Disappointing Day in Berlin

Sorry it has taken me almost 2 weeks since my race to put up a post race report. If you saw the results you would have probably figured that I was pretty disappointed about how it went.

I had a very good last week of training and resting before the race. I remember feeling so happy with how easy training felt and how it was great how low my heart rate was. I was eating well and resting and drinking a lot. I didnt do anything unusual, I did everything that I did in preparation for any race.

The men's 20km race was the day before mine and the weather was pretty warm for them (around 25-28c) so I figured that the weather would be warm for my race also but the thought of it being over 30c never crossed my mind.

I ate really well the morning of the race and felt that I had eaten enough to last me through the race which started at noon. I got to the course and it was hot like I knew it would be. I figured it was around 30c which I have raced in once before in Brazil so I knew that I could do it but that I would have to have a different race plan, no personal best time today! I did usual 3km warm up with my heart rate monitor on and my HR was really high, too high. I didnt know if it was because of it being hot or because of nerves. I just shook it off and went to the call room. It was in a tent and it was super hot and we had to be in there 30 minutes before the start of the race. I just relaxed and stretched. When they brought us out to the start line, I really felt the heat, it was brutal but tried to not be bothered by it.

When the gun went off, all I was trying to think about was not being drafted by the whole group. I knew that they would all go out pretty fast so I was trying to stay back, even if that meant that I was in last place. I went through 1km's and my split was 4:53 and I was in last place! I tried to feel like I was easing into a pace and a good feeling but all I was feeling was a little heavy and tired, after a couple kilometers. I tried to keep up a good pace but I found myself going slower and slower as the race went on. I was just dead. I couldnt believe that this was happening to me in the biggest race so far in my life! This was my dream all season being in Berlin. I felt tired that I was racing so poorly when my parents flew all that way to see me race. I was feeling terrible but I didnt want to stop, I wanted to finish, I didnt want a DNF for my first World Championships. I felt like I was dragging my body to the finish line though. It was just terrible! The last lap I honestly felt and thought that I was going to fall over, if not then at the finish line. I managed to not fall until around the finish line when the volunteers kind of caught me. It was terrible. My body temperature was so high. At that point I knew that the weather had to be higher than 30c. When I saw my parents after the race, they had a thermomitor on their backpack and they said that it got up to 38c during the race, 38!!!!!! I just couldnt believe it. No wonder I felt so horrible! I ended up finishing in 35th place in a time of 1:45:45.

Right after the race, the only thing that made me feel somewhat ok was the fact that I was now on a break from training and could enjoy the rest of the time that I had in Berlin. It was nice touring around the city a bit with my parents and after they left, I went to the track to watch the rest of the meet everyday. It was so amazing seeing such incredible performances. It made me really motivated for when I get back training that I want to just continue to improve and be ready to come back in 2 years and do so much better. I have a lot more to improve and im looking forward to dropping more time on my personal best.

So far I have had almost 2 weeks off training and will have 1 more week to go before I have to start training again. I am doing the Ontario 20km Racewalk Championships on September 20th where all I have to do is win which will not be a problem at all. I will just do the race as a 20km workout. It should be fun to see everyone that I havent seen from the Canadian racewalk world again! For now though, I will continue to enjoy my break!

Keep on walking,

Rachel

Berlin Tomorrow, Race Sunday

My time in Kamen has gone very well. I have had very good training and have enjoyed my stay here with the other athletes. We havent had the nicest weather since Saturday. Its been overcast, 18c and sometimes raining lightly. Its been nice for training in the morning but for the rest of the day, its very gloomy.

On Saturday I did a Norwegian Fartlek and I felt great! My plan was to do the "hard" sections at around race pace or just under and I think I managed to do that. I felt very comfortable, relaxed and that I got into a very good rhythm. After that workout, I am feeling even more confident towards the race on Sunday. From now on I will just been doing easy walks except for Wednesday when I will do 5 X 1km at race pace just to do a little something to wake me up a few days before the race.

Part of the team leaves tomorrow for Berlin. I leave in the morning with some of the other distance athletes. I am really looking forward to getting over there. Its a 3.5 hour train ride to where we are staying now.

My parents will get to Berlin on Friday and we will probably get together on Saturday, the day before my race. I put a picture up from last years World Racewalk Cup because my race this weekend will just be like a World Cup, the only difference is that all of the other track and field events will be contested throughout the week also. Im not nervous (yet) thinking about the race because I have been to two World Cups already and I know that this race will have all the same girls and all the same protocalls so it will be nothing that I havent already experienced.

I wont update again before my race but I wanted to keep you all informed that I am feeling great and ready to go on Sunday! You can find the results at: http://berlin.iaaf.org/results/racedate=08-16-2009/bydate.html

Wish me luck :)

Rachel

In Kamen, Germany

I arrived in Germany yesterday after a long travel from San Diego. I arrived at 7:30am which I hate doing because you then have to try and stay awake all day to best adjust to the time difference. This time I have a 9 hour time difference so we will see how I deal with that compared to 6 hour difference from Toronto.

The training centre we are staying at is very nice. This is a picture of the centre and the town from an areal. There really isnt much to do around the town so we are sort of restricted to our rooms in a sense. Our rooms however are very nice. We all have our own room and they are very modern. I will be here until August 11th when I take a train to Berlin. There are quite a few bike paths here. The one that I have been training on is around a corn field which is sort of neat and different. I just have easy distance for most of the time I am here except for a Norwegian fartlek on Saturday and 5 X 1km on Wednesday. The race will come before you know it!

My parents decided to come to watch me so I am really excited about that. They will be staying with my good friend Sabine Krantz's parents house (the top German racewalker). I havent seen them since Nationals so it will be great to see them and to see them here! After my race we will do some sightseeing around Berlin. Im really looking forward to getting to Berlin!

Stay tunned,

Rachel

Last Hard Workout before Worlds!

Today I did my last hard workout of the year, I guess! Sounds kind of strange to be done all the hard work for the season. Things went very well today though. Tim walked with me to help me and we did 7 X 2km with 2:30 rest. I felt very good and strong. My heart rate was very low for me which was nice to see. We also took lactate four times. All results from today showed good fitness for me leading up to Berlin. Here are my times and lactates from today:

1st: 9:47

2nd: 9:45 (2.1 Lactate)

3rd: 9:44

4th: 9:45 (2.4 Lactate)

5th: 9:41

6th: 9:38 (3.2 Lactate)

7th: 9:35 (3.7 Lactate)

All of my times were either at or under race pace and my lactates didnt even reach the theoretical 4.0 which is the amount of lactate that you can hold for 20km race pace. I am now really looking forward to the race in Berlin as this workout shows that I am ready for another good time, hopefully a PB!

I leave on Monday morning for Germany! I am really looking forward to going and doing as well as I can! I also just found out that my parents will be coming to watch me so I am really excited about that!

Keep on walking,

Rachel