No Watch

Today I tried the ultimate challenge- a 5k with NO watch. The goal for the morning were to listen to my body and push when I could. I have never raced without a watch- without splits- without a number telling me how I am doing.

So, nice cold, windy Memphis weather- again. (as I write this we have a nice pile of snow in our yard). Same 5k course I did in December. Very small crowd, probably due to a competing race in the area and the yucky weather. Garmin on my wrist but completely covered up with tape.

The trusty garmin is on my wrist for the race to take splits, but the screen is covered up. No cheating!

Worries? Yes. What if I go too slow and I am too scared to push? What if I blow up the first mile? I was feeling a little tired from the week. I had a great week's worth of running including a 4 x 1200 track run Tues at interval pace and then a 6 x 1 mile with 1 minute rest at threshold pace on Thurs. So, this would be my 3rd day of quality for the week, which is a lot for me.

With all of this on my mind, the only thing left to do was focus. That was the one word that kept going through my head during the race. Focus. Leave everything else out of this- no numbers, no nothing- just focus.

Mile 1- am I too fast or too slow? I have no clue. Keep going.
Mile 2- I think I am still going strong. I am working as hard as I can on the hills. I repeat the word focus to myself. I try to keep my arms from crossing over. I try to stay light on my feet.
Mile 3- Am I at the same pace? Slower? Faster (doubtful!)? Last big hill. Is that the finish clock at the end of the street? Is there a 21 on there or is that guy standing in front of the clock covering up what is really a 4?

Finish time- unofficial- 21:45. Almost 1 minute faster than I was in Dec on this course.

Now it is time to pull off the tape and see my mile splits...this is going to be the interesting part.
Mile 1- 7:07
Mile 2- 7:01
Mile 3 - 7:04

That is a pretty consistent race for no watch or garmin, I should say. Despite the weather, the fatigue, the doubt- my body handled everything just fine when I listened to it. This was a fun experiment :) I know I would not enjoy doing it for every race, but I would like to try it from time to time just to keep myself in tune with my body and mind.

Okay, time to now snuggle up in bed and watch a movie and while the snow falls all around.