Race Without My Watch?! Crazy, Right?

 Hello Runners,

I’ve been thinking about the 10k race last Sunday, and need to get something off my chest.

I was racing with my watch on, like I always do, the screen set to show me my current and average pace.  My PR going into the race was 37:43; 6:05 pace.  My goal was to maintain my pace faster than 6:05 and set a new PR.

I was having a good race, in a small of group of guys clicking off 6:00 miles.  I know this because despite the course not having mile markers I would periodically check my watch.  I was feeling surprisingly comfortable, not really under stress at all, almost like a tempo effort, as we went thru 5k and approaching 4 miles.

At about 4 miles, one member of our small group picked up the pace some, not a super hard surge but he gradually gapped us.  It was one of those mid race decisions - do I go with him or stay back with the group?  My watch told me to stay back, I was 5 sec/mile faster than my PR and I still had over 2 miles to go.  But, I was feeling comfortable, I could have gone with him.  If my watch had said we were on 6:10 pace I probably would have because I “should” be able to.  I never caught back up to that guy, and he ended up beating me by 13 seconds.  I held the 6:00 pace thru 6 miles, which was NOT easy, and then was able to pick it up some the last 400, but I never got closer to catching him.

My Coach keeps telling me to stop watching my watch during races.  I’ve seen professional and experienced racers compete without watches.  I’ve always thought that was crazy, or at least I am not experienced enough to race without my watch - I wouldn’t know how hard to go without checking in with my watch periodically.

 Based solely on how I was feeling when it was time to make that decision at mile 4, I should have gone with the breakaway.  Now, maybe I would have died a mile later, but I would have given it a shot and actually “raced” vs time trialing. 

I’ve been racing for 5 years now, it’s time I do more listening to my body and pay less attention to what my watch says. I may fail a few times, but maybe I’ll get a big break through every now and then.  I’d be racing.  Either way it’s pizza, beer, and smiles past the finish line.

Thoughts?

Onward.