What's Next?

Leading up to Fargo half, I suspected that race day wouldn't be a 100% effort for me. To mitigate my disappointment, I started to think of a back up plan if that was the case. I had planned to do a 10k for fun-ish in early June, and have since decided that it'll be my official substitute goal race for the spring (even though that's probably summer at that point). My marathon training will start in later June, so this gives me an opportunity to still have another attempt to post a race time that'll help me project a fall marathon goal race time.

Now fingers crossed that it doesn't feel like summer on race day! If so, I may drop to the 5k, which would still be fun.

There's also a 5k the following weekend in my little town that features bacon and bloody Mary's post race. And the money goes to help with Junior Achievement. So why not race on back to back weekends? My thoughts exactly!

And THEN Strava and NYRR announced a 1 mile virtual race challenge. Well that sounds like fun too. So sometime during this 8 day span, I'd also like to do a 1 mile time trial. LOLZ. This'll either be the most fun 8 days or the worst idea I've ever had.

Stay tuned.

Ocean View Half Marathon Training Week 4

Week of October 23-29

Monday Planned: General Aerobic + Speed 6 miles 2 sets 6x100 strides
Monday Actual: General Aerobic 6 miles in which I thought I was going to get lost and never found again.

Tuesday Planned: Recovery 4 Miles
Tuesday Actual: I took a rest day, as I had some left calve knots and failed to bring any good torture devices to remedy it.

Wednesday Planned: Endurance 10 Miles
Wednesday Actual: I have no idea how I thought I was going to run 10 miles while traveling back from Memphis literally all day long. In my head, I was going to be back in time for the group run, but I was very very wrong.

Thursday Planned: Rest
Thursday Actual: I had planned to do the 10 mile long run Thursday morning after I realized my error, but we got home at 10:30pm and I slept until 9am. And then I worked until 9pm. It was also 30-45 mph winds. What is happening?!

Friday Planned: Recovery 3 Miles
Friday Actual: 4 Recovery miles in an insane wind advisory. I guess winter is back. <see above when I was running in shorts and a tank on MONDAY>

Saturday Planned: Race 5k, 6 miles total
Saturday Actual: Trick or Treat 5k with 2 miles warm up and a half mile cool down.

Sunday Planned: Recovery 3 Miles
Sunday Actual: Recovery 5 miles. I wore shorts and a long sleeve and was WAY TOO WARM. The rain was welcomed and helped me cool off slightly.

Total Mileage Planned: 32 Miles
Total Mileage Actual: 20.59 miles

Trick or Treat Trail Run Race Goals

I went back and forth for quite a few weeks about running the 5k or the 10k for the Trick or Treat race. It's the weekend before my half marathon, and it's in costume, so both were weighing on my decision making. On one hand, I thought I'd be better suited for a 10k, given I've been training for a 10 mile and half marathon this fall, but thought that maybe my legs would still be recovering into race week and I didn't want that. Toni had planned to do the 5k, which swayed me slightly, and once I found a costume, I was all in on the 5k train. Plus the fall "5ks" I've been running are more 3 milers, so I was curious what I could do for a legit 3.1 miles.

My best legit 5k (only) of the year was the Purple Stride 5k in June in sweltering heat and humidity. I ran an 8:40 pace for a 25:41. My best 3ish mile this year was the last one of the Parks and Rec series, which was a 7:57 pace for 23:04 on a 2.91 mile course. Most of my 3 mile efforts have been in the 8:20s 24:58-25:08.

A goal: If it's a nice cool day, I'd really like to see if I can maintain a sub 8 pace for a full 3.1 miles. I was able to do it for 2.91 with zero people running near me (Toni finished 90 seconds ahead of me, so I was 100% pushing myself). I'd like to think that the competitive part of my brain can pull me through for another .2 miles, right? A 7:59 on an exact course would be 24:48.

B goal: This one doesn't give me much wiggle room from A to B, but I would like to be under 25 minutes. Back when I was racing 5ks a lot, it was such a huge deal the first time I went under 25, and I even won a 5k in a low low 24 once. It'd be awesome to be in this time range for having been working on longer distances and nothing specific to 5k speed training.

C goal: Earlier this summer, I had written down a goal for a 25:30 5k time. And then the 2 legit 5ks I raced were in the hottest of hot days so I wasn't anywhere close. I think even if it's a warmer late October day, I should be able to do dig for that sub 8:15 pace.

Stay tuned for my costume!

