Awful race but sometimes you win and sometimes you lose

 I could not run Friday and Saturday, because on Friday when it was time to run, it started raining pretty hard so I could not run. Yesterday the whole day raining.

Today was race day, it was a "5.55k race" called volta a peu de les falles which is held in the centro of the city and I had not done that race before and I wanted to do it for fun. My last 5 weeks of training has been very poor with my right leg problem and the inconsistency of the last 3 weeks showed up today. I thought that the Thursdy fartlek was an indication that I did not lose all that fitness, but today´s race suggest quiet the opposite. Did not have it today. The good news is that my brother did decent and that gives him confidence in his training for the marathon which he will run on February.

I warmed up 1k walking to my brother´s house then he gave me my bib which was 666 btw.Then we warmed up to the race. I warmed up 18 mins something and he completed the 20 mins. I did not do strides, just some legs lifts in the starting area. We waited around 20-25 mns in the starting area, which seemed like forever and with the temps in the 12 celsius or so, you get cold pretty quickly, but if you dont get on time on the corrals you are far behind and then its impossible to run your pace, thats one of the cons of being slow, you cannot warm up closer to the starting time. 

The gun went off and I went out what seemed confortable, but then realized it was too fast and after the 800m or so people were passing me left and right, and in the 2.5k mark I was out of the race mentally, I just was in survive mode and wanted it to get done, my brother passed me just before the 3k mark, he passed me at a speed that it seemed that I was walking and he was running, I knew right there that he would defeat me today. First time in 7 years. After that dozens and dozens  of people passed me and I could do nothing about it, after the 4k mark I ran easy for around 100m just to finish easy, but then decided that I would push some more and increased effort again. That did not avoid that people passed me.

The best part of my race was when a kid flew by me in the final 800m and then suddenly he stops around 10-20m ahead, as I was passing him I gave him a pat in the back and told him to come on, only 800m to go, then another man encouraged him as well and he said thanks to us and started like a bat again and dissapeared again ahead. I feel good because we encouraged him to keep going and not surrender to the pain, it worked. When I saw the finish line video he built a gap of almost 30 seconds in around 600-700m. In the final stretch, I move the legs as fast as I can and then turn right to the last 100m and pushed hard to finish fast, but did not have the sprint that I usually have. Finished in 28:02. My brother´s GPS read 5.66k, so I think I did it in 4:58 per km or something like that. I felt awful and I think this is my worst race in around 4 years, but it is what it is, I started out too fast given my current fitness level and I payed the price. I think that I will get back to normal once my training starts being consistent again. I basically ran the same pace for 3.4k more and feeling much better 6 weeks ago. Also I dont like the cold weather in short distance, you never seem to warm up and when you warm up, given that you have to enter the starting are early, you kind of get cold again. Well, no excuses, but it was terrible. I am trying to find true reasons for the bad performance, but I cannot find a strong reason. My brother finished in 27:12, 4.49 per km. When he passed me he was doing that km in 4:35, I probably did it in 5:10, his speed was very superior in that very moment, 

After the race, we talked for about 10-15 mins and then started our cool down to home. I did 17 mins easy running and 1k walking and called it a day. Around 10 k for the day. 

3 runs for the week. 

I have been with a strong headache the whole day, my worst post race headache as well with my worst race in a while. At least this day is finishing and from tomorrow on and until December 7th I am free from work, yea on vacations so I could dedicate my mind and body to train a bit, or should I hang them up for good and let talented people run?

Have a great Sunday everyone!