Conference Final Ahead

So here I am once again on a long bus ride with the cross country team, which seems to be the only time I ever feel like writing anything. We are currently making the 6+ hour trek to Western GA to compete in the conference final. This will be my last race of the season, as I decided to opt out of competing at regionals. So I sit here and reflect on my first season as a harrier for Meredith and everything I went through to get me to this point.

I am a runner. I’ve been a runner for years now. I never had raced on a team until I transferred to Meredith and joined the Track & Field team. It is probably apparent to everyone but me that running for a college team is different than training on your own all the time. I’ve cranked out some tough workouts on my own, but never in a schedule quite the same as this. 7am practice to go run hill repeats at Dix? Set time paces that you have to hit every time? Going hard several times a week and sometimes back to back days? I loved being able to show up and not have to plan my own training, all I had to do was follow Coach’s instructions and put my head down and work hard. I had a team around me to push me, which is so much nicer than attempting to hit hard paces on your own. You can rely on your teammates to pull you with them or for them to push you harder. The sense of belonging of being a part of a team has been so rewarding for all the hard work you have to put in.

So why was it so hard for me to reach this final race of the season? I will not hide the truth that I thought about quitting the team a lot. In fact I even went so far as to meet with my coaches and discuss it. I was stressed out, I was emotionally exhausted, and I had let personal experiences affect my running to the point that I couldn’t see the value in it. I ran a whole week thinking it was my last and that I would never go to practice again. Instead I walked out of the office after talking to my coaches and decided that if I quit the team I would regret it. I needed to see this through the end to prove to myself that I am stronger than what I had been going through and that I had 16 teammates who cared about me and wanted me there.

Now I am on my way to a conference final that 4 weeks ago I was positive I wouldn’t run in. I am ready to race for my team and for myself and to end the season on a positive note. 4 weeks ago I did not want to run this race and now I am ready to prove to myself that I am stronger that I can.

Alive and sort of well.

Artsy “I am ~le tired~” post bike ride photo

It’s been literally ages since I last wrote anything meaningful here (wait did I ever write anything meaningful here…?). That is not to say that nothing has been going on, more that way too much has been going on and I haven’t felt much like writing nor had time too.

I am the kind of person that I never make small changes over time. Instead I make one massive change at all once and then force myself to adapt to it. I did this in a big way recently when I moved out, changed jobs, transferred schools, joined the injury list, and started another sport. It took me a few weeks to adjust and it definitely wasn’t easy. There may have been a couple breakdowns where I thought I was putting too much on my plate, but I have come out on the other side a stronger and happier person. I really feel like in the last three months I am really started to grow into who I really am as lame and corny as that sounds.

Part of this coincided with my birthday in which I joined a new decade and a new age bracket (I am saddest about the age bracket). It was a little bittersweet since I was planning on a big race for my birthday to celebrate, but after being injured and only just hitting 20 mile weeks of running, that was not a possibility anymore. In fact I ended up working all day on my birthday but I made up for the crummy day by sandwiching it between two days of fun bike riding. So although I still wince a little when people ask for my age, there was no catastrophe and I can still lie and tell people I am only 24.

Since this is mainly to record my running adventures I guess I can update on that as well. Being injured sucks. Being injured for months really sucks. The amount of time that I missed out on can never be recouped, and neither can all the money I spent on race entries I didn’t get to use. What I did do, was to put all that anger and frustration and channel it into getting better. It is no lie that I have been covering up and getting by with lingering issues for awhile. This injury is almost certain to have been cause by overcompensation of major weaknesses in my entire right side. After doing some strength testing and power ratings, this was confirmed and I was completely sobered up to just how much work it was going to take to come back. This meant a lot of careful, easy running and work outs, and some physical therapy and strength work to even myself out. It has felt like a long and lonesome road, but if my last couple of work outs are anything to go by, the hard work is paying off.

