Fraser Darcy

Pre-Race: ‘Yeah yeah, that’s the way to do it, a combo of nice aesthetics, not too hard a warm-up, drop in when they’re not expecting it, then smack the race, run back to the car for an extended cool down and then choose your own adventure’.*** This is where my brain got to after some deliberation pre the biggest race of the year in Quorn. Yes, it’s Pichi Richi time folks. Re-live the memories of one of my proudest race efforts here.

While it would’ve been cool to go for two in a row this year, and I even had hopes for a course record through most of my training over the summer, I adapted my race ambitions in acknowledging the effect the World Champs had on my body, whilst also keeping in mind future races. The question I asked myself is; what did I have to gain more from, an attempt at the course record in my local marathon for some local fame? Or the opportunity to race a fast 10.5km and keep fresh for future races where there is more than local fame on the line? The second one is the more correct answer (in my opinion).

OK, the 10.5km race is the one I’ve entered. Now do I exercise the opportunity to run from my house to the race, run the race, and then run home all sans car? Pretty cool feather in my cap and nice motivator. But a 10.5km warmup could be overdoing it and there is expected to be some competition in this local race that means it won’t be easy (Jess Stenson is the ambassador this year > her partner Dylan is signed up for the 10.5km > he is a top Australian 800m runner… > he ran 15:25 at the Port Augusta Parkrun on Saturday morning > it’s going to be on if he chooses to race hard). But winning isn’t everything. What does it matter if I lose because of an extended warm-up? Doesn’t that still yield a great race effort and great training benefits? Yes, but it isn’t respecting the race as much as I would like to. The race is the race and shouldn’t be an avenue to tick off some cool idea. BUT, catching the bus with other runners and paying $10 is a very herd-like mentality which doesn’t appeal to the ‘I did it my way Frank Sinatra’ approach I usually enjoy employing.

Ah but what about we drive the car a bit along the back dirt roads, the ones you train on sometimes, only have just under 8km warm-up, that actually has a goal to it of getting to the start line as opposed to an arbitrary out and back run from the start area and then, I’ll appear at the start line with the element of surprise to it all.

*** ‘Yeah yeah, that’s the way to do it, a combo of nice aesthetics, not too hard a warm-up, drop in when they’re not expecting it, then smack the race, run back to the car for an extended cool down and then choose your own adventure’.***

Wow we’ve gone full circle and I haven’t even raced yet! But yes, pre-race that was the plan. This part of tinkering with my idea of what distance to do and then how to approach the race is the fun part of the pre-race time. I enjoy the back and forth with my internal monologue in creating a solution that I am confident in and which will maximise; my race prospects, my training for future races, and my mental freshness for future races. Talking of what I hope to gain from the race it a good time to identify my goals:

• Stay in my own race mindset and give it a crack. Adopt Fraser ’22 TRSA race vibes.
• Try and maintain some solid 2:50-3:10/km pace down the extended downhill part to the race. From 3km in it’s all downhill.
• Finish stronger than I started.

From reading my article posted yesterday holding the 2:50-3:10/km pace is a bit of a stretch goal seeing as my legs haven’t been ticking over that fast. Goals 1 and 3 are more in relation to trying to get a race in the bag where I don’t blow up too early and then get demoralised. Even if the competition escapes me I want to stay focused on my effort.

The Race: ‘As soon as we start to focus on the outcome and take our eyes off the process, that’s when things fall apart’. Brad Scott, Essendon coach, mid week press conference. Heard this comment as part of the promo package to the Bombers v Freo game on the Saturday night before the race. I can have all my plans (^^^) but the best plan is to just focus on starting well, get the process going, and let the outcome take care of itself. Hearing Brad Scott remind me of this was a good settler for my pre-race nerves and basically set the scene for giving it a crack off the start line. Do that, and then let business take care of itself.

Which is what I did. Box 1 ticked for the day and I was out the gates from the start with no Dylan Stenson in sight. The word from Karl was that the Stenson’s were using the run as a Sunday long run but words can change overnight when there’s a rabbit out in front so I did not let up. The first few km’s are slightly uphill so I was pretty happy to be averaging 3:20/km’s. Remember, this is the pace I was fighting for on Tuesday in 1km repeats so it was nice to be doing it uphill a bit easier. My headphones had kicked into gear too and I felt very focused on my race and not what was going on around me. Only needed some TRSA signs to pop up and yes, I would’ve felt the TRSA race vibes from 2022.

