Saturday Morning-- also known as race day. Your internal alarm clock wakes you up at 5 am and you spring out of bed, lace up your running shoes and skip right out the door whistling the tune of “Happy” out loud.
No, not really, that’s not at all how it goes down. This is what really happens.
It’s race day. Your alarm goes off at 5 am so you slap your phone until you finally hit the snooze button. 10 minutes pass, and your alarm goes off once again. You check the time and it’s 5:10am. “Oh God, I’m going to be late!” You throw on your uniform, grab your running shoes and sprint out the door yelling “Get out of my way” to anyone in your path.
Now as most runners know waking up is the more difficult part of race day. Though you can’t underestimate the power of pre-race thoughts.
So you’re driving to the race, and you think to yourself “Why did I sign up for this? It’s too early for me to be alive. Ok, I’m not doing this again, but I guess I do have to do it today.” Then you think to yourself “What am I even worried about? I’m going to do great!” So you turn on your pre-race pump up music. Ok, “What Does The Fox Say” is all the way up. I’m now ready. Then, cue scary music, you’ve reached your race destination. You stop, your eyes widen and you stare at the start line. “Oh, what was I thinking, I can’t do this. I mean look, my god, this is going to be terrible.” A couple minutes later you suck it up, take a deep breath and walk towards it saying “Ok, I can do this. I can definitely do this.”
Well not only is it race day but now it’s also race time. Yes, the time has come for all runners who are brave enough to step up to the start line and run this race.
“Runners please start making your way to the start line. We will be starting in a couple minutes.” So you start walking up to the start line very slowly. A lot of thoughts are still running through your head. Though one sticks out above all the rest: “What injury can I fake right now to get out of this?” Soon enough the announcer says “Runners, on your mark, get set.” The entire time you’re saying “Nope, nope, nope, I’m not ready, nope, don’t start.” *gun shot* “Or don’t listen to me, that’s fine too.” The race has begun.
Now you have survived up to this point, but the most demanding part is up right now: the thoughts during the race.
The gun is fired and the runners are off. You sprint out and realize you’re not ready for this, but there’s no quitting now. So you think “Okay, I just have to make it that far and then I can slow down into my usual pace.” “Oh my God, when can I slow down I’m already tired!” You then finally reach the point of slowing down. “Finally, ah finally.” Then you realize you can’t stop or walk you actually have to keep up your regular pace, and that’s when it hits you that this is actually a lot harder than people think.
The following thoughts will be broken down by mile for XC or 5k runners.
The First Mile
“My shins hurt so bad. I should really just stop.” That’s the thing that makes running different than most other sports: you can’t stop. There are no timeouts, substitutions or water breaks. You just have to keep going. That’s why we love and hate this sport. To say you’re a runner and have that meaning behind the title makes you proud. Though for the reason of their being no breaks you also hate it quite frequently. Okay, now usually at this point runners think to themselves “I just have to get through the first mile and everything will be fine.” It’s a lot harder than it sounds. You notice everything that causes you pain and it’s the only thing you pay attention to. Though after a mile of this you have finally reached the one mile sign and you say “Thank God!”
The Second Mile (also known as the best mile)
Finally, you have reached the second mile. You had a mile to settle into your race pace and now it’s easy. “Alright I got this, let’s do this.” You no longer think about any of your injuries, they all disappear, but instead you think about how you could just run forever. “See, this is easy—look, I just passed her and her and her, oh and even her. This is awesome!” You think about how much you love the sport and just love running in general, and then you pass the second mile sign.
The Third Mile
All of those thoughts are then wiped away because as every runner knows the last mile is the fast mile. So obviously your first thought is “Oh geez I hate this.” Though you start to speed up anyway cause you know you have to. “Okay, it’s the last mile 'The Final Stretch.' I can do this.” Then you see the finish line, and your brain yells “go go go—go faster—let's go—you're almost there!” You sprint faster than you ever have before. Your legs start to feel like noodles, and you’re pretty sure Australia can hear you breathing. Though it doesn’t matter, nothing does, because you have finished the race. Through all the doubts and injuries it’s all over with. Well that is until next Saturday!