Now you would think with my fitness returning I would be chomping at the bit to start racing again and I am, but I also want to be patient and come back as strong as possible. Short distance is in the cards for awhile and I am enjoying challenging myself in a completely new way. Also besides running, my biking skills are improving and every time I did I want to ride more and more. I am balancing both and I feel like so far they are complimenting each other well. It is strange to go for a 2+ hour ride instead of a 13+ mile run, but it is also much more enjoyable to be cycling in a group having a laugh than freezing on a long run in February. I never thought I would choose a bike ride over running, but it has happened several times.

So I really find myself at an odds with what to do with this blog. I used it to track my Chicago progress, and then was planning on using it for tracking my first ultra distance. I now find myself with a schedule of track meets and bike rides and I don’t know if that is interesting enough to even bother writing about. Track meets will be starting soon but my fitness will not peak until the season is almost over. Do I just keep a running training log with my usual bitching and complaining? My not-funny quips on my running life? Does anyone really care? I don’t know but for now I will think of updating it every once in a while as I get stronger running, and continue to be an idiot biking.

2015: Peaks and Valleys

2015 is coming to a close and I guess I am obligated excited to review what my year has looked like as far as running is concerned. This past year went completely opposite to how I thought it was going to go, and ended up with some big goals accomplished just at a time when I wasn’t expecting it.

So when the year opened I was focused on having a strong spring season, since I had missed the fall due to my stress fracture suffered in Chicago ’14 training. Of course, since I am a human disaster, I ended up pushing too far waaaay too fast and once again was out of commission thanks to anemia and exhaustion.

After focusing on my nutrition and a proper training program with hard/easy days built in, I was able to bounce back in the last summer with a winning race and discover that trail running is the shit and I love it.

Sadly, once again I suffered a minor set-back, and had to rush through my Chicago training in order to get fit for the big race. This meant I had absolutely zero expectations and was able to enjoy the race and experience for what it is… which resulted in a new and unexpected PR and Boston 2017 qualification. Favorite race ever? You better fucking believe it.

2015 ended the same way it began, with pain and injury. Being forced to take some time off from running has been hard (you think I would be used to it by now), but I have learned that I have other athletic pursuits that I really enjoy. My love of cycling is only just starting to sprout, and I am devouring any and all knowledge I can get my hands on.

If I can say anything, it’s that this year I learned some big lessons on patience and to trust the training process. I learned that I really enjoy hard workouts, and need to learn to enjoy the easy runs as well. I learned that I can live without running (but who wants too?) but that I am not the happiest person when I am not running. I also have to say that looking back I have a lot more hard times than good ones, but it was all worth it to get that solid BQ.  I would say over all my running has improved, my paces are faster, the races that I did run I placed extremely well, but I tried to do too much and missed out on a lot due to lack of proper recovery and focus. Hopefully with 2016 I will use this experience to avoid so many problems and setbacks, but knowing myself I won’t. 😉

To anyone who has bothered to read this blog for this year – thanks for your support and I hope you were at least entertained by my journey this year. Here’s to a better 2016!

 

The Girl Who Was a Runner

I have to admit that I have purposely neglected this thing. I think in part I was trying to avoid facing my thoughts and trying to make sense of where I am at right now. How about I do this in bullet point style to try and have some sort of organization..

• I made it successfully through Finals week and graduated with my Associates in Arts. A huge portion of my stress was coming not only from this but also getting my transfer finalized to start at my new University in the spring. I managed to survive with my sanity mostly in tact.
• Thanksgiving flew by and Christmas is right around the corner. I’ve been a bit of a scrooge because of the stress of school and personal stuff, but I have finally started to come around to enjoying more of a break than the holiday itself. This is my first holiday season living completely on my own and it is a little strange and lonely.
• I am enjoying using my free time to explore other avenues to relieve stress and enjoy myself. My bike is getting quite the workout lately and I am enjoying taking it on long group rides on the greenways every weekend. I went from having never ridden with a group, or on the roads, to having done both in the space of a week. My ability to clip in and out is improving as well as my shifting and handling abilities. I wont say the same for my balance and turning… I will openly admit that I ride fast but like an idiot.

