Accidental 5k PR: Outrun Parkinson's 5K

I've wanted to run a sub 22 5k since 2017.  It hasn't happened. I've been training for half marathons and just haven't had the right race. I've run 22:30 a few times and I think Strava gave me a 22:11 once.

This morning I decided to run a 5k.

I'm 2 weeks off a half marathon, and after my 13 recovery days I was more than ready for a workout. I thought my legs were as rested as they'd ever be, so I told my sleeping husband I was going to do some speed work and went to a race. (I didn't want to get expectations up in case I blew up.)

I thought maybe I'd get some 7:30 pace work in and I'd be happy with a time under 23 minutes. I was really worrying about blowing up. About being tired and having to walk on the course. I have done NO speed work in almost 3 weeks. I haven't done any 5k specific work since last year. And I wasn't trained at all. I thought this would be a tempo run with other people. I had no expectations for this race. Hence I told no one.

I also had Chick-Fil-A for my pre-race dinner. I had waffle fries and Chick-Fil-A sauce. (Bad day and I was eating my feelings). This really could have been a disaster.

I show up and pay my $25 for the race.

And the course is different than normal. It's finishing in a parking lot instead of the normal downhill by the beach finish.

I line up by the front. It's a small race. I figure even on a bad day I'll be close to the front. And then it's race time.

Mile 1: 7:05. I feel great. I'm flying. I'm worried I'm going too fast so I throw on the brakes.
Mile 2: 7:32. Which is super cool that I can find this pace so easily. This is what I thought I'd run. I did a check in. And my legs felt fine. My breathing was the only thing that wasn't great. I focused on it and calmed it down.
Mile 3: 7:16 pace. I told myself to speed up. I hit the halfway mark on PR pace and I was feeling good. So I sped up.
I should add here that the course was short.
I hit the first mile and my watch said .96. And then I hit the race's 3 mile mark and my watch was at 2.8 or 2.9. But I could see the finish and I was so glad.
I crossed the line and my watch said 2.99
21:50

Which I didn't expect to see that at all.
I ran another .1 at about 7:40 pace just for my Strava account.
And I think that's a PR. It's an official course. Watches measure differently. I've had so many races that measure long.
And even if it was short, I was on PR pace. I averaged 7:18 pace when I think 7:20 pace is my PR.

And I'm elated. I finished second place woman. And don't know where that came from. I thought a minute slower would have been great.

So when people talk about race with no expectations—I've never believed them. But maybe now I do? There was no pressure on this race and I flew. I felt great. My legs are fine. Maybe it was a tad hard the last .6 or so.

It was the race I needed. Yesterday I was thinking of quitting running. It's just such a huge time commitment. I miss free time. But this made me so happy. Hard work is paying off. I'm actually getting fast. So happy with this.

So thank you for this race. And for doing something on a whim and it working out!!

Also this race photo is so bad is's hilarious. I was really happy the race was over. And I don't remember feeling THAT bad but that's what the end of a race feels like.

Photo credit: Classic Race Services

Skidaway Half Marathon Race Recap

Yesterday I ran the Skidaway Island Half Marathon. It was half marathon No. 3. My first since Seawheeze. The goal was a 1:45 half. That's 8 minute miles. I've been training forever for this race. And the training cycle went pretty well. A missed week or two here or there, but no dramatic months off or serious injuries.

The training plan went up to 15 miles (ouch!) and had some hard tempos. I did a 10 mile tempo two weeks before the race. I thought the training went as well as it could have. I probably could have done a few more miles. But pretty well.

I tapered the week of the race. And didn't have any taper tantrums. I honestly love 30 minute runs. It's perfect. I loved having the extra time. 

I was pretty nervous going into this race. The plan was to start out 8:10/8:15 and drop down to an 8 minute pace and make up the time at the end.

We showed up race day and it was still dark. But I got in a quick warmup, rolled my leg and stretched. The weather was 50 degrees and pretty perfect. The race started at 7:11, rather than 7 a.m. but okay. For fuel, I did one pack of caffeinated Cliff Blocs and one packet of caffeinated honey stingers. 

The race

I started off faster than planned. I really tried to stay back from the 1:45 group. I wanted to start slow, but there I was.

Mile 1: 7:59

Mile 2: 7:58

I was feeling good, I wasn't working too hard. My hands were cold. But they warmed up by about 20 minutes in. 

Mile 3: 8:06. Because of a water stop. I had to grab the water. Stop. Drink. Throw. That's the 6 seconds on my very practiced pace. 

Mile 4: 8:02. Back on pretty much pace. Easy enough pace to kind of chat. Going well. 

Mile 5: 8:12. Another water stop. 

Mile 6: 8:05. Close-Ish. I was having trouble finding the pace at this point. At halfway point I was on track for a 1:46, which was fine. I knew I needed to keep pushing.

