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: Sioux Falls Parks and Rec 5k

Last year, I had such a blast doing all of the Sioux Falls Parks and Rec 5ks both in June and September/October. The only bummer about running and training going so well for the Twin Cities 10 Mile, was that racing a 5k didn't really fit into our training weekly. However, two weeks out from our goal race, we squeezed in the 5k to use as a race predictor for the 10 mile. I had hoped to be in the 8:00-8:15 range based on my 10 mile goal pace. My speedwork sessions in the 3k-5k range had been 7:50-8:20 throughout the past training cycle.

Toni and I went for a two mile warm up with 4x100 strides in mile 2. And my legs felt like GARBAGE. My calves were so tight from all the hills the day prior. Yikes. I honestly thought about not doing the race at all, but I hoped that my legs would eventually loosen up. I usually make sure I have at least a rest day or easy day in between long runs and speedwork, so I was really hoping I wasn't going to break myself before the goal race!

Right as the race was starting, I realized my watch had reset itself, so I quickly tried to find satellites. Shortly after we started I looked down and saw a 4:12 pace, so I'm sure it was a little wonky to start. Lolz. Toni flew by me and was in the lead for females, and I was sitting in 2nd. Another glance at my watch showed 7:37 pace, which may have been just a little too fast. Another female came up on me halfway through mile one and we ran together for a bit, and then I pulled ahead. Right at the one mile marker, she pulled ahead again.

Mile 1 8:10

I had assumed she was speeding up, until my watch confirmed that she was maintaining while I was quickly fading. Gulp. Mile 2 is always the worst for me, so I just tried not to let the gap between us fade too much and get to the turn around asap. Once I'm "halfway done" I can usually convince myself to pick up the pace and dig deeper. A biker was coming from the opposite direction at the turn around, so I slowed down quite a bit so we didn't collide, and suddenly 2nd place female was light years ahead of me. Crap. I failed to look at my watch at the turn around, so I wasn't sure what my first half split was, or what the distance was at the turn around. This race is always a short course, but it was a new route because the bike trail is closed, so I wasn't sure if it'd be around 3 or a full 3.1.

Mile 2 8:37

The final mile, I kept closing in on guys who I had assumed had gone out too fast and were struggling. Thanks for the motivation dudes! But when I'd come up to pass them, they weren't wearing bibs, and were just out for their runs. Hah. I appreciate them spurring my competitiveness regardless. Hah. I picked it up a little in the final mile, but my legs just didn't have any spring in them.  I knew I'd have to go to a super painful place to go any faster than what I was doing and I just didn't want to risk injury or something stupid for a little faster 5k (3 mile) time/pace. I barely even picked it up the last 30 seconds according to my garmin. oops.

Mile 3 8:11 (8:26 pace)

I finished the 2.97 in 24:59 for a pace of 8:24.

Sioux Falls Parks and Rec Race Goals

I was feeling really great after the Sioux Falls half marathon. I finished strong, a good chunk of the "race" was in recovery heart rate zone because my fitness has improved so much this summer (!!), and it was the first half marathon I've done in quite some time that I thought, upon finishing, I could totally do 26.2 today.

Whoa.

That's exciting.

But once the dust settled, I caught myself thinking, hmmm.... I wonder what I would've ran if I had raced the course. Could I have broken 2? I think I'm in shape for it, but it's a hard course, and it was incredibly humid. Would the humidity have effected me if I was running harder?

And then I started looking at my goal time for the Twin Cities 10 Mile. Fun fact: last June, before we started training for the race, I wrote down a goal time for TC10 and the November half marathon on a sticky note and hung it up in my locker at work. I paid it no attention for the past few months, only to re-calculate a goal time based on some other data and realized that it matched up.... exactly. Well that's creepy.

So, when I was looking at my goal time, I started to panic a little. Why are goal paces so terrifying?? I looked at McMillans calculator and saw that an 8:08 paced 5k would translate to my goal time. That seems doable. All of my 3k-5k paced speedwork has been in the 7:49-8:10 range.

And then I remembered that our Parks and Rec was putting on a 5k Monday evening. We can't go to most of them this fall since we're training for TC10, but I thought a quick little 3 mile tune up race might be that final mental push to get my brain committed to thinking that I *can* do the goal time I have laid out. I've been running #ALLTHEMILES this year, but I haven't been racing much, so I'm really lacking that strength and ability to know I can push through the suck that comes with racing more frequently.

Tonight I'll be lining up for a 5k (or probably 3 mile, as it tends to be a short course) and seeing what these legs have in them. An 8:08 would be perfect. A sub 8 would make me do a happy dance (I couldn't even tell you the last time I had a sub 8 5k pace, maybe 2011??), and an 8:10-8:15 would even make me happy since we've ran a lot of miles the last few months.

Stay tuned!

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).

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