Photographic evidence of idiot on bicycle shenanigans…

• But wait! Where is all the running?? How many miles am I doing?? What about the races I am running?? Well I haven’t been doing a lot of it. My hamstring and I decided that we would be better off going separate ways and taking a break for a while. I knew something was off after the trail race I DQ’d back in November and my hammie got more and more angry. What started as an annoying knot, grew into a massive spasm, grew into a severe strain. It has taken weeks and weeks of zero running to be able to walk around comfortably and I am in no rush to run with pain any longer. I miss running and it is a huge part of my identity and so not having it for the past month has been a little traumatizing. With all the other stress in my life the past month, and then an injury on top of that, it has been a challenging time emotionally. I really don’t know how I have any friends willing to put up with my cranky ass anymore, but somehow I do. Thanks guys! I really don’t hate you!

So moving forward into the New Year I will once again be starting from scratch and looking for new goals to accomplish. My skills on the bike are improving and I have been toying with the idea of something in that area. I have also been playing with the idea of slowly coming back to some shorter distance running for a bit. At this point everything is up in the air and I plan to keep it that way.

Downtime Adventures

So late as usual but here is a quick recap of some of the adventures I have been having as I close out the fall racing season.

With my big race out of the way and slowing down the training for a bit, I have been focused on taking it easy and having as much fun as possible. I haven’t done any speed work (which is nice because I am at the stage where I am starting to miss it) and it is nice to see that the accumulative fatigue hasn’t hurt my paces at all. Without speed work and long runs by easy paces have fallen back to the 7:30 range which is pleasant especially with the fall weather.

I also have had the opportunity to do more fun running related things like actually getting my ass to run club, and pacing my friend for the City of Oaks Half Marathon last weekend. I love the City of Oaks course since it is basically a mash up of my favorite running routes downtown. Yes, the course is hilly, but Raleigh is hilly. The running theme of my training is “The More Hills The Better” and I love love love running hilly races (and crushing people’s spirits as I pass them on them). So when my friend mentioned he wanted to go for a PR of 1:50 I of course jumped at the chance to help him to this goal (and get a quality long run in with support haha). Also the start finish is only about 10 minutes from my house so #winning. The race day weather was brilliant (started in the upper 40’s-50’s, overcast, spotty light rain) and I enjoyed settling in and providing support. I focused on making sure we were running his race pace, while also preparing for the tougher portions of the race to come. My friend absolutely #crushedit and went all the way to a 1:44 PR which was 25 minutes better than his last effort. I was more than proud and happy to have been of help.

So I only have a couple small races to wrap up the rest of the year. I am looking at a 10 Miler and possibly a 12k with some sort of Thanksgiving race (or it would be fun to just do a nice long trail run with friends). After that it is time to look to keeping myself keen over the winter and deciding on a goal for the spring.

Downtime…

So it has been almost three weeks since the Chicago Marathon has passed. I know that I meant to recap the entire weekend (and I promise to try and revisit it later), but if I don’t get back to current events I know that I will slack off and forget to post at all.

So what have I been up to since exceeding my expectations back in the Windy City? A lot of relaxing, a lot of school work, and a little bit of running. I have been guilty in the past of jumping from one training cycle to the next, without ever taking enough of a break in between. My usual recovery from a marathon was two days off and then right back at it. This is of course the dumbest plan ever and I believe is what led to me having a lot of stupid injury issues that either took forever to heal up, or become major issues that led to a lot of time off. After Chicago I had already decided that after such an intense short training cycle I was going to take a complete week of absolutely zero running before trying to come back. Now, after Chicago although I felt amazing with no aches or pains (I have never finished a marathon feeling so good before), I decided that a week of complete rest was even more deserved to reward my body for out preforming what I think I was even in shape for. It is really hard to go from 50+ miles a week to zero but I knew that I would be better for it in the long run and so I sucked it up and enjoyed being a normal person for a week.

