I surprised myself and ran a really good race today! I wasn't trying for any specific time, but I beat last year's time by a lot (I won't know my exact time until tomorrow so I don't want to estimate and be totally off, but no matter what it is, I'm pleased) and ran the entire time without stopping, even on the grueling uphill portions. I probably could have even maintained a faster pace, but I wanted to finish comfortably and with enough energy to sprint the last 500m.
Some things that I think contributed to my success this year (so that I can remember for next year!):
-I found a place where I could wait inside (Pacific Centre mall, heh) until my wave start, which helped a lot because standing in the cold for two hours last year really drained my energy and dulled my enthusiasm.
-I positioned myself farther back in the pack; it was a lot more motivating to be passing lots of people than to be continually passed.
-I kept a steady pace and tried not to be influenced by the people who started out too quick (and who I passed later when they'd started walking). Also, I found people who were running around my pace, followed them for awhile, then made it a goal to pass them.-I took a tip I read somewhere and considered the 7K point the halfway point, instead of the actual 5K halfway point.
-I tapered my training pretty early this time. I hadn't run for a week partly because of a busy schedule and partly because I wanted to give my body a break, so I was really looking forward to getting back at it today.
Looking at these little tricks I used, I think last year's performance was mainly hindered by mental blocks, especially since I think I trained more consistently last year. The only slightly annoying thing was that since I'd signed up for one of the slower speed groups, I had to pass a lot of people who were walking in big groups/lines/with strollers/slowly instead of keeping to the right like you're supposed to. So next year I'm going to try the next fastest group and aim to shave about 10-15 minutes off my time.
Now I'm trying to decide if I should do another 10K or a 5K to improve my time, or look into a half-marathon. Last night I watched this guy on TV run the Médoc Marathon (26 miles with 22 wine tasting stations and an oyster bar in Bordeaux) and that sort of blew my mind, that someone could run a marathon essentially DRUNK. So, anything is possible.