Mile 7: 8:00. Found the pace. Had to work for it a little.

Mile 8: 8:02. This is when I left my friend, who I had been running with. The pace was slowing down and I felt good so I went for it. 

Mile 9: 8:03. I honestly thought I had more 8 minute miles. Looking back at my splits I was running slow for the second half. I couldn't find someone to run with. I was running solo.

Mile 10: 8:11: This water stop. They were all holding cups of gatorade. I wanted water. I had to double back and get a cup from the table. 

Mile 11: 8:06. I'm sure I was grimacing at this point. It wasn't fun. 

Mile 12: 8:11. I tried to run through this water stop and ending up coughing for 30 seconds. It was awful. 

Mile 13: 7:48. Well at least I did what I was supposed to on this mile. 

Last .18. 7:17 pace. As I tried to pass a 22-year-old guy. He matched my speed and on the results he beat me, but I swear I finished first. 

The clock was on the high end of 1:45 as I came through and I was trying to make it in under 1:46. Final results were 1:45:59

After the race:

I was fine. I wasn't spent. Or tired. My legs didn't hurt. And I knew I should have pushed myself harder. I drank some water. I grabbed a granola bar. I went and found my friend who was running.

I ate the granola bar and got some gatorade. I did a .5 mile cool down and stretched. A gnat bit me in the shoulder, so I changed into long sleeves and put some bug spray on. 

Accurate. Glad to be done

Then I walked the last 2.2 miles of the course, found Matt finishing his marathon and ran the last 2.2 with him. I tried to chat with him, but he asked met be quiet so we ran in silence. He kept telling me it hurt. (And my knee wasn't happy with all the extra miles.) He'd ask me how much further and I would guess. So I ran him in, and he finished his first marathon in 4:11:20. I thought running him in was a nice supportive thing to do. 

All in all, I did about 40,000 steps that day. I ran about 16.4 miles that day and walked another 2.2. Those last 2 miles might not have been the wisest. 

What went well

• Pre race prep. I ate healthy for 10 days up to the race and hydrated really went.

• The course was beautiful. Flat. Well marked. And the weather was perfect. (I'd do this race again). The medal was big and TONS OF RACE PHOTOS!!! 

• My pacing was pretty consistent. A 10 second swing in mile times is pretty dead-on.

• I didn't give up. I never thought I couldn't do this. I have enough fight to keep going. 

• I had a 2 minute PR. Which is awesome. 

What I might go back and change

• The whole reason I wanted to wear the pack was to avoid water stops. So possibly wear the pack. (I'm mad at myself because I WANTED to wear the vest. I trained with it. Did tempos with it. Then I wouldn't have to stop. But I didn't wear it.)

• I wish I had been better on those water stops. Stop. Run through and cough? I need more practice in this. Matt said I didn't need water stops. But my calves didn't cramp like they did my last half. Running in South Georgia, I'd rather have water. 

• I wish I had raced a little harder and pushed myself. I wished I had pushed myself those extra 3 seconds a mile. I wished I had stuck with some of those people who ran ahead of me. I could have kicked it harder.  (Maybe more tempos at 7:57 pace for next time?) 

I should be happy with this race, but it was a little slower than I wanted. And I'm just mad at myself for not pushing a tiny bit harder. 59 seconds. That's how much I was off my goal. I did have trouble finding the pace. Matt thought maybe I should do more longer tempos. 

What next?

I'm considering running the Twilight 5k in a month. I have no 5k speed at the moment. But it's a good local race maybe a rust buster?

Am I done with half marathons? Do I want to try for that one more minute? There's a downhill half in a month. (Seems too soon). And the Georgia Peach Jam that at the end of May that I ran last year. But half marathons take so much time and effort to train for. I don't get to run enough races when I'm training for a half. 

I guess we'll see. 

Race Recap: The Big Run 5k

Matt and I at the starting line. 

For Global Running  Day, one of the local running stores partnered with Brooks do a huge event. Last year, it was a group run. This year, it was a free 5k and 350 people preregistered and a few more people showed up day-of.

I was floored by the interest in the event. So many people pre-registered and coming to the event. On a Wednesday evening. It was awesome. Brooks was there. As was Nuun. And there were popsicles after the race (yay!) already paid for. (Thanks Fleet Feet and Brooks).

My running group, also had a potluck afterwards.

The race
Originally, I had wanted this race to be a rust buster. I wanted to see where I was at in terms of 5k speed. I haven't raced a 5k since November. (I was hoping for under 23 since I am not in 5k shape.)

And then the temperature was 90 degrees for this race. I adjust my expectations and thought that I could do a 10k speed workout and that would be good. But if that didn't happen, so be it.

I'd also been at work since 7:30 a.m. at a conference. I'd eaten badly and was generally tired from being around people (introvert problems).