So what did I do with my free time? Mostly slept. It took me a few days of some solid 9+ hour nights to feel like my body was recovered. Although I didn’t have any injury issues my body was Le Tired and wanted to nap allll the times. Besides sleeping I was also focused on eating what ever I wanted and what my body was craving. For whatever reason, all I wanted was healthy veggies and fruit but I made sure to continue to get some solid protein and carbs to restore what was lost. Then I focused on the things that I was missing up on while running so fucking much. I went out with friends, I did a lot of school work to get ahead, I read, I actually watched some tv, I even finally finished moving and unpacking my stuff. When I felt like my legs needed a little motion to get the blood flowing, I got back on my lonely bike for some nice rides. I did yoga to help stretch out an knots and bring some calm back after such a hectic but fun trip. Basically I just enjoyed life and took a lot of “me time”.

The one thing I made sure not to focus on was any sort of returning to run schedule or the thought of any goal races to come. It is always a little depressing once a big race is over and I can sort of rush to work towards something else to relive the excitement. This time I knew that I needed to give it time and really decide what I want to do. The thought of jumping back into marathon training was pretty unappealing and I didn’t need to. I don’t have any desire to try and beat my time and go for a faster spring marathon (I am quite content to sit on a 3:26) and so I am not planing on going for that any time soon. When I returned to any mileage (and I kept it super low the first few days) it was all easy miles without looking at the watch and just going my feel. Luckily the weather as been AH-MAZ-ING so running again instead of being a chore has been a blast. This is a feeling that you tend to lose after weeks and weeks of miles that have to get done.

So what now? Well now that I am back to a sort-of-running schedule I have a couple ideas on the horizon. I didn’t know if I would continue the blog now that Chicago is over, but I have found it fun and helpful to keeping track of just how my training is going. So I think I will continue to recap my weekly training as well as just spewing my random thoughts. Because lets face it: people get really sick of hearing me talk about running. For now I will enjoy my easy runs and in a couple days really decide where I am going from here!

Race Recap: Bank of America Chicago Marathon

How do I recap the most amazing race of my running life so far? How do I recap the most amazing trip and weekend in a city I completely fell in love with? I don’t even know where to start and I am sure that this needs to be done in parts. For now, I will recap the actual race and then hopefully remember to recap the entire trip. More for my own memories sake that anything else.

Looking back on my other posts, you can see that my confidence on a qualifying time much less a PR were pretty much in the realm of don’t-get-your-hopes-up territory. I felt strong, I felt confidant, but I didn’t feel like I had enough training behind me. If anything this race proves to me that you never really know what you are capable of until you shut up and go for it.

The start corral..

Is there anything more exhilarating than lining up with 45,000 other runners and a crowd of 1.2 million supporters around you? I don’t think so. Not after this race. I had decided to not try and stick anywhere near the pacers, I had a bad experience trying that before and besides I wanted to gauge my own pace through out the race. My plan was to run purely by feel and not bother checking my watch for anything other than when to use fuel. So when the gun went off and my corral was released I focused on finding my rhythm and just taking in the sights and sounds of the city (which is of course amazing and gorgeous). I wasn’t even worried about the fact that I hadn’t bothered with a warm up besides walking to the start corrals and some light stretching. Not my usual plan but like I said, there was zero pressure on myself today. I don’t even remember my legs feeling stiff at all in the beginning miles. I think I was possible to starry-eyed over how amazing the crowd support was to even notice. I must have been excited because even though I was holding back the pace from sprinting off like I normally do, I still managed a PR in the mile and 5k during the first 4-5… Whoops.

Once I calmed down I quickly found a pace I would call “comfy” and got down to business. I passed the 3:35, 3:30, then 3:25 pacers and realized that I didn’t even feel like I was running too fast or too hard. It was just the most natural thing in the world. I enjoyed the first portion of the race as we ran over the river and up Michigan Avenue. Miles were just clipping by like it was no ones business. I had a fueling strategy worked out beforehand and planned to alternate between water and Gatorade at every stop. I wanted to be sure and take enough liquids since the high was going to be 77 degrees and there wouldn’t be much shade for the later portions of the race. I also had planned to combat the nausea I always feel when I take a lot of Guu, and so I planned on eating some Scratch gummies for the first miles between 5-10. This turned out to be perfect because it meant I got plenty of fuel and was able to keep down Guu in the later stages of the race. So basically, I was having a blast running all over my most magical playground while snacking on fruit drops. Fucking amazing.

