After yesterday’s Peachtree Road Race (the largest 10k), I realized that a race (or a run) is all about my point of view.

POV1
It was hot. 82F when I started at 8:18am.
It was humid. 90%+.
It had hills. Cardiac hill after mile 3 and 2 more hills after that (which we usually forget about).
I was feeling the heat. I found breathing a bit laborious in places and had to drink water to calm it down. It is said that your pace goes down 45-60 seconds per mile in heat. Considering all that I had a decent time (1:17:13) and good race splits (12:09, 11:52, 11:42, 13:09, 12:51, 11:53, 10:04 for the 6+ distance). This included a few seconds after mile 3 to stop and hug my friend who was playing with her band. And even though it didn’t feel that way during the race, I apparently picked up the pace after Mile 5.

POV2
My predicted time finish was 1:15:30 based on Georgia Half in March.
I’ve been running consistently since then. At the very least, I should’ve atleast got to my predicted finish, even if I couldn’t improve on it.
I was looking to this race as an indication of where I was. To the extent of canceling a vacation planned for the same weekend.
So – either I haven’t improved at all or I didn’t race properly and something is missing there. And everything in POV1 is an excuse.

Well.
Even the fact that I am trying to think of two different view points should indicate what I am feeling.
But it is what it is.
Somethings I can control, some I cannot. And really, all I can do (and I must do) is to put in the effort and leave the rest up to the Race Day Gods (I’m Hindu. I’m sure we have a God(s) dedicated to races 🙂 ).
The journey to get there is as important as the destination itself.