Most of the runners I knew were going to take it easy. But I thought I could at least do a tempo and see what happened. (I thought 7:30 pace was doable).

And at 6:30 p.m. in 90 degree heat the race started.

Mile 1: 7:25. I was feeling fine.
The course was a little more hilly than I would have liked. A girl I know is slower than me passed me in the first mile. I just laughed silently.

Mile 2: 7:31.
I was feeling okay. I kept a consistent pace and stayed behind Kristen (who I finished behind at Marigold.) I think I passed slower girl in the first mile. I was maintaining.

Mile 3 7:30
By mile 3 I was getting hot. The course had a turn around, so I could see who was in front of me. I counted two women in front of me. So I was third place woman. After that turn around, that gave me some motivation. (I wasn't losing third and I was keeping the second place woman in sight. She finished near me at Marigold as well.) I was counting my steps to the finish. At about 2.8 I was really ready to be done, but knew by legs could do a speed 7:30 or 7:00 minute mile as long as I kept my foot turnover quick. So I slugged on.

.1 And then I got to the end of the course sooner than I thought. The clock was in the high 22s so I sprinted to be under 23

Running with the guys

Time: 22:55

And I was happy to be under 23.

The course actually measured a hair short. My watch measured it 3.09. So I walked around until my watch got to 3.11 so I'd have a 5k in Strava.

As for effort—it was a solid tempo. It wasn't an all-out run. And I wonder what I could do on a cool morning. But I also didn't want to go any harder than I had to. I was happy. My splits were consistent. All that 10k training DID pay off. I didn't die in the end. I heard that little voice in my head, but today I was determined not to let it get to me. I was more aware and not giving up this time.

I got a medal and a pint glass for finishing.

After that, I drank two cups of water. I was so hot. I said hi to some of my friends. I walked up the hill and a man told me popsicles from the ice cream truck had already been paid for. I got a watermelon popsicle and did my cool down running and eating a popsicle. The ultimate cool down.

Then I changed out of sweaty clothes, and went to the potluck.

Great turnout for our potluck

I ate a bunch of cookies. And then helped clean up.

I got home at 9 p.m. It was a long day. I was so tired I knew I'd sleep well.

Race recap: Georgia Peach Jam

I signed up to do a half marathon on Memorial Day. The medal was cool (it spins!). I liked the idea of doing a long run on my day off. The course was flat. I was IN.

So I woke up at 4:30 a.m. and left my house at 5:10 a.m. to go to a race 90 minutes away.

I didn't plan on RACING the half marathon. I haven't been training for it. My 10k training plan went up to 12 miles, so I thought I'd do it as a long run (having run 12 miles twice within the last month) and see what happened. The trail half in February almost killed me and an informal half the first week of April went well: 1:56 not counting a few breaks for friends).

And then the rain started. It's been raining for a solid week. I was convinced the race was going to be a monsoon with standing water and slippery wooden bridges. I was kind of hoping it rained out. It didn't. I went anyway.

We got there plenty early: 6:30 a.m. (There was no traffic that early in the morning.) I picked up my bib and was pretty thrilled that there were REAL RESTROOMS at the course. At least three sets of real restrooms (not port-a-potties) near the start. I went to the bathroom. And then I just sat in the car for awhile so I wouldn't get cold or wet. (The women in the cars on both sides of ours were also waiting in their cars.) Around 7 a.m. I got out of the car to warm up and stretch (in my rain jacket).

Yep, still drizzling. Matt looked at the radar and predicted the race would be mostly dry. (Haha)

Finally, I went to the starting line, on a track, and lined up for the 7:30 a.m. start. After overheating the last two races, I ran in my sports bra this morning. It was raining and I did not want to run in a wet tank top. I looked around and was surprised there weren't more shirtless guys or ladies in sports bras. Eventually I did spot a handful of ladies in sports bras. (And this tactic worked. I didn't overheat or have to worry about a wet tank).

Going in to the race my goal was just to run under 2 hours, for a Strava badge. At 9-minute miles this was doable. If I was having a good day, I could run the first half in 9 minute miles and then cut down like I have before.

But I ended up going out faster than planned, but it felt like an easy enough speed so I stuck with it.
8:30
8:28
8:36
8:40
8:30
8:36
8:36
8:46

At mile 9 I slowed down to 9:05 a mile. Which was pretty close to my first goal so I wasn't worried about it. I was also running with a group of people and just matching their pace. They slowed down. I passed them and picked mile 10 back to 8:39. And knew I'd have my Strava best 10-mile time.

Mile 11 was back at 9:06. But I knew I could practically walk the last two miles and make my goal of under 2 hours at this point.