Race Report: Sioux Falls Parks and Rec 5k

October 9th was the last week of the Sioux Falls Parks and Rec 5k series. But if you would've asked me, I was certain it went through October 16th. So much so that I wasn't even planning to go on October 9th, because I felt like my legs should spend more time recovering from the 10 mile. But then I skipped my long run the day before and thought, why not? It was only once I was at the race that I realized that this was the final week. Womp.

I met Toni there early for a little warm up. We had planned to do 2 but she was running a little late so we had time for 1.5. The crowd was teeny tiny because it was cold (aka perfect racing weather). I told Kyle before I left for the race that I was running for 24 minutes tonight. The course is almost always 3 miles, so I really thought I could run right at 8 minute pace in the cool temps.

The race started and Toni took off in the lead, I was trailing her and before I knew it, a guy flew by me. NBD, I'm quite content taking 2nd for females, thank you very much. I didn't look at my watch much to start because sometimes the quicker pace freaks me out and then I slow down too much. About a quarter of a mile in I passed the dude and just tried to stay as close to Toni as I could. About a half mile in I checked my watch and saw that I was running pretty comfortably sub 8, and I was shocked and thrilled and hopeful that I could keep it up for the rest of the race!

I started feeling like I was losing speed toward the end of mile one, but when I looked down at my watch, it told me I was speeding up instead. Ok, I'll take it.

Mile 1 7:52

I always ALWAYS slow down in mile 2 of a 5k. Like disastrously so. Typically 25 seconds slower than the first mile. So goal #1 was to not fade too much. I hit the turn around and realized that the course was going to be short for a 3 mile, so I stopped focusing on my overall time completely and only looked at my average pace. Now that I'm typing this, I wish I would've noted what my time was for the halfway point, because I'd like to know if I negative split.

**Edited to add: Hey guys, just remembered, there's this super cool thing called a GARMIN that I wear on my wrist for 99% of my runs that can actually TELL ME my time at the turn around if I look at the DATA it provides. Derp.

I hit the turnaround in 11:29.

My pace was all over the place after the turn around, because I basically came to a dead stop and then restart in the same direction. It did give me an idea of where the guys behind me were, but I also lost Toni during this portion. COME BACK AND CONTINUE PACING ME PLEASE!! I thought I must've been really fading, but after the race we talked, and her second mile was even speedier than her first! So we do have differences, good to know. I'd catch a flash of her pink/orange top every once in awhile, but really just kept focusing on getting mile 2 as close to 8 pace as possible.

Mile 2 8:02

A 10 second slow down is not bad at all for me. I was pretty pumped. Especially because at points of that mile I was at 8:36. Uff. I knew the final mile wasn't going to be a full mile, but I wanted to give it all I had. I tried to speed up to catch Toni, knowing that would help me finish strong, I tried countdown games in my head, I wished really hard that I had remembered my iPod because I could desperately use some extra motivation and distraction as I was developing that super fun iron/metal back of my throat taste that typically only comes out in really hard effort runs. When I was at my 90 second countdown, I saw Toni cross the finish line, and I tried to pick it up the best I could, but I definitely didn't have my sandbagger sprint for this finish. I had worked hard the rest of the race. For once. :|

Mile 3 7:11 (.91, 7:55 pace)

So I finished the 2.91 race in 23:04 for a pace of 7:57!

I have not run a race at sub 8 pace since a 3k I did in 2014, which was a 7:58 pace, so I ran 2k further at a faster overall pace! AND that was the last time my running times were semi-decent.  Additionally, I didn't run a sub 8 5k since 2011, including my 3 mile PR (short 5k course, grumble grumble) which was a 23:09, 7:43 pace. I just love being able to see progress and having a race where you're on 100% mentally and physically. WAHOO!!

So Toni and I took 1st and 2nd overall and then ran off into the sunset (literally) for our cool down run.

Race Report: Parks and Rec 5k Week 3

For week 3 of the Parks and Rec 5k, the humidity had finally dropped. I think it was in the 30-40%. Wahoo! My legs felt really good during the warm up with Toni, unlike the previous week when I felt every mile of the 20 mile bike ride Kyle and I had gone up the previous day. I had texted Kyle earlier in the day that my goal was to be under 8:40, hopefully close to 8:30 pace.

There were a lot more runners this week, which I was really excited about. The race got going, and I started going, somewhere in the comfortably hard range. When the first mile came through in 8:13, I simultaneously thought SHIT, too fast and let's see how long I can hang on to this.

