day 36 of 366 BFing

here's a summary:
lovely, just lovely. 10k PR WOOT (41:34)! The mind is very powerful...

here's the details:
I signed up my son (Marvin Jr) and I on Wednesday for the race and began immediately mentalizing a 40 minute 10k. I began visualizing me beating that normally beat me by half a minute to a minute in 5ks and 10ks.

I was feeling good come race day. I think my son was as well since he was able to complete a program we have on the treadmill at the gym that burns 600 calories in 30 minutes. (I have yet to complete it... but will try it when I don't feel sore from the race... :)

I really hadn't done any traditional training. Just much easy running controlling breathing while trying to keep my barefoot running streak alive which I started on 1 Jan. I did a couple of stride sessions and really hadn't gone for a long run (though I did have a couple of longer jogs with my wife, Ana, in early January).

But I really hadn't trained like I used to. I tried to take a different approach. Just train "easier" and race harder.

Well race day came and my son and I got the Amador Causeway (the race location) a little earlier than usual. (We're normally just in time.) So we had time to chat with others and do a decent warmup.

I had to get a little creative since we were using a timing chip and I was going barefoot. (Note: Timing chips are starting to come en vogue in Panama.) Luckily, I have 3 daughters and we have many elastic bands laying around everywhere. So I got a nice bright orange, ruffly one and attached the chip to it. It worked and I didn't feel a thing when running.

The race was supposed to start at 7am but the race director delayed it for 30 minutes. No matter except for the sun would start to be a concern. (It ended up not being one.)

Start time came and we were off. It took a few seconds to get going since I didn't have a good strategic starting position, but no matter, I thought, I'll catch up. And so I did. I started off at a decent pace; faster I think than I would normally start a race. (Don't know for sure since I don't wear a watch.)

I made sure I was breathing regularly, nose and mouth. Side note: I actually tried the strategy that I use on the treadmill at the gym of only nasal breathing when I went on an errand run, but I ended up feeling a little dizzy at the end of that short run. My guess was that I had a lack of oxygen. So no nasal breathing while running outside especially if I'm trying to run fast.

1K passed (more or less) and I had already passed some folks. 2k, more folks. About 2.5k, I passed a fellow gym owner who I had never beat before. Needless to say, I was happy. :) I was still feeling strong and kept passing folks. Got to the turn around point. Fabulous, we're halfway there! (side note: it's always great to see the expression on people's face when I pass them and see that I'm barefoot.)

On the way back, I saw many friends running and mainly gave them a thumbs up. No speaking. (Maybe that's what helped me be faster as well since I'm normally a social runner.)

This is where things got interesting. I was happy that no one that I passed had passed me back. This will now be a new goal of mine when racing. No pass backs!

I had people in my sights ahead of me, including a top triathlete girl who I don't think I've ever raced against but is pretty fast. However, it also seemed that a couple of the people I passed had me in their sight... =D

Tell you what, both motivated me. I really wanted to catch up to the people ahead of me and I didn't want anyone to pass me especially close to the end. Several times I could hear heavy breathing behind me. Never did I look back. I just reminded myself that some people get a little demotivated when they are trying to catch up to someone and they push forward so that is exactly what I did. I let the person get closer to me and I pushed forward. No passing today sir!

I kept ahead and was happy no one passed me. We rounded the corner for the final 100 or so meter stretch to the finish and triathlete girl was only a couple of meters ahead, so I hit it and passed her full sprint ahead.

Fabulous feeling giving it all at then end!

I congratulated all of the folks that were right behind me because they inspired me.

One after thought: I really should practice a little more sprinting on asphalt because I did get a couple of baby blisters on my toes because I was pushing off with my toes. I know what to do (just curl the toes up more and don't push off). I just need to do it.

Another after thought: I heard people saying that the sun really got to them, but I guess I didn't feel it. I must have been really in the zone! :)

19 min 5K, 39 min 10K and 1:30 21K here I come!
mentalizing now!