Last weekend I headed up to Red Bank to run the Red Bank Classic 5k. I’ve heard it’s fun and Red Bank is one of my favorite NJ shore towns. Ultimately the race ended as my slowest 5k in many years and slower per mile then the half marathon I ran alone last week.
The morning of my body didn’t feel great. I contemplated just not running, but I had already signed up. I was tired the morning of, and since I was so slow getting there, I only had time for about a mile warm up (usually for a 5k, I like 2-3 miles).
We lined up at 8:25. The race was supposed to start at 8:30, but we delayed until 8:40.
When we finally took off, I collided with another racer. Not just collided, both of us fell to the ground. While we didn’t injure ourselves, we were both on the ground. When you fall on the ground during the first quarter of a mile, it’s tough to get back up. All I could think was “gee great. My race felt done before it had begun.”
I tried to reevaluate my situation. I was thankful to be running, and I wasn’t injured. I already knew my body didn’t feel great that morning, so it wasn’t like I was going to magically run a PR. I picked myself up and got back into the race. The first mile was spent weaving through runners.
During the second mile, there was a considerable hill. I should have looked at the course map beforehand because I wasn’t expecting it. I didn’t know Red Bank had any hills, but it was there. While running up the hill, my legs and quads burned. I wanted to give up right there. I started running with another woman, and it motivated me to keep going.
By the third mile, I was looking to finish. It’s comical how tired I felt, because I was running slower than my half last weekend as well as five miles, but I was more exhausted. My body didn’t have it for the day.
We made the turn, and I finally saw the finish line in around 21 minutes. I’m happy with my effort, and I gave it what I had for the day. If I hadn’t fallen, I would have probably run low 20s, but I fell, and I can’t change that. I am happy it didn’t happen at a goal race.
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Questions for you:
Have you fallen at a race before?
What is the hardest 5k you’ve done?
I agree the first mile was the worst! It was sooo congested with half the road being blocked off for the finish line and made the start pretty rough! My friend told me about the hill on our way there, still not enough of a heads up haha I was not ready!
Funny, two weekends ago I ran a 10K at the exact same pace I had run the Brooklyn Half just 3 weeks earlier. It was humid and just not a great day for me. I’ve never fallen at a race but I would think my hardest 5K was actually back in June of 2000… a super hot and sunny day in Astoria, Queens. I even got a heat rash on my wrist, for some reason. I hate running in heat.