Mile 1 8:13

The second mile I definitely knew that quick of a pace wasn't sustainable, but I wanted to keep working hard. A gal passed me at this point, and I tried to attach a string to her mentally to pull me along, but she was getting stronger as I was getting more tired. At the halfway point, I did some quick race math and calculated that my finishing time could be just over 25 minutes if I didn't let up anymore. 12:36 at the halfway point (the course is short, so I basically assume I'm racing a 3 mile instead of a 5k).

Around the turn around I realized that Toni wasn't super far in front of me, so I set my sights on her back to chase. Somewhere during this time, I guy I usually run with, and we take turns beating each other at races, passed me, so I tried to use that to propel me faster as well.

Mile 2 8:28

I gave myself half a second to be annoyed at how far off pace I had fallen during the second mile, and instead focused on less than a mile remaining in the race. I had my watch set to tell me the average race pace, so I was focused on dropping that pace down as best as I could leading up to the finish. We had some shady spots in the final mile, so I told myself to run hard in the shade. The final quarter of a mile I tried to pick it up as hard as I could coming up on Toni. As soon as I got close to her, she turned on her turbo jets leaving me in her dust, but that also helped me find another gear to push along with her.

Mile 3 8:23 

.01 :02 seconds, 6:46 max pace

I ran 3.01 miles in 25:08 for a pace of 8:22!

164 Avg HR, 170 Max HR

I was so freakin' excited. And in looking at my first half split vs second half split, I actually ran stronger the second half of the race, despite the fast first mile 12:36/12:32. This is the fastest pace I've ran for 3 miles/3.1 miles since AUGUST 2011! Which is craziness. Of course I had to hop on McMillan running calculator to see what that translated to for other races, knowing full well that I'm a speedier runner than I am an endurance runner, so those calculations never really work for me, but whatever! If I can run those paces in 85 degrees, I'm pretty darn curious what I can do on a nice cool day! Can't wait to get the chance to figure it out.

Race Report: Parks and Rec 5k Week 2

Monday night was week two of the June 5k series. I skipped week 1 because it was 90+ degrees. No thank you. It was so much cooler this week (sarcasm font) at 83 degrees and too much humidity. I was planning to bail on the run, but somehow talked myself into just going to get some miles in. I did a two mile warm up with 4x100m strides and then did some leg swings and glute stretches. 

I started the race hoping I could be near-ish my pace from the last 5k I ran, 8:40. So when I started off in the 8:15 range I thought to myself, oops. A half mile into the race I settled into my pace a little better. I was pacing off of some 3k racers, and when they turned around I was all by my lonesome. And my pace reflected it.

Mile 1 8:46

One of my fellow SFWR was not too far behind me, so that kept me moving forward. I was in third for females and during the out and back turn around I counted to determine I was in tenth overall. At the halfway point I checked my time, knowing the course would be right around 3 even instead of 3.1 and hoped to finish around 26:40. 

Mile 2 9:06

The final mile I was all by myself so I focused on just moving forward, trying to pick up the pace during the shaded portions of the course. I was pooped and just ready to be done. I picked up the pace a little bit the last half mile to inch my overall pace under 9 minutes.

Mile 3 8:59

I ran 3.01 miles in 26:58 for a pace of 8:58.

I look forward to future weeks and hopefully more of my runner friends to show up (mostly to help push me, lolz).

Race Report: PurpleStride 5k

This was the first year for the PurpleStride 5k for Pancreatic Cancer. Several months ago, a friend of mine got a team together: SFWR Light Savers. Yes, bonus points for the best name ever, and a bunch of my friends and gals from our running group joined. Over the course of a few months (and a really awesome final 48 hour push) we raised over $1200 for pancreatic cancer research. 

Since it was the first year for this event, I expected it to be small, and was planning to give them a million passes as some fundraising events have some flaws or things that might not be thought of because typically non-runners are putting them on. Not this group. I arrived at the event super early so I could get in a warm up, and there were tents set up, music playing, tons and tons of volunteers. The same-day packet pick up was super quick, and a sweet volunteer even offered to put my "I wage hope for My Mom" bib on my back for me. So sweet.

I did my warm up miles (hot and toasty) and then met back up with friends and team members.

Yay Light Savers!

There was an awesome opening ceremonies thirty minutes before the event, honoring survivors, and talking about how important the fundraising is to help find early detection and better treatment options for pan can. There were over 550 people there for the event (!!!!) and over $56,000 raised ($$$$$$). Giant thanks to anyone who donated to the cause. 

At 9am, it was time for the race. They had an awesome balloon archway, and no one would line up at the front, so I made my friend Jordanne line up there with me. 

