Mentally
tough days before the
10k in Krakow, Poland
The last
days before my race
in Krakow, Poland, were
full of mental up's
and down's. After a
good workout on Wednesday
I finally felt ready
to race good again and
then in the evening
I had pain and was very
unsure about what it
was and how long time
it would take. Then
on Thursday I was sure
that my season was over
and I started to plan
a short vacation for
my family. On Friday
I started to hope that
maybe it would be possible
to do some race's anyway..
It was mentally very
hard to turn my focus
back on to competing
after being sure that
my season was over.
I used all Saturday
to focus on getting
back the mental strength
I would need to race
in Krakow.
I was
very unsure before the
race. I did a long warm
up to be sure that my
muscles were all ready
for some fast work.
Normally I would do
some jumping and do
some strides before
start, but not this
time. I was still not
sure if my leg would
be ok for the whole
10k and I didn't want
to take any chances.
Therefore it was good
for me that we didn't
start to fast. For the
first short lap around
the Market place of
Krakow we all stayed
together. Then after
approximately one km
I felt that my leg were
ok and I decided to
push the pace a little.
No one followed me....
I was surprised because
I didn't think that
I walked very fast!
I told my self to continue
this pace and see how
it would be. Between
4 and 7 km it was hard
to keep up the pace
walking all alone. But
somehow the crowd helped
me keeping up my pace.
I ended up winning the
10km race in Krakow
in 42:48. It was hard
alone, but I was very
happy.