Mile 12 I ran in 9:17. I was getting tired. Matt says, "It's funny how you have to speed up at the end of the race to keep the same pace." This is also maybe the first point in the race I was by myself. I'd run most of the race with people everywhere, but it really thinned out here and I ran the last two miles almost solo.

Mile 13 the wheels fell off. It was 12.5 miles and I had .7 to go (because the course and my watch weren't matching up). I saw Matt and had a very dramatic breakdown. (Looking back, it was very much a tired toddler reaction.)

He offered me water.

There were four water stops on the course. I used all of them. I didn't need water. I wanted him to be at the finish line.  

And my legs just decided to quit at this point. I asked for help. "I need help," I said in practically a cry.

He kind of slow jogged with me a little, maybe six feet to my left where I couldn't quite see him.  "You can do it," he said very calmly. This is the first time I walked. And I tried to run some. But he was super far away and not very enthusiastic. And I said I needed help again (super dramatic, I totally melting with a tired toddler who needs a nap). And then he kind of just gave up.

I wanted to run right behind me and push me on. I wanted him to tell me to trust the training or that I could do it. To be right on my shoulder in the most annoying way possible and to be super peppy about that I could do it. But all of this was in my head.

I ended up walking once more but picked it up for a 9:29 mile. (I knew I could still make my goal, so I wonder if I gave myself permission to slow down on some level.)

The race finished at the track and I knew I couldn't walk on the track. So I finished. My watch said 13 miles and my time was 1:55:04.

And then I walked .11 miles so Strava would give me my half marathon badge.

I drank some water. I took my shoes off (I really wanted my shoes off). My waterproof shoes were great, but my feet were steamy and hot from the miles. Matt went and got my backpack so I could change out of super wet clothes.

I went to the bathroom and changed slowly. My sports bra was dripping water. I had wrung my shorts out some of the course. It had drizzled the entire time. I wish I would have brought a wet-dry bag. (Note: none of the bridges were slippery, but the course was a puddle fest.)

And then I went to look at results. I got third in my age group. Yay. So we stuck around for medals. And I got to stand on the podium. I met another Road Runner who was at the event. (She ran WAY faster than me.)

After that I tried to cool down. But my legs didn't want to run. I ran/walked and then stretched.

And then it was time to go home. We stopped by Moe's for some food.

Thoughts on the race
• The medals are cool. I wasn't expecting TWO medals
• I was pretty pleased with a 1:55
• I think the key to having a good race is low expectations :)
• Why do I always DIE on the last mile? This happened on my last half too? Maybe it's because I only train UP TO 12.
• Mental toughness: still need to work on that. I was pretty positive for the first 10 miles. I told myself that I run well in the rain, that I was going to have a good 10-mile time.
• ALL OF MY HALF MARATHONS HAVE BEEN IN THE RAIN.
• Definitely went better than my first half marathon. I bonked in the same place. But I was 10 minutes faster. I didn't get super dehydrated and sick at 3 p.m. My splits were more even. It was an easier experience.
• Would I do it again? Part of me wants to shave some of those slower times off (Maybe 2-3 minutes). I might do another half again but I don't plan on training for one this summer. I'm looking to get my mile and 5k time down.
• All in all: a great race, well organized, nice course. (Matt admitted he should have done the 5k, which I tried to get him to do.) This is definitely a race to consider. My only complaints are the weather (but it was very run-able, not too hot), and my brain wanting to quit.

Strava
• I got my May half marathon badge
• I got my project 1:59 badge
• Strava DID NOT give me a half marathon PR for some weird reason
• I did get records for my best 15k, best 10 miles and best 20k.

Lake Chapman 5k (Trail 5k)

This morning I ran the Lake Chapman 5k.

Beautiful morning for a run. 

Let me preface this with

1. I am sick. I woke up sick Tuesday and have been running through whatever this is. 

2. I did my normal training and it was a tough training week.

Tuesday hill repeats, Wednesday 6 hilly miles, Thursday mile repeats, Friday long run. So I'd run my 24 miles (what I run in a normal week) before coming to the course. 

No taper. I rested Saturday and that was it. 

I wanted to run under a 26 minutes for the race. I did a 26 minute trail 5k last year. But it wasn't in me today. My legs would not move. 

Pre-race

Mile 1: I thought should be about 7:30 so I held back the first half mile and then I couldn't speed up. There's a hill about .7 mile in. First mile was 8:49. Which was way too slow but there was a giant hill. (I passed a girl on this hill. I've run with this girl before. She always goes out in front of me and finished WAY behind me) 

Mile 2: I couldn't get my legs to match the pace I wanted them to go. I was trying so hard. 9:08 (And another big hill)

Mile 3: 7:45. The last half mile was on the road and I didn't look at my watch. I was just hanging on. I felt like I was running another 9 minute mile. It hurt. But I wanted to catch that girl in front of me and didn't want to let anyone pass me. I didn't let anyone pass me.