So of course I lead the race for the first 5-10 seconds. Hah.

My body had felt pretty terrible for the past couple of weeks, so I wasn't sure what I was capable of for a hard-isa 5k. Toni had ran a 10k at altitude (Bolder Boulder) last weekend, so I asked her if she thought I could hold her 10k altitude pace for a 5k. So that's how I came up with a goal time. Totally scientific. 8:34 pace, ok!

The first mile felt pretty strong, I started around 8:40ish and was dropping my pace down to the mid to lower 8:30s and it didn't feel terrible. Yet I was shocked that everyone ahead of me also seemed to be speeding up and putting some distance on me. I was sitting in 8th female for the first mile or so, and finally moved up to 6th after a bit.

Mile 1 8:36

I was feeling pretty good during the second mile as well, which was shocking because it was pushing 80 degrees and we all know how Jerbear feels about running/racing in the heat. Barf. I did REALLY want some water though. I failed to drink water after my warm up and was dealing with stomach issues before the race, so I was pretty dehydrated to start. At the turn around, we had to run up a small set of stairs and then head back down the opposite side. Nothing terrible but my legs felt really heavy after and it took me awhile to get back into a groove. I picked up the pace towards the end of the mile, but my mile time really looks like I took it easy. Ha.

Mile 2 8:50

The mile markers were all wonky the second half of the race, so I wasn't sure if the race would end up being super short or what. I think the two mile sign was around 1.75 miles, or something really early like that, but it ended up being pretty close to perfectly 5k. I was impressed. One of the coolest parts of the race was a Boston Marathon banner/rug/sign laid on the trail a mile from the finish line. (To read one of the coolest/saddest/most inspiration stories check out this local families pancreatic cancer Boston Marathon story here). I thought about the Scott family as I ran over the mat, as well as my own dreams to run and cross the Boston Marathon some day, knowing my mom will be right there with me.

With a mile to go there was a group of three gals in front of me that I was slowly gaining on. That lit a small fire underneath me as I thought it would be really awesome to come in top three female for a race that was so important to me. The last mile and a half of the race was directly into the sun with little to no tree cover, and it was slowly causing me to putz out. I kept noticing my pace slip and then I would pick it up, and back and forth as my watch got closer to three miles. I tried to start a kick with a half mile to go. With a quarter of a mile to go, two of my teammates that I had never met before race morning came up on me, and Betsy clapped me on the back and told me, "let's go" and that my mom was there with me cheering me on. Which really helped give me that final boost to finish strong.

Mile 3 8:41

.08 :32 (6:45 avg, 6:24 max)

I finished in 26:41 with an average pace of 8:40.

I was shocked at how close I was to my race goal pace, especially in some crazy warm conditions!! It gets me excited for the summer 5k series.

Thanks again to anyone who joined our team, wished me well for the race, donated money, or has been there for me. Events like this really make me hopeful that research can advance and improve our survival rates to eliminate other families from suffering like my mom did.

WAGE HOPE.

Here's some local news coverage of the event (and me leading the race for 5 seconds, LOLZ).

Purple Stride Fundraiser

The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network - Sioux Falls Affiliate is putting on a 5k to fundraise money for pancreatic cancer research on June 3rd, two days before my mom's first heavenly birthday. 💜💜💜💜💜 She passed from pancan in August ten short months after her diagnosis (which is almost 3x as long as most pancan patients get). 

There is a huge fundraising goal for the Sioux Falls chapter and some of my running friends have formed a team to run together and fundraise together (team: SFWR Light Savers... my friends are so witty!!). Please consider donating some money. Pancan currently has the lowest cancer survival rate after 5 years and i desperately want that to change.

If you feel moved to donate please do so here: 

Fall Parks and Rec 5k Series

The Monday after the Sioux Falls half, the fall 5k series started up again. My legs were shot from the half so I took the first night off. But I was there and ready to roll for the next week.

It was also my first race with my purple elephant tattoo for my mama. <3

September 19

2 mile warm up

1. 8:34

2. 8:54

3. 7:44 (8:42 pace)

2.89 25:13 8:44 pace

180 avg HR, 183 max HR

3rd place female

Kyle was nice enough to celebrate our one year wedding anniversary the night before so I could attend. Oops. Haha. It was more than worth it, imo, as I posted one of my best 5k paces in years. Actual years! Super consistent splits and an even faster last mile. Wahoo!

