605 Series 12 Mile Race Goals

This weekend, we have the final race in the 605 Race Series, the 12 miler. Originally I was hesitant to sign up for the series, and the 12 miler specifically because I see no reason to race a 12 miler in half marathon training. But as my wise training partner told me, "Well then we won't race it!" Oh. Duh. So we plan to do it as yet another training run, which is what *most* people use this series for, I just have a hard time spending money for a training run, but it's for 605 Running Co. and they put on a heck of a party disguised as a low-key race morning!

Our workout for the day is 12 miles (yay! no extra warm up miles this time!) increasing the pace so the last 3 miles are at/near tempo pace. My tentative planning (tentative meaning I haven't yet shared this with Toni) is to run 4-5 miles at our typical long run pace 10:30-10:40s. Then 3-4 miles of picking it up, maybe 10-10:15 pace, followed by the last 3 dropped down in the low 9s.

Hopefully it's a great day for a couple hour run around the bike trails in town! Last year I missed this race as it occurred just a few days after my mom's passing, so in honor of her, we'll be rocking some awesome purple gear for the day. <3

605 Series 8 Mile Race Report

This past Sunday was the second race in the 605 Series. We had 11 on the schedule, so we signed up to do it as part of our long run. We got there super early, about an hour before the race which was great because I needed to use the restroom and Toni had an issue with not having a bib or packet at packet pick up. Before too long we were off on our "warm up" aka 3 miles. And I felt like crap. My stomach felt terrible, my legs felt super duper heavy, and my breathing felt super labored. Oh boy, this is going to be fun.

About a mile in I realized I needed to use the bathroom again, so we made a stop at the halfway point. Side note: I really need to stop eating pizza before long run/races. I love it so so much, but my stomach really hates the gluten. It's too bad, really. After that bathroom stop I felt much better, and my legs warmed up and didn't feel like lead anymore. We finished up our 3 miles and then met up with the group running the 8 miler.

We found out we were doing two double loops, which is different from last year, and really not my preference. I much prefer an out and back or even a double loop/butterfly sort of situation, but oh well. I took a GU shortly before we started. Right before we started,  my stomach started to get race day nervous which is silly because we weren't racing. And it knows that. Chill out stomach. We passed right by a bathroom early on but I chose to keep going thinking my stomach would settle down. We were going way too fast off the bat, so we had to focus to keep at our 10:30 long run pace.

Eventually we settled in and had a nice little pack of runners right with us, all getting their long runs in as well. YAY! Team work makes the dream work.

1. 10:22
2. 10:25

During the race, I told Toni that the plan was 3 miles at long run pace, 2 miles around 10 pace, and then we'd cut down the last 3 miles--9:40s, 9:20s, 9s. Now that I'm looking back at my race plan, apparently we were supposed to go more aggressively than that. Oops. Fail on my part.




I debated stopping to use a bathroom in this stretch but felt like I could keep going, and the bathroom was quite a ways off of the trail. We ran up on one of my co-worker's daughter and chatted with her for a couple of miles as well.

3. 10:20

Once it was time to pick up the pace a bit, I kind of felt like a jerk, because we started passing people who had passed us to start. Normally I get a burst of energy passing people in races, but since I knew a bunch of people were doing this as a long run, and I knew most of them, I felt way less competitive about it, and more of a jerk. Ha. During mile 4, I finally snagged a bathroom stop, and was quickly in and out while Toni refilled our water bottles. She's the best. I took another GU around the 4 mile mark (7 miles overall).











4. 10:04
5. 9:50

I could hardly believe it when we were down to our last 3 miles. They had gone SO FAST. But honestly any time I run with Toni the miles fly by, but there were so many more people and everyone was cheering and high fiving as we went along. It was awesome. We were picking up the pace, but it didn't feel as hard as I thought it would, which was a good sign!



6. 9:38
7. 9:17

Based on our tempo run earlier this week, where we ran 16, 12, and 8 minute stretches at tempo pace, and it was HARD, I was really worried about running the last 3 down to tempo pace. 27 minutes of tempo seems way harder than three shorter sets with a jogging break in between, ALSO doing it at the end of an 11 miler seems EXTRA HARD. But we kept chatting and talking through it like it was NBD.

The final mile I wanted to get as close to 9 or under as possible, while not all out sprint/racing it. A gal that had been right on our heels for a few miles prior to the finish flew by us during the final mile, and I really really really wanted to chase her, so I had to remind myself over and over that this wasn't a race. Dang competitive brain in there. We kept to our plan of comfortably hard and then really strides out the final little turn/stretch. I told Toni to go ahead and that I'd chase her.

8. 8:50

I finished in 1:19:22 for a pace of 9:55.