And my last .2 mile was 6:39 pace.

I finished 8th overall. Fourth place woman. Two ladies from the racing team got 1 and 2. And I never caught the girl in front of me who was in my age group, so I got second in my age group. 

 I was happy with the last bit of the race. That when I was on roads I could run close to what I wanted on tired legs. And that last mile always hurts the most. I couldn't have done anymore. My legs were trashed afterwards. (And so sore Monday and Tuesday).

Spent at the end of the race. 

I could have run faster had I not been sick or tapered some. 

It was a beautiful day to run. I think I ran the best I could. And now I just really want a fast race after a few slower races. 

Took picture of the 15k after my race.

Finish line mug (instead of a medal)

Post race splurge. I rarely eat fried food but this was amazing. 

Race Recap: Vets Day 5k in Destin

I really wanted a redo on my Halloween 5k. I thought I had a better race in me. Two people suggested I run the Free to Breathe 5k at Sandy Creek. And I really considered. But I had plans to visit my sister in Florida that weekend.

WHICH RACE TO DO
I eyed two races in Destin. I didn’t sign up in advance in case something happened and I didn’t go on the trip or didn’t want to race.

One race was closer to their house, but it seemed like a bit of a party. (I think finishers got three beers). The other race was at the American Legion and benefited veterans. Since it was Veterans Day and seemed like a more serious race, I opted for that one.

1. This bib is awesome
2. I was representing Athens in my patriotic tank

(My race prep was driving on Thursday and not being able to run and being busy with vacation stuff and not running on Friday, and not eating any donuts or fried food.)

The race started at 8 a.m. I left their house at 7 a.m. (and brought my brother). I got there at 7:15 and parked next door. I registered. The price went up to $35 (boo) and they were out of shirts. (oh well). I pinned my bib and did a warmup. Maybe 300 people in this race? (Also the bib had a flag on it. Super cool).

We all gathered in the parking lot, only most people guessed wrong for where to start, so we all had to shift. And the race started.

THE RACE
The race was an out and back, with one turn repeated. So very straight and very flat. The temperature was 60, so perfect for racing. (A little cool during the warm up, but I was warm after running half a mile).

It took me a second to get on 7:15 pace for the race. I tried to hang with a tough looking older guy. I passed him. I kept with my pace and my first mile 7:10, which was perfect.

In mile 2, I passed A LOT OF PEOPLE. I passed a lot of women and girls who were breathing really hard. (Which always makes me more conscious of my breathing. I try for it to be controlled, where I’m working hard but not dying.) Also it was WINDY. (Windy and 60 is preferable to windy and 46.) That second mile was the worst of the wind.

We hit the turn around. I saw one woman WAAAAAAAY ahead of me. There was no catching her. But by the halfway point, I’d passed all the other women and didn’t see another woman ahead of me (coming the opposite way on the out and back.) I really didn’t want a woman to pass me.

I should add that they closed one lane of this road, so there were cars driving down the middle of the road, since they wanted us running with traffic (not in the same lane).

Mile 2: 7:09. Right on pace I was happy with that.
And then mile 3 starts. And I’m counting down how much I still have to run. It hurts. Oddly, it was my arms that were bothering me. They were sore and heavy. (This has never happened to me before). And then it was my lungs (it was hard to breathe). But I told myself I could do this and I ran and ran, and counted my steps down.

1 mile left to go. .8 miles left to go. .5 miles left to go. And so on.

My watch got to 3 miles. And I didn’t see the finish. I didn’t have much left. A guy came up behind me, but didn’t pass me. The kid who I’d run with in mile 2 but passed, passed me. He was like 12, so I was fine with that and didn’t have the speed to catch him.

Finally I did see the finish. And I didn’t have as much of a sprint as I normally do. The clock timer said 22:25 when I crossed. Which is a few seconds faster than my last race. I thought I’d run a better race than that, but that’s 8 seconds faster so I was happy with it.

POST RACE
My brother was actually at the finish. They’d put him to work. All the finishers got dog tags instead of medals, which I thought was pretty cool. He was handing them out.

He had my water at the finish. Yay. I was spent. And I had nothing left at the end, so I went hard and even? But I didn’t know what my last mile was. I hadn’t looked. I heard my Garmin beep but didn’t recall the time. And it took a few minutes for my Garmin and phone to synch so I could see my splits.

7:10
7:09
7:15. I lost 5 seconds on the last mile. That’s not bad!

And the race ended up being 3.15 miles.
My Garmin said 22:11 for 3.1, which I’ll take. And makes more sense given my splits and because I did speed up some at the very end. After 3, I averaged 6:10 to 7 flat pace.

My brother said they didn’t have the timer set correctly when the race started. He said it like 90 seconds before it started and they guessed what the time was. !!! What!?!