September 26

2 mile warm up

1. 8:29

2. 8:29

3. 8:23

.03 :11 (7:08 pace)

3.03 25:35 8:27 pace

169 avg HR, 177 max HR

 3rd place female

The following week I posted a faster time, but we ran the opposite direction, and I knew it was a shorter course. I just didn't have as much fight in me as the previous week. My heart rate data shows just how hard I wasn't working. Ooops.

October 3

1.  8:38

2. 8:41

3. 7:42 (8:47 pace)

2.88 25:03 8:42 pace

160 avg HR, 172 max HR

1st place female

 

The final week I went in with one goal, to post my best time of the fall for the 5k. Beat 25:35. I slacked a bit in the second mile, and then really dug deep in the third mile. 8:22!!! And then I crossed the finish line, stopped my watch, and my time was identical to two weeks ago. 25:35. I couldn't have done that if someone had offered me a million dollars to do it. Oh well. :)

October 10

2 mile warm up

1. 8:31

2. 8:36

3. 8:22

.02 :05 5:03 pace

3.02 25:35 8:29 pace

162 avg HR, 171 max HR

2nd place female

June Parks and Rec 5k Series

The Sioux Falls Parks and Rec department puts on a 3k/5k series every year, Monday nights in June and again in mid-September to early October. I've worked Monday evenings for years, but this was the first summer I didn't. I hadn't been running fast at all, so I treated the races as my speedwork. Way more fun than trying to push myself on the trail by myself!

June 6

2 mile warm up

1. 8:40

2. 8:56

3. 8:50

26:26 2.99 8:51 pace 

Some of my awesome SFWR friends!

 

 

Then one of the weeks, I convinced Emily to come and run the 3k! Isn't she cute?

June 13

.76 warm up

1.  8:43

2. 8:58

3. 8:10 (8:59 pace)

25:52 2.91 8:54 pace

And I won my AG!

 

Guess who was back for the next week?! Emily!

More fun SFWR friends! And my strongest 5k race of the June series! 8:30s?! Whaaaaa?!? And consistent. *pats self on back*

June 20

2 mile warm up

1. 8:36

2. 8:38

3. 8:36

.02 :05 5:36 pace

25:57 3.02 8:36 pace

 The final week was a blast too. And even more SFWR to chase around the bike trails!

June 27

1 mile warm up

1. 8:39

2. 8:45

3. 7:34 (8:31 pace)

2.89 24:59 8:39 pace

Spring Race Plan

After a very lackluster running schedule, I opted to DNS the Houston Half Marathon. Bye bye $$$. :( Given how painful the Bemidji Marathon was while fairly prepared, I can only imagine how brutal a half marathon would be given my current running base (little to nothing). I'm truly enjoying yoga all day everyday, so I'm going to continue with that and run when I want to.

With that being said, my plan for this spring is to start back at the beginning (kinda)! Whenever I've "got back into running" I've always focused on a 5k race to shoot for. I know I'm doing great things for my body and my future running self, by strengthening areas that have given me trouble (glutes) and gaining flexibility in others (uh, everywhere, but hips especially). 

While I'm going to continue to go to yoga classes as much as humanly possible, I'd like to also start with shorter runs, lower weekly mileage, and re-introducing speed, essentially working from the ground up again. I'm hoping that by keeping my mileage low, and my goal races shorter, I can really work on keeping my form in check and find a balance between all the yoga and running.

My plan for this spring is as follows:

• 1/31/15 Frostbite Four (weather permitting). I've always wanted to run this race. It's a 4 miler in a town about 30 minutes south of me. They have multiple race routes plotted out and choose the route the morning of the race based on the direction of the wind. I think this race would be a good baseline indicator for me on a hard effort 4 miler. If it's ridiculously cold, I'll probably just go to a yoga class instead. Let's be honest. :)
• 3/14/15 Free Rebel Run 5k. I ran this 5k last year and had a blast. It's free/donation based and on one of my favorite parts of the bike trail. This is my first "goal" race of the spring. "Goal" being a loose term, but I'm going to attempt to add running back into my routine 3x/week with one speed session with a speedy-ish 5k time on this day as the game plan.
• 6/13/15 Harrisburg 10k. I love 10ks and look to have a crazy busy spring ahead of me as far as weekends are concerned, so this would be my next weekend free (insane!) in which there's a race nearby. 
• 6/19/15 Longest Day 10k (?). I have this Friday off, so if it's not a trillion degrees I may head up to Brookings and convince Megan to come run with me. :)
• 7/4/15 Firecracker 10k/5k (weather dependent). I love this race. I ran my 2nd fastest 10k there last summer. But I've also ran my 10k PW there on a hotter/more humid day. If it's gross out, I'll only make myself suffer through 5k. 
• 9/13/15 Sioux Falls half marathon. Shortly after the Firecracker race, it'll be time to start training for my 11th consecutive Sioux Falls half marathon! Wouldn't it be neat if taking things slow and steady all year long lead to a breakthrough race in September?? I wouldn't be mad... ;)