Things are going well then for the first part. Things also go downhill after the first 3km’s. Luckily it was only in a geographical sense and not in a race-implosion sense. I sharpened up my leg turnover on the downhill and got the watch dipping under 3:00/km momentarily at times to average 3:02/km or a bit. Yes, I thought, my legs aren’t broken and I do have fast-twitch fibres still. Even better, due to the downhill it wasn’t taxing in a cardiovascular way so I could comfortably hold the 3:00/km pace as long as I felt I needed.

And how long did I need to be holding that pace? What was there to gain from winning by several minutes or several seconds? Well, if there was a ten year old version of me standing on the side of the road and saw twenty-eight year old me fly by I would’ve thought that’s incredible and maybe get motivated to start running earlier. If I don’t give it a crack though, ten year old me never sees that level of running and just thinks that 4:00/km is the top echelon of the sport. Still good, but it’s not what’s possible. Hence, I value the importance of entering a race and doing my best no matter the circumstances because the messaging around that to any future potential runners is more beneficial to the community as a whole as opposed to me just taking it easy and being selfish for my own physical performance.

So I held that 3:00/km pace right to the end and even cranked it up a bit in the final km. It didn’t feel as cool turning through the streets of Quorn as it did last year in the Marathon but that’s ok, not every track on a top selling album is going to be a banger so not every race has to be the greatest thing that have happened. This 10.5km track went for 33:10 overall, and landed at top spot in the ARIA charts (first place). In a nice comparison to last year’s race, at the end of the race I was able to chat to a lot more familiar faces. From Karl and his girlfriend Lucie (who introduced me to Jess and Dylan Stenson) to other runners who I’ve raced in the past in David and Ryan and then all the swim club people too (who even prepared and subsequently sold out of Sushi rolls as a fundraiser) it was actually one of the best post-race environments I’ve been in. There was no annoying DJ too so it felt very casual! To cap it off I left with a few goodies from hype man extraordinaire Peter commemorating last year’s 40 year anniversary.

Post-Race: Revisiting my three goals:

• Stay in my own race mindset and give it a crack. Adopt Fraser ’22 TRSA race vibes.Tick
• Try and maintain some solid 2:50-3:10/km pace down the extended downhill part to the race. From 3km in it’s all downhill. Tick
• Finish stronger than I started. Tick

We can see things went pretty successfully. Makes for a nice way to get back into running in Australia and set the foundations for part two of my year. If I could replicate this experience at each race from here on in I’d be trending in the right direction. The thought to counter all this nice successful warm feeling and ensure I don’t climb too high on the winners podium is:

‘c’mon Fraser, you’re racing the local 10.5km in your backyard. You stayed at your house last night, spent the morning doing what you wanted with no distractions and then had a lovely tailwind for most of the race too.’

Not exactly a very challenging environment then. Which is great in a way to recognise this because the challenge that this thought creates is whether I can replicate this type of approach and performance in conditions that are challenging and foreign to me. I’ve referenced before my appreciation of stoicism and how a stoic’s approach to life is something I am keen to bring into my life more and I think the Stoic way of racing is almost bringing the same mindset or goals for each race despite the terrain, competition or environmental conditions. I’ve tried in the past to ‘run my own race’ but the sentiment around bringing these three goals or something similar with a directed stoic mind is a little easier to focus on rather than the words of ‘run your own race’. It should be a good experiment to therefore continue with it and play with from here for my next few races now that I have refreshed my mind on what it feels like to get a good race completed.

Before those races get completed I’ve got two weeks of training and school teaching to finish off Term 2 amongst a very busy sports watching schedule (Wimbledon, The Ashes, Gold Coast Marathon). As a nice finisher to this report, during this morning where I was doing what I wanted with no distractions, I was keeping on top of my busy sport watching schedule and tuned into the Western States 100 (100 miles/160kms). This race is the most famous trail running event in the US and is one of the key motivating factors as to why I got into trail running. On one hand there were some amazingly fast performances but on the other hand there were also some unfortunate blow-ups and injuries showing that on any day, at any race, at any level there will always be ‘winners’ and ‘losers’ in their own minds. Today it was nice to feel like a ‘winner’ and be a winner.

Many thanks for reading and the congratulatory support!