“Was I second woman?” was the second thing I asked after asking for my water. He said I was, and I was probably in the top 20 (16th after the results posted). (First place woman ran in the 18s, and apparently wins every race in the area.)

I ran a cool down mile (mid 8s) and still had energy and my legs. And worried that maybe I didn’t go hard enough since an 8:26 mile was easy for my post-race recovery.

#merica. Running a Veterans Day race in a patriotic shirt
and posing in front of a tank. 

MEDALS, ETC
Post race they had weird food. I didn’t even know there was food until I saw someone with a plate and went inside. There was a roasted red pepper soup, pickles, cookies, cuban sandwiches and Jimmy Johns.

I wanted a banana and a granola bar. My stomach was UPSET. I couldn’t eat soup. I tried the Jimmy Johns, but think it was ham not turkey. I finally found a granola bar an hour later.

I figured I would get a medal, so I’d hang around for the medal ceremony. That took forever. I think they started the ceremony at 10 a.m. Two hours after the race started.

Also this was my first Florida race, so I wasn’t sure how it would be different.

• They took the bottom of my bib at the finish (like they did in high school)
• There was no leaderboard with notecards so I could see place anywhere
• The had some different categories. They had awards for walkers, and I think they had the overall awards, masters (40+), grand masters (50+) and senior grand masters(60+), which I feel is one more category than I’m used to. These winners got cool mugs. (I was sad I didn’t get a mug. They were glass beer mugs with an American flag on them)

I got a medal for winning my age group (nothing for second overall). And slipped out shortly after that.

PARTING THOUGHTS
Ultimately, I am HAPPY with the race.

21:11 or 22:25, whatever. It’s a faster race. A PR.

It was an even race. Mile three was hard, but 25 seconds faster than two weeks ago. I wasn’t dying like I was then. I think I need to train longer so mile 3 isn’t as hard.

I think that might be my last 5k of the year unless we get some really warm weather. I might focus on 10ks, if I have the time. I want to get my 10k time down.

A sub 22 5k will be the goal for 2018.

5ks one year later — Race recap: Restoration Labor Day 5K

A little over a year ago, I ran my first 5k (as an adult. Not counting high school cross country or the 15+ years I took off).

This morning I ran a road race: with way more training and a better plan. The races were night and day so different.  (Think it might be my first road 5K! Since in 2017 I've done 3 10ks, a trail 5k and a 4k)

My first race last year was HARD. I had wanted to go sub 24 in the race. However, it was a hilly trail race that was closer to 3.3 or 3.5 miles. I didn't train right. I thought that if I ran 10-12 miles a week that I would do amazing. In hindsight, I didn't train right.

Today's race was different.

I had a goal: Run sub 23 for this race. (I've run close to this pace for the first half of 10ks, so it was a realistic goal). The course was flat and the temperature was great for the race (55 degrees. It said it was 100% humidity but I didn't notice it)

My goal pacing was about 7:20. But 7:30s would be okay for pacing. My goal was even splits and to NOT go out too fast like I normally do.

Mile 1: 7:28
A little slow, but fine. Chased a few people down who went out too fast.
A teenager passed me. She was breathing HARD and I knew she wasn't going to last.
I was thinking about running as easy as I could while running close to the right pace. I was concentrating on my breathing—taking deep breaths. That teenager passing me reinforced this (deep breaths, not shallow).

Mile 2: 7:29
Passed that teenager a few guys. Would have liked a faster pace but there was no one around me.

Mile 3: 7:20 
I passed another guy and closed the gap with the lead woman. (The guy I passed told me to go get her.) And I tried.

The last .2 of the race I kicked it in. And finished 3 seconds behind her. In retrospect I should have kicked it in about 15 seconds earlier. But I didn't know how much I had left.

I thought I finished in 24:40. That's what the time clock said and when I stopped my Garmin. My print out said 24:44. Which is still right on goal pace.

My watch measured 3.08 at the finish (other people's Garmins said 3.1), so I ran a little extra so Strava would register 3.1.

I wasn't super tired after that effort. I ran a mile cool down. And bascially kicked myself for not running 7:20s. I think I could run 20 seconds faster at least if I had someone to push me. Maybe I'll find another race soon.

How is this race different than last year:
• More miles. I run around 25 miles a week. (I did take a good amount of time off in July and I've been back for a month.)
• Training: I didn't train so much for this race (Decided on Friday to run it) but I know what a training plan is and my training doesn't look that much different than a training plan for a 5k. I run 5 days a week, with increasingly longer long runs on the weekends and speed work during the week, and easy runs of just mileage. In fact, after these three miles, I wasn't even tired. After my 8 mile runs, 3 fast miles is easy peasy.
• Pacing: I know what that is now! I'm learning. My pacing was even with my last mile the fastest! I could have gone a hair harder, but I know that now and I can be patient to gradually drop my time.
• I finished that 2016 race in a little over 30 minutes. I was 7+ minutes faster today (Could I have run 4 miles in last year's 3 mile time?) It was easy. I was even. I ran a smarter race and I trained right. That's the difference a year makes: 30:09 ->22:44. 