For the middle portion of the race (10-20 miles), I just kept plugging along at my new-found happy pace. I knew it was staying around 7:30ish but I felt so good I wasn’t even worried about hitting the wall later. It was just sunshine and butterflies. I took my first Guu at mile 15 but made sure to make it last about a half mile in order to not feel gross later. I had one more Guu for mile 20 if I needed it since I felt like in my last marathons that was the point that I struggled at.

While running I was with a little next of running buddies  one of whom was named Doug according to his shirt. This was cool at first but after 3 hours of strangers yelling “YAY GO DOUG!” “THATS MY DOUGGIE BOY!” etc I wanted to shove Doug to the ground. I was saved my moment of madness when Doug finally faded away at mile 18 to never reappear again (RIP Doug???).

Around mile 20 is when my legs finally decided to make their plight be heard, and although it was more of a “hey I’ve been moving for over two hours and am le tired” and not “I can’t take another step and I am threatening to break down on you.” Therefore I was able to ignore them and instead just focused on the scenery and people in the crowd around me. It was also starting to warm up at this point, but since I had been running heat equivalent to the fires of hell all summer I already knew how to handle this. I loved that there were sprinklers set up on the course (I ran through them mostly to wash off the Gatorade I was talented at spilling on myself) and there were bright blue water sponges being handed out (I saw several women shove them down their bras… anything to stay cool?). I can see how this is a great idea to help with the heat, but I then had a really fun game of “dodge-the-blue-sponges” for the next half mile after every station.

The last six miles I lied to myself that it was really just two 5k’s back to back. It was nice because we were also heading back towards the downtown area and Grant Park. It was weird in that I was happy the race and therefore physical effort was coming to an end, but I was also a bit sad because it meant that the race experience was coming to an end. I still was just fatigued and had no tightness/cramping/niggling injuries popping up, which was very unlike past marathons. Before long it was time to run the long straightaway to the finish shoot and although my legs didn’t have much kick left, I picked it up a tiny bit to cruise over the finish line. Looking up at the clock I saw it flashing 3:30 and change but I knew that I had a couple mins less than that because of the wave start. I was more than pleased! It wasn’t until I walked back to the finish area that my friends informed me that my official finishing time was actually 3:26!!!!??!!! MIND BLOWN. That is an 8 minute PR??? a BOSTON QUALIFIER with an 8 MINUTE CUSHION?? I never expected that. I never expected that time to feel that comfortable. I never expected to enjoy this race as I had and achieve that much. I had to just lay there for a while in the grass and let it all sink in and process.

I never thought that this marathon would go this way. I had hope and felt an excitement and confidence that I was hoping would translate to a good result, but I never expected quite this much. This training cycle was hard, it was too short, I only did one 20 mile run, I never took a cut back week, I didn’t do any tempo runs, and yet it worked. For whatever reason I was able to rise above all these factors that I thought would only produce a finish of around 3:45 and instead ended up punching my ticket to Boston 2017. Unbelievable!

I know I have said it probably a million times plus two more, but I loved this marathon. I loved every single detail and every single moment of it. I want to do it all right this second. I want to relive it again and again. Will I be back to run Chicago again? You bet your ass I will. I want to run and scream and tell everyone to run this race because I hope that every runner is able to experience what I did. It outlived any expectation I could ever imagine and I am more than happy to have my PR live in Chicago.. for a little while at least. 😉

Happiest little anti-social punk ever

 

Training log: Week 18

Well, it’s here! It is officially race week and so I am just going to recap the first portion of the week and hopefully do I proper recap of the entire race weekend once I am back. I fly out in just a few hours (I’ve never flown before.. yikes) and all my easy prep runs are taken care of now. As they say “the hay is in the barn blah blah blah” but I like to say that at this point, there is nothing left to do. I have put in all the work I could whether it was enough or not doesn’t matter anymore. All that is left is to have a really fun vacation and see a brand new city by running 26.2 miles through it. I wouldn’t want it any other way!