It was a great run, and I would highly recommend the 605 Series to any runner that wants to race or do a supported long run for their summer training!

605 Series 8 Mile Race Goals

I was hesitant to sign up for the 605 Race Series, because I knew I wouldn't race any of the distances other than the 4 mile. Toni convinced me that we'd do the 8 mile and 12 mile as our training runs together, and our finishing time would be NBD. Thank goodness for Toni, right?

Sunday's 8 mile will be a part of our 11 mile long run for the day. According to the Pfitz plan we're following, we're supposed to increase our long run pace, finishing the last 3 miles near Lactate Threshold pace. Uff da! Our LT pace lately has been between 9-9:20. Our long run pace has been creepily 10:39 almost every week no matter the distance or temperature/humidity or if I'm running with Toni or solo. So weird.

Our plan:

To run 3 miles at our regular pace before the race, with minimal time between those miles and the gun start. I think we'll continue another 2-3 miles at our regular long run pace, with another 2 around 9:30-10 pace, and the final three around, or slightly above 9 minute pace.

Last year I ran the race in 1:16:03, a pace of 9:49. Apparently my race plan was similar last year (I had to look up my race report to be sure): race plan 2 @10:30, 2 @ 10, 2 @ 9:30 2 @ 9-9:15.

I would love for my time/pace to be faster than last year's especially as it's at the end of an 11 miler, but we'll see! Since it's more of a workout vs. a race like last year's was, I'm just excited to get out and run with a bunch of 605 runner friends!

605 Series 4 Mile DNS

Last weekend was the first race in the 605 Series, and the only one of the series I planned to race! I ran long on Friday so I'd be able to race on Sunday. Buuuuuuut, my legs had other ideas. Friday evening my legs started to feel really tight. I foam rolled and sticked and took some ibuprofen before bed. When I woke up Saturday morning, I could barely move them, my IT band was so tight, my quads felt completely locked up.

I had lunch plans with a friend and just assumed they'd loosen up as the day went on. After lunch I realized, maybe that wasn't the case..... I spent more time foam rolling, took more ibuprofen, found some biofreeze, and took a two hour nap.... in the name of recovery, mind you.

I woke up, foam rolled some more and took an epsom bath. They felt a little better, finally. I texted Toni that I was going to try to do my warm up miles before the race, and decide if I'd race after that. I woke up Sunday and my legs were still super tight and painful. I turned off my alarm, mopey, and tried to go back to bed. Until I realized that I had picked up friends' packets and had to bring them to the race. Grr....

I did some more foam rolling throughout the day, but not as aggressively as the previous days, as they were still super tender to the touch and maybe I overdid the foam rolling a smidge. I really wanted to run that race, so I was doing everything I could to get there. Oh well.

I had another epsom bath and took a restorative yoga class. Monday my legs felt almost okay. I took a yin yoga class and 15 minutes of foam rolling, and my legs felt almost back to normal. I opted to take another rest day just to be sure.

So I'm back to normal, I think. This is similar IT band issues that I've had when my form is crappy during a long run or race. I think going to POWER for the first time in three weeks may have worked my glutes too hard, so they were just off completely during my long run. It's a good reminder to keep my foam roller nearby as the miles are increasing, and to make sure that my glutes are ready to rock during runs. Eeps.

605 Series 4 Mile Race Goals

Last weekend, I was looking ahead to week 3 of our training plan and fired off a frantic text to Toni, "holy crap we're racing next weekend already!" We had signed up for the 605 Race Series a few months ago, and they've been on the calendar since then, but somehow it's already the end of July and I'm just not sure how that happened!

The race series is a 4 mile, 8 mile, and 12 mile every other Sunday leading up to the Sioux Falls half. I was hesitant about signing up, because I know that "racing" 4/8/12 leading up to the half won't benefit my training, my Toni insisted we sign up, and not race them. And duh. She's totally right. The race series supports my favorite running store, their wheelchair race adventures, it's super cheap, there's awesome prizes, and even though they say it's low/no frills, I won at least 1 nice pair of running socks last year, and to me that's MUCHOS FRILLS!

The plan for Sunday's four miles includes 8 miles with 4 at tempo-ish. This is the one race of the series I'm actually planning to all-out race. I think we'll do a 2-3 mile warm up, 4 miles race and then 1-2 mile cool down.

Based on my best 3 mile of this summer, McMillan puts me at an 8:30 pace for the 4 miles. That'll be my A goal for Sunday.

My last 5k was at a 8:39 pace, so I'd be pretty happy if I could do 4 miles at that, especially if the weather is more favorable than it was on the fourth.

Otherwise, my last, and only, 4 mile race was during this series last year, and I completed it in 9:06 pace. Our tempo paces have been around 9:05-9:15 in the 100% humidity over the past few weeks, so  4 miles at tempo would still be a great workout for the day.

