St. Patrick's Dash Race Report

It is that time of year again.  Time for the annual St. Patrick's Dash through the streets of Seattle.  This was the first road race I ever did (well, as an adult anyway) and this year marks my ninth straight year of dashing.  Sadly, there was much more plodding and very little dashing this time around.

Some of the 14,000 getting ready to run.

I won't give you a break down of miles or any such statistics other than to say I had to fight hard to bring my total pace in at 11:56.  For comparison, 2009's Dash was two minutes per mile faster.   Let's just say it was 3.7 miles of wake-up call for me regarding my weight, my lack of training, my lack of consistency, my lack of willpower and my inability to pace.  I knew I wasn't well trained but damn, I didn't know I was THAT bad.  I posted my worst pace in any race ever with the exception of my first two half-marathons.  But, I did get to hang out with Amber and Justice so that was a nice thing. 

Here's Amber  (I think Justice is hiding behind her).

While my cardiovascular system is out of shape and my muscles are flabby and weak, which didn't surprise me too badly, the part that really disturbs me is my atrophied will power.  I have lost the ability to gut it out, to punch through the discomfort, to run strong and to run tough.  Gone.  Completely gone.  I had a whole lot of give up in me during this race and that bothers me.  A lot.  In some ways that is harder to come by for me than the physical training and I worry if I can get it back. 

So what is the plan so my next race doesn't suck?  I am still going to do some run/walk until I can get my strength back and maybe that will help with the mental piece too.  The biggest thing I have to do is be consistent.  That means a minimum of three runs a week, but four if I can manage it in my schedule.  No excuses, no exceptions. 

Oh, and I am going to totally be working on losing some of this lard too.  I guarantee my next race will show improvement.