So obviously a spring marathon is out of the cards, as I had previously mentioned that Grandma's Marathon might be an option, and maybe 2015 will be the first year since I started running marathons that I won't toe the line for 26.2 miles. We'll see. There's still a little time that one could be snuck in if I feel the itch! :)

5k Series

My co-worker started running about a month ago, so I'm constantly on the look out for a 5k for her to run in the future. This has proved difficult because we work opposite Saturdays of each other, and I'd like to be there to run and cheer her on as well. Also, my legs can't hack racing a 5k one day and doing a monster long run the next day. That's asking for injury city.

But while I was searching, I noticed there's a 5k series that a college is putting on that has 3 different 5k races on Tuesday evenings in July and August. It's $50 for the series or $20 for each race. And I have to admit.... I'm intrigued.

I've never ran a series of races before. And I know racing a 5k during marathon training isn't all that beneficial. But I'm wondering if the 5k races could be my speed work substitute on those weeks. Hmmm. I also think running a few 5ks a couple of weeks apart will remind me what running really hard feels like, and also serve to remind me that it won't kill me. Mental toughness points, if you will.

Thoughts? 

And now some throw back pics to the summer I did 5 5ks in a four week span.

Harrisburg 5k Race Goals

Originally, tomorrow's 10k race was supposed to be my final "spring" race before I started marathon training. This was back when I thought the 10k was the same day/weekend as the Swan Lake Marathon. After I realized it wasn't, after I had registered for the 10k, I decided I'd rather race a half to attempt sub-2 yet again (fail) instead of a fast 10k time. Well, if I had realized how difficult the half course was, I may have stuck with my original plan! Oh well.

With that being said, I'm not sure what my legs will be up for tomorrow. They're definitely still recovering from the half, but I'm not sure *how* recovered they are. I emailed my buddy Tom, the race director, to see if I could switch from the 10k to the 5k, and he said that would be fine.

If all goes well, I'd like to run a faster time than the St. Patty's Day 5k that I ran in March: 26:17 (8:29 pace). My last set of mile repeats averaged 8:17, so that would be my top range goal assuming my legs are 100% recovered (which I'm seriously doubting, but I wouldn't be mad if they were!).

That would be a 25:40. I'd enjoy a sub 26 as well (8:23 pace. And if my legs just feel like crap and I do a 3.1 mile run through Harrisburg for fun tomorrow morning, that'll be alright too. After all, marathon training starts Monday!!!

Race Report: CMN SDSU State-a-thon 5k

My summer racing schedule has been lacking in a major way.  Last year I signed up for a ton of races, and ended up running a lot of 5ks in less than favorable conditions.  This year I decided that I would monitor the weather for the weekend before committing to any races.  Thank God I did.  We've had a miserable summer!  Except this past week.  And conveniently that was a cutback week.  I managed to find a close-to-home 1st annual 5k for $15 bucks.  Sweet!  I wrangled some runner friends together, and it was on.

The race had an 8:30 start, which would suck, normally, but it was 60* with a breeze.  Yeah, there was still 90% humidity, but whatever, I'm almost used to that now (gasp, I know!).  Tom, Brent, and I took off for a mile warm up and were all complaining about how crappy our legs felt all week long.  Neat!  This should be a fun race!

Looking back at previous 5k results, I saw that I always went out too fast in that first mile (7:30) and then bombed hard in mile two (8:00+).  My goal was to hold off a bit for the first mile, get mile two under 8 for the first time EVER in a 5k... yeah... wtf?  And then gun it as hard as I could for the remainder.

We lined up near the race "start" as there was no line.  The coordinator thanked us all for coming and in the same breath said, on your marks, get set go!  Uh....... ok.  Garmin START!

We started off in to the wind and I tucked in behind a couple of xc chicks.  I was sitting in 4th and made myself sloooooooooooooow down when I realized I was flying at a 7:12 pace.  Hi, this is the opposite of not going out too fast.  Apparently I settled in a bit too much, because my first mile split came in at 7:43.  Not bad, I was shooting for 7:39s.