Race prep: I didn't do a lot of race prep for this race. I knew I was roughly doing what I should to train. I tried to eat a little cleaner the two days before the race. I did healthy carbs—lots of noodles. I also drank a ton of water Sunday before the Monday morning race. I got up at 5:30 for the 7:30 a.m. race. Was out the door at 6:45, got there at 7, which was enough time to sign-in, walk around, stretch, and get nervous. (Races are weird when you go by yourself and don't know anyone there.) Also I dressed right for the weather: crops and a short sleeve. Was happy with the choice.

Race review: This was a cute little race. It was in Crawford, a town I never go to. But it was 20 minutes from my house—the same distance as the other side of Athens. There was parking by a Baptist church and an indoor area for registration and indoor bathrooms. Yay.

The course is flat. It's on roads that aren't closed, but I only saw 2 cars on it during the race and they seemed patient enough. It's an out and back, so you can see the people behind you. There aren't too many turns. The weather couldn't have been better.

Prizes: Long sleeve T-shirts came with the registration. For Prizes, they didn't do medals. That gave off painted railroad stakes. The overall winners got fancy plaques. The stakes were for age group awards. I guess the stake is a unique prize.

I'd do this race again. I liked the course. It was pretty low-key. A few more people in the race would have helped pace me, but that's okay. There's also an 11k after the 5k so a lot of people did both. Maybe for next year?

Oconee 4-H 4k: Race recap

I'd been looking for a race to get my 5k time down. I saw this 4k and thought it looked weird (I liked weird) and thought it would be a nice way to try out by speed and practice faster times for a 5k.

My strategy going in was 7:20, 7:10, 7 minute pace for the last half mile. With a time around 18 minutes. Hahahahahahaha

The week before the race I start getting shin splints. And then two days before the race, I realized the route was really hilly. Ugh.

I've been feeling super tired for the last two weeks, so at that thought I lost a lot of enthusiasm for the race.

But the morning of, we show up. (There are no signs)

We sign in. There are no race bibs or swag. The T-shirts are cotton. (All of this is fine with me)

I try to find the hill on the course and can't. And I jog to the start with about 2 minutes to spare. (But there are about 5 minutes of announcements, so I would have been okay.)

And then it's race time. I lined up near the front.

I go out fast. My watch says 6:40 pace. I know to slow down, but two other women are right with me. The first woman falls off at the first turn and I pace on. A dark haired lady (I'd guess early 20s) gets about 10 seconds ahead of me on the downhill. I let her have the lead. I keep her within a few seconds the entire race, and plan to catch her at the end.

The downhill is nice. You run down towards a weird metal silo loop around it and then run UPHILL. The first half of the hill I power up and feel great (thanks hill training), the second half of the hill is a little rougher, but then the course turns, it gets a tad steeper (4% grade) and I've been running a quarter mile and it's awful.

My first mile is 7:10. Which is a little fast but okay.

Then comes that same long hill a SECOND TIME. This is where I want to quit. I'm breathing hard and thinking about barfing. I wonder if I walk how much time it will cost me. But I don't. I finish the hill the second time (and my pace has fallen off considerably) and get to the marker for mile 2.

I feel awful at this point. And my brain is dead. I'm on auto pilot. There's half a mile left and I don't have 7-minute mile pace in me. I run. And the lady in front of me makes a wrong turn. I'm following the guy in front of her and I pause for one second before the course monitor turns her around and I sprint to the finish and win the women's division overall.

And I feel a little bad about this. I MIGHT have kicked her in at the end (she didn't put up much of a fight and kick it in after the wrong turn—that's what I would have done), and I don't think the wrong turned cost her more than 10 seconds, but I was on the course following the leaders. Should she have won? Would I have  passed her at the end? We'll call this luck and I hope I'm not a horrible sport. But surely I shouldn't have stopped for her? And this race had no stakes. It won't even show up any any timed races services websites—no athlinks. So there's nothing she lost in this. We'll just say I won my age group and she won hers. She ran a good race.

They handed me a card at the finish.18:28. For eighth overall. She finished 10-15 seconds behind me. They handed me a medal and that was that.

I got a banana and a water. There were no prizes. There was no medal ceremony. They said it was a no frills race and it was. For this, I'm glad it's a good fundraiser for them. I worry about races not raising money when they have to buy timing services or pay for a police escort (they did neither of this since it was on their land and they own the timer). This is all fine with me. A prize is nice but I don't need it.