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were all easy runs of either 6 or 5 miles. It is weird because with the taper I felt really fresh and there are no issues concerning me right now. I remember feeling it was strange because usually my body feels like it is begging for a rest day but that didn’t happen at all. Probably because of the decrease in mileage? I mean I still hit 45 last week but if I can feel that good with a “taper” of 45 miles I take it as a good sign.

I always take two days rest before my shake out run the day before the race. I don’t know if it really matters most physically but I feel like it mentally prepares me better. I am also a little weirded out because this is the first time I have felt this calm before a big race. Maybe it is from the lack of pressure I am putting on myself to preform (since I don’t have any set goal time), or maybe it is because I have been under a lot of stress from other real life stuff (transferring and graduating at the end of semester), but I am just so calm and ready to run. There isn’t any second guessing or worries. It is just a focus on shutting up and running.

I don’t know what this will translate as far as results go, but a finish is all I am aiming for. I can’t wait to be in an atmosphere with that many other people and just soaking in all that adrenaline.

Training log: Week 17

As you should know, the key to any good taper period is to shove as many things as possible into it so that you get stressed to the max and stop thinking about that marathon looming in the distance. The best thing to plan for is to have to move so that you spend all your energy carrying heavy boxes all around and trying to figure out why you own so much freaking crap. At least moving is a good opportunity to downsize, right?

Look I attempted to decorate!

So most of my running thoughts have been pushed out of my brain, I didn’t worry about a goal pace or what a target should be, no instead I was more stressed about how I was going to get my belongings from Point A to Point B in between work, school, and that running thing. Luckily this was all accomplished with only the smallest amount of hassles. Namely, that stupid Hurricane named Joaquin and the rain that will never stop.

I can’t even remember a single run this week that wasn’t raining and gross, or humid and gross because it was about to rain at any second. At this point I have forgotten what the sun looks like and I am giving up showering because what is even the fucking point. The only good thing about running right now is that it has dropped temperatures a ton and with this I am enjoying being surprised when I finish a slow and easy run only to realize it really wasn’t that slow. What pace? Not this girl. I also seem to have decided that since Chicago is going to be super flat I need to get in my fun hill runs now. Every run was on the trails except one. The Run That Shall Not Be Named…

I had a really easy 6 miles to start the taper on Monday (Surprising how much faster that is than 8+), and then a set of 3×1600’s on the track on Tuesday. The legs weren’t very happy and the track was a traffic jam of assholes who don’t want to share it, so I hit some good paces but nothing to blow your socks off. It was also the most humid day at 90% and 80 degrees (Ick). Wednesday wasn’t a rest day because I needed that to move my things and so I did a two-a-day of 5 milers on the trails. At this point I was considering just pitching a tent and living on the camp grounds with how much I am there.

Thursday was MOVE ALL THE BOXES! Day and I was happy to finally be in my new place! Yay! Throw in another easy 6 miles on Friday and then the weekend was a double of 8 milers. IT is so strange to me the last week of taper where you don’t really have a long run. Getting back home before 9am was strange and I found myself confused as to what to do with all my free time (school work was the answer…gross). I ran a fast paced 8 on Saturday on the flat trails in the rain and it was muddy and beautiful and reminded me how much I love running and not being on the wet gross roads. True fact: being gross from mud splashing is good! Being gross from road/car sludge is not! Sunday was another easy 8 on the hilly trails but my pace was actually only about 20 seconds slower so apparently “easy” is a lie and I suck at holding back when it is cool and drizzely and I am in my element. It was also weird in that the trails were really empty (it’s usually a bitch to park) and so I enjoyed my solitude of having the entire place to myself.