Mile two I just kept pushing and keeping the two girls in my sights.  At some point a chick with a big black lab came flying by our group and I assumed she was just out for a training run, until I saw her turn around with the group at the halfway mark.  Great!  Apparently I'm in 5th not 4th.  Grrrrr.  At the halfway point I saw a PR was in the bag if I could hang on to my pace for the remainder of the race.  Shortly after the turn around I pass a dude, which made me happy.  Mile 2 7:49.  Sub 8 win.

Mile 3 I spend trying to catch up to the two girls in front of me.  It's dorky, but I kept repeating, "Are you going to settle for 5th or work your butt off for 3rd?!?!"  I hoped that I could get close enough that I could outkick them.  I started my kick with about 1/2 a mile to go, but just ran out of course to catch 'em with.  Prior to the race start, they had said there'd be a board to record race times, if you wished, and someone calling out finishing times at the finish, so there were neither.  I'd estimate I was 5-10 seconds behind the girls.  Mile 3 was 7:36.

I was bummed that there weren't official race times because I know that 3 of the girls weren't in their 20s.  Oh well, I'm happy enough with a smart, fast race.  I was 5th female, and 9th overall.  I'd estimate there were about 75 racers total.  Again no official numbers. :)

I finished in 23:09.  The race was a smidge short, which is a bummer, but it gives me a new time to shoot for the next 5k.

The one thing I found super interesting once I flipped through my garmin for the race data was that my heart rate wasn't anywhere near where I expected it to be.  I actually turned off the auto scroll (where the garmin toggles between heart rate screen and main screen) because I knew I would be terrified of the heart rate creeping closer and closer to my max heart rate.  I averaged a heart rate of 170 with a max of 175.  I expected to be tippie-toeing on 190.  Even my tempo runs have been maxing at 180-185 towards the end.  Maybe it was just the difference in cooler temps...... maybe I just didn't run hard enough.  Gaaaaaaaaah!

Race Reports: IRISHMAN. St. Patty's Day 5m, 5k, 1m.

Saturday I was excited to partake in one of my favorite holiday's running events:  St. Patrick's Day!  Since I knew I was in no shape to race a 5 mile or 5k, I thought what the heck, and had signed up for the Irishman Challenge:  5 m, 5k, and 1m.  Originally I had planned to run the 5 mile at a slower tempo pace (8:30), race-ish the 5k (low 8's), and bttw mile time (hopefully sub-7).  After they revealed the course route, and I realized it'd be hilly, I scaled back my "goals" a little bit.  When I woke up to see the 30-40 mph wind gusts and 20 degree temps, I ditched them altogether.

I got to the race start entirely too early, as I didn't care to "warm up" in the freezing cold.  Instead, I stood next to a building that was blocking the wind with Tom and Sara.  The first mile went by quickly and I was keeping close to my tempo pace.

Mile 1 8:40

Mile two snuck up and I knew I'd be climbing for the whole mile. Into the wind.  And I wanted to die.  Eep!  After we made it up the hill, the half mile to the turn around was flat out brutal.  Wide wide open area head on in to the wind.  At one point some skinny minnie runner chick came up to pass me on my lefthand shoulder (what a b! I know... passing Jerbear.... didn't know that happened!!  jk) I had been fighting the wind so hard that the momentary reprieve she caused from blocking it for me caused me to crash in to her.  Oops.

Mile 2 9:38 (bahahhahaha, told you I hate wind and hills)

Mile 3 8:56

At the turn around I felt like I could jump in the air and land 200 yards closer to the finish line.  I half contemplated it, to be honest.   To give you an idea of the wind and effort levels for mile 3, I estimate that I was running approximately a ten minute mile into the wind (and felt like an all out sprint), so I had to have run an 8 minute pace with no effort with the wind at my back to get a 9 minute split.  Impressive.

During the 4th mile we got to charge down some hills which was a lot of fun.  I met up with a chick that I had been leap frogging with for most of the race, and we talked for a good half mile about running, what we have coming up for races, cycling, future triathlon and duathlon ambitions.  I guarantee we were THOSE chicks that were annoying people as we were shooting the breeze while flying down the hill passing people.  Oops.

Mile 4 8:17

The final mile had a little bit of a climb to it and another section in to the wind.  I tried to have a strong-ish kick at the end as there were a few people just in front of me with about a quarter of a mile to go.  Plus that's where Kyle was cheering for me, so obviously I had to pass people, right?  ;)

Mile 5 8:41

I finished in 44:12 for a pace of 8:50.

