktails on a holiday, whether or not I run beforehand.

Have I mentioned that I run because I love to eat good food and drink delicious wine?

Therefore, I am better off running beforehand than not.

Here’s how the race went:

I started off by settling into a rhythm. Moving forward at a good pace, right on target at the 0.50 mile and 1 mile mark, according to my running app.

“I can totally still set a new PR on this race,” I thought.

Then I turned the corner.

200 feet in front of me, a pack of about 100 runners waited for a train to pass.

A FREAKING TRAIN!

As I used the time to catch my breath and stretch, I silently cussed the race director for designing a race course that crossed railroad tracks while I burned 40 seconds off my race clock waiting for the train to pass.

After the end of the train chugged past, the swarm of runners ducked underneath the crossing arms and we were off to the races—again!

Mentally, I calculated how fast I would need to run if I had any hope of hitting beating my personal record … “I can still make up the 40 seconds, if I just run 10 seconds faster each mile, I’ll make it.”

Then, I pushed my pace.

The next mile went by and I was right on target to make up the time lost to the train. I kept up my pace the mile after that, but it required noticeably more effort. After the 3 mile mark, I couldn’t hold on to that fast pace. I decided to slow down “just a little bit.”

But that “little bit” turned into a lot. I still felt like I was burning out even at the slower pace.

Then it hit me: It wasn’t a PR day. The pace I could hold wasn’t fast enough to get me to the finish line under 1 hour.

I started beating myself up, thinking about all the “bad” choices I had made the previous week that caused me to not run my best 10k.

Then I had to re-direct my thoughts. Negative thoughts will only weigh me down.

I focused on what I could still control in the moment.

Find a rhythm. Keep it steady. Keep moving forward.

Then I thought about the reason I entered a Thanksgiving 10k in the first place: burn calories before the big meal.

If I crossed the finish line a couple minutes behind my goal time, did I still fulfill my reason for racing that day?

Heck yeah I did!

I finished in 1:02:33. Grateful that this torturous run was over, I was content with my commitment to mitigate Thanksgiving weight gain.

Woohoo! I had hundreds of calories and plenty of delicious food waiting for me.

My husband is truly king of the grill. This was the most delicious Thanksgiving turkey I have had in my entire life!

Including this amazing turkey that my husband cooked on the smoker, and some delicious cherry Moscow mules (I’m a closet bartender).

[convertkit form=878335]

Be sure to like my page on Facebook, follow me on Pinterest or Instagram to become part of the community.

Happy Running,

Alexis

About Me: I’m Alexis, Founder of RunningMyBestLife! I am an avid recreational runner, half marathoner, wife, dog mom, busy professional, downhill skier in Northern Utah. My mission is to help new enthusiasts fall in love with the sport of running. I believe that running is a catalyst to taking control of your life and living your best life by design. Learn More –>