Either way, I'm looking forward to running and racing with a bunch of my friends and supporting our local running store.

Race Report: 605 Race Series 8 Mile

This summer I signed up for the 605 Race Series. It was $20 per race, or $50 for all three races, no frills (or so they claimed!) with 4, 8 and 12 mile races on alternating Sundays leading up to the Sioux Falls Half. This race was the morning of the Olympic marathon, so I sported my best red white and blue for the occasion. I also put a screenlock image on my phone that said "DO NOT OPEN, MARATHON SPOILERS." I had friends over for brunch and a delayed viewing of the race.

My plan for the race was a modified version of my game plan for the upcoming Sioux Falls Half: first 2 at 10:30, second 2 at 10:00, 3rd 2 at 9:30 and last two at 9-9:15. It was a pretty nice morning for a run, despite being mid-August.

 I

I did a pretty good job sticking to the race plan for the first half of the race.

1. 1024

2. 10:25



























3. 9:54
4. 9:52

Quite a few of my running friends were volunteering along the race course, and were heavily stacked at the turnaround. Hence the mega smiles and THUMBS UP! hah.

The later miles weren't quite as speedy as I had hoped, but I was running as hard as I could muster.

5. 9:26
6. 9:37






The course ended up coming up just a little short, but I had a really strong finishing sprint with a 6:43 max pace. Whoa. Where did that come from?
7. 9:38
.75 9:01 pace 6:43 (short course)

 I had a final time of 1:16:03 for an auto PR. Whoop!

Race Report: 605 Race Series 4 Mile

I woke up at 6am to eat some breakfast and head to town to do an early packet pick up and some warm up miles. I was really close to hitting 100 miles for the month of July so that helped me get there to do a couple of extra. I picked up my bib and headed out. It was so thick and muggy, and my head was completely full of mucus. Did that paint a vivid enough picture for you? Uff.

The warm up was a complete slog and I ended up only going 1.5 miles and being completely drenched. I did manage to get some monster snot rockets blown out during the warm up so I could breathe a little bit.

We all lined up for the race announcements and I was excited to see some of my runner friends. I found a couple of pals I thought I could try to stay with and/or keep in my sights based on our recent 5k race series times. 

We started out and I glanced down at my watch a couple minutes in to it to make sure I hadn't gone out too fast (as I tend to do, 7's? um... no thanks, not right now!) and was shocked that my labored pace was an 8:40. Uh... according to Mr. McMillan Running Calculator that should be pretty doable based on my 5k paces. Shoooooot. 

Mile 1 8:53

From there I decided just to run comfortably hard, and maybe my legs would loosen up and have some speed in them the second half of the race! (Spoiler alert: they did not have any speed or additional pep in the second half). I tried to just stay competitive in that I worked to catch people that were loosing steam in front of me.

 

Mile 2 9:15

At the turn around I glanced at my watch and saw 18:20, so my new goal was to finish around 36:40, as I knew I was fading and thought that might help me hunker down a bit. I leap frogged with a couple of gals during this stretch before one finally left me in her dust.

Mile 3 9:09

I tried to reel in a male and female that were in my sights during the final mile and tried to kick with .7 to go in the race. My mile split will tell you how slowly I must've been going for that first .3 miles. My legs just felt like lead.

 

Looking at my running form in the race pictures, I can totally tell why it felt like garbage. For some reason I've reverted back to my bad non-glute using running form. I like to refer to his as my sad panda form. Uff, my hamstrings ache just looking at it.

I finished the last .25 pretty strong, and even had a 7:20 something final kick.

Mile 4 9:08

.05 :21

My final time was 36:48 for a pace of 9:06. A PR. (auto PR, but whatevs)

 

Great start to a race series even if it was a last than fun race performance! That's a heckuva lot faster than I would've run on my own on Sunday in the humidity with a head cold!

605 Race Series #1 Goals

This Sunday I'll be running race number 1 in a three race series for the 605 Race Series. This weekend's race is a 4 mile, which is an auto-PR distance (whoop!). Since I've never ran a 4 mile race before, I'm not really sure what to shoot for time wise. I'm not running long this week, and it's the first cutback week I've had in over a month, so my legs are a bit tired.

Part of me thinks that maybe I can sustain my 5k pace from June's 5k series for a 4 mile, based on an increased fitness level. And then the other part of me remembers how hard the 4th of July 10k was. Blech.

My plan is to start sub 9 and hopefully knock out a nice progression run at an uncomfortably hard pace. Whatever that may be.

(Have I mentioned that I've already gotten in 3x as many races in 2016 as I did in 2015??) Wahoo!