So it wasn't the race I'd hoped for. But because of the hill, I'll say I did OKAY. (Also no shin pain during the race, though I did take medicine. I was a little achey after the race, but mostly fine).

Honestly, I don't think I'd do this race again. And I'm currently looking for FLAT 5k courses.

Marigold 10k race

I'd heard great things about the Marigold 10k. It's fast and flat. So I've been training for it since my first 10k race April 1 (about 7 weeks).

Going into the race, I wanted to run a minute faster than that April 1 race (49:47 with wildly uneven splits) or run as close to 48 minutes as I could. My secondary goal was EVEN splits (to not run a 7 minute mile than a 9 minute mile).

That said it's my third 10k ever and my fourth race this year. I was hoping for great things. I've trained well and generally been getting faster. But racing is in part mental. And I didn't want to fall apart mentally and run slow miles 4 or 5 (that's where I tend to slow down).

Race prep
I ate clean all week (not counting a donut from the breakroom Tuesday or cookies in the breakroom Thursday. Oops) I got all my race stuff ready Friday night and went to bed early Friday.

And it was race day. I opted for my favorite neon pink tank (because I love it) and blue shorts. We got ready and headed out around 6:45 a.m. and parked around 7 a.m. I picked our registration up Friday so didn't have to do that. Matt had some trouble with his safety pins (NOTE TO SELF: BUY HIM BIB MAGNETS!). We walked around and stretched and tried to figure out where the start was. We followed the people and the race starts down the middle of main street.

Starting line

Drone shot. From start of race. 

THE RACE
The gun went off, and we started. I looked at my watch and I started out running 7-minute pace. So I slowed down. 7:30 pace and tried to slow some more.

My strategy was 7:50s.

Mile 1: 7:44 (right on track)
Mile 2: 7:56 (a little too slow. My watch was telling me 8:20 pace on the voice alert. Yuck!)
Mile 3: 7:46

So far in the race, I felt good. I tried to pick people with a good pace and stay with them. I ran the first mile with a guy I think I've seen at Fleet Feet. And then in miles 2-3 I fell in with some tougher ladies older than me. They were awesome.

Mile 4 is where I usually fall apart 8:01. Slower than I'd like, but still OKAY. And that's the mile with the "hill." Haha. I slowed down a lot here when I scouted part of the course last week.

I was running with a pack of guys now. Older tough dudes (40s and 50s) No ladies in sight. (And no ladies passed me in the last half)

Race photo of me! (I look skinny!) This is near the end, but this is pack of guys I ran with.

Mile 5: 8:08. So slowing down. I didn't look at my watch much in this mile.

Mile 6. This is where I completely died. I wanted the race to be over. I was counting down the tenth of miles. I could barely foot one foot in front of the other. I wanted to walk. I ran an 8:08 which is awesome for as bad as this mile felt.

Coach Mike told me to save some for the end because it was hard.

Yes. So hard. I was running in 100% humidity. It was so muggy. Should I get a medal for that!?!

And then I had NOTHING left for a kick. I saw the chute and did turn it up. I had wanted to run a 7:30 last mile. If the humidity had been less, then maybe it could have happened. I should have kicked it in for longer ran the 40 or so feet I did.

I finished in 49:12.

Which is not what I had hoped. But it still chops 30 seconds off my PR. And my splits were much more even than my last race.

I'm blaming the humidity for not being faster. I'll just have to find another 10k to drop another 30 seconds off.

I think my training at race pace for this helped. Maybe next time try 7 miles at 8 flat? That might do the trick. More longer runs and more race pace work.

Also, mentally I was tougher. I DIDN'T WALK A STEP IN THIS RACE (!!!!!) I knew I could do it.

MEDALS
I didn't expect to place in this race at all. There were so many FAST girls there. But when some of the girls on the competitive team were volunteering and NOT running, I thought I had a chance.

I turned my place card in. I got 39th place (out of 232). And second in my age group. WHAT!?!?!? I didn't expect that. I placed 10th out of 135 women and 2 out of 22 in my age group.

(I credit this to the fast women volunteering and the rest not being as fast as usual because of the humidity.)

And Matt got third in his age group. He ran a smoking 47:54. And he wanted to run 48 or faster to qualify for the Peachtree Road race in Atlanta next year.

That's the time I would have liked to run. But I'll get there. Slowly. I'll keep getting stronger.

So I got a medal. Yay! :)

This might be the prettiest medal I have to date :) 

We both got medals. YAY.

Overall, the race was great. The packet pickup was easy. There was parking the morning-of. The course was well marked, with LOTS of volunteers. And there were enough people to easily find a group to run with. The course was fast and flat and I can't wait for next year. They also had WATERMELON at the pavilion for the finishers which was AWESOME! And perfect after a race. And the medals were beautiful. A great race.

But now I need to find my next race :)

Cool drone shot of the race :)