It is weird to think that the coming weekend I will be in Chicago and running this marathon. I am proud of myself for not giving up and working really hard to get fit to be able to run this race. I know I need to focus on being happy to be there and not worry about the pressure of putting a goal time on my head. Maybe I will surprise myself and have a really great time but I don’t want to be disappointed if that doesn’t happen. So instead I am just constantly obsessing about pressuring myself and then not pressuring myself. I do know that when I get there I will feel completely different and just might light up with my competitive spirit again. No matter what I am just happy to be healthy, strong, and able to be a part of a race so big.

Race Recap: Oktoberfest 8k

Last Saturday was the Oktoberfest Run Green 8k put on by a local running club that I am a part of, the Nog Run Club. I always try to do the Nog races partially out a sense of loyalty to the club that helped me meet a lot of cool running people, and partially because it is a really good excuse to meet friends downtown on a weekend afternoon to run and drink beer. A win-win situation! Every year this race always falls in the middle of my taper and so I usually am running a long run and then tacking this race onto the end. This was the first time that I didn’t plan to run 7-9 miles beforehand because of my 20 miler the next day and so my plan was to just use it as a tempo run to practice “race pace” aka see where my fitness level was at and what I could expect to run in Chicago.

To try and deter myself from trying to race and to also add in some extra miles to the day, I woke up and went for an easy shake out run on the trails to remind my legs that hills are a thing that we like. The Oktoberfest uses the same course every year (and it is the same course for the sister race, the Saint Patty’s Run Green 8k) and it is one that I have also run a million times. I already knew it was a hilly course and so there were no surprises to be had when running it. I was pretty tired in the morning and very unenthusiastic about running a race later since I was more focused on the long run the next day.

Since this was my first race since joining the running team at Fleet Feet Raleigh/Morrisville I was also using this as an opportunity to run in my race day gear and make sure it was comfortable and would work. There was also photos to be had with fellow team members and so I ended up arriving to the race about an hour early to hang out and say hello to people which was fun even for antisocial me, because I haven’t been to any run clubs in ages (Look! I am still alive!). The only thing I didn’t plan on was how hot it was going to be and how I was going to stand around like an idiot in the sun for an hour without water. Dehydration isn’t a thing, right?

So at the last second I jumped in the start corral with a plan to stick to a conservative 7:45 pace and test how hard of an effort that would be for a possible 26 miles. I can be massively competitive so I knew sticking to this pace and not racing was going to be extremely hard. So 1-2-3-Go and I was off.

Look! I do run!

I was just running by mostly feel and not looking at my Garmin at all. I felt like I was doing a nice comfortably hard pace but nothing too extreme. It was hot, it was hilly, and I was just focused on staying consistent and maintaining that pace throughout the entire race. I love, love, love racing hills and so I was having fun picking off other runners who were having a not-so-fun time on them. The good thing about running a course a lot is that you know exactly where every turn and hill is and so you avoid blowing your energy away right out the gate. This course is also deceptive in that you pass by the finish and then loop back towards it, so many people think they are almost done when there is about half a mile left to actually go. I was already expecting this but not expecting my stupidly at standing in the hot sunshine to cause me to start cramping up at this point. Add into this that I also skipped the water stops because I usually don’t bother with water on a run this short. At this point I could see the finish was almost over and so I pulled back and decided to just jog the last since I wasn’t racing anyway and didn’t care about getting passed.

I guess strength training is paying off with those quads…

I ended up finishing in 37:20 minutes which put my average around 7:20-30 minute per mile. Whoops. There goes my “keep a conservative” pace strategy. In all honesty I was pretty surprised since I was never at a point that I felt like I was really running that hard. I finished with some cramping but feeling like I still had plenty in the tank to go. In fact I am pretty proud of myself that there were several women there who I really wanted to race and beat, but I held back in order to stick to my plan.

So after it was all said and done I was happy with using the race as a test run. I ended up winning my Age Group and placing 8th Woman overall, which for a day I wasn’t actually racing I can’t complain about. I was proud of the fact I held back and have a bit of confidence knowing that I ran that pace and it felt a lot easier that I would have expected on a hilly course (and a hot day). I am still planning to shoot for a 7:45 at Chicago so maybe it isn’t quite as out of reach as I was thinking it might be.

My German heritage approves of this medal