Field Placement:	98 / 213 (46%)
Age group:	20 – 29
Group Placement:	9 / 44 (20.5%)
Gender Placement:	39 / 124 (31.5%)

In between races a few of us Daily Mile peeps hit up the bar that was affiliated with the race (and also our regular Daily Mile meet up watering hole) to warm up and hang out.  Somehow I convinced myself that I should enjoy my free Irish beer now rather than before the one mile, since I was trying to race the one mile.  Before I knew it we were heading to the 5k and I had a nice little Irish beer buzz going on.  I didn't realize this was the case until Kyle was wanting to find a gas station bathroom to utilize at 11:11 (race started at 11:30) and I was all sorts of fine and dandy to accompany him.  However, when the clock struck 11:13 I immediately changed my tune and realized that I needed to be at the race right now!!!  Clearly my rational thinking disappeared within a two minute span.  No biggie.

Since I wasn't racing (and was borderline tipsy...p.s. not my fault 2/3 of a beer after running does the trick) I didn't pay any attention to where I had lined up for the race.  Ugh.  Big mistake.  The 5k is known for being the most popular race of the day and there were sooooooo many people.  The first mile was slow going.  Aaron caught up to me and commented, "Shouldn't you be up a LOT farther??"  To which I responded with my master plan, "Instead of racing this 5k, I think I'm going to ask all the under 21 year olds if I can have their drink tickets off their bibs.  Not like they'll be using them, right?!?!!?"  Jeri = genius.  Eventually I saw a little space open up for me to jet through, only to be caught up along the stupid hill again.  The path was super duper narrow, and the leaders were already coming back causing it to be even tighter.  There were parts of the uphill that I was literally running in place.  I would've been very frustrated... but meh.  Didn't really care.

The downhill was neat-o, but I was t-i-r-e-d during mile 3.  It was then that I remembered that instead of eating the Luna bar in between races like I had meant to, I had drank a beer.  Oops!  There were a TON of people that were catchable with about .4 miles to go, so I just haaaaaaad to kick it up a notch to catch them.  It's at this point in races that I convince myself that I'm still a speedy sprinter and can outkick anyone.  For some reason it usually works in my brain... who knows.  Right before the finish line I noticed a chick wearing an Ireland flag as a cape, and just had to beat her.  Thanks for the motivation wee lass!

I did 5k in 27:27 for a pace of 8:52 per mile.

Mile 1  8:59

Mile 2  8:46

Mile 3  9:00

.1 :38 (7:02 pace; 6:31 max pace, again, thanks Irish chick.)

Field Placement:	177 / 626 (28.3%)
Age group:	20 – 29
Group Placement:	25 / 151 (16.6%)
Gender Placement:	64 / 385 (16.6%)

Last up was the mile.  And I really didn't want to run.  I was freakin' tired, and freakin' crabby, and freakin' cold.  I owe Kyle a fishing trip for the amount of complaining he had to endure from noon to 2pm.  Oh, my warm up for the mile was jumping out of the truck.  Looking for Tom at the starting line, and waiting for the start.  Not my smartest plan.  I knew Tom would come in well under 7 and I had convinced him to race it so I had someone to chase down.  I was uber smart and switched my garmin to give me my quarter mile splits.  Genius, yet again.

The gun sounded and people were flyyyyying.  And I kept tripping on my windpants.  Why they didn't bother me the other two races, is beyond me (oh wait... perhaps it was the speed at which I was previously running..... :p).  The first quarter mile flew by as did the second.  Close to the halfway mark of the race I thought for sure the race was going to be short.  Short course = almost guaranteed goal time, so might as well ease up a little bit, right?  Running fast hurts.... at the 3/4 mark I thought for sure the course was going to be short and that I would be seeing my subway sandwich again very very soon as it had resided in my esophagus instead of my stomach.  Neat.

A young girl in combat boots who had stopped to walk around the 1/2 way mark came barreling past me.  What.  The.  Eff.  I tried to give it everything I had left without barfing, mind you.

7:14.  Meh.  It's no sub 7, but good enough.

Field Placement:	71 / 188 (37.8%)
Age group:	20 – 29
Group Placement:	4 / 26 (15.4%)
Gender Placement:	18 / 95 (18.9%)

On a fresh-legged day, I could do sub-7.  After running a hilly 8, not so much.  But it was a lot of fun and the shirts were pretty sweet.  We got a short sleeved shirt for the 5m/5k/1m and then a long sleeved shirt for the Irishman.  

Irishman Stats

Division Place: 23 out of 62

Gender Place: 23 out of 62

Overall Place: 64 out of 116