5k recaps,May 8-14th

Last week training at a glance:
Monday-rest
Tuesday- 6.5 miles including 12x300's, weights/core
Wednesday- 5 miles
Thursday- 4.2 miles including a 5k
Friday-rest
Saturday- 5.2 miles including a 5k
Sunday- leg day plus 40 minutes elliptical

I took this week easier knowing I had a goal 5k on Saturday. Given the long string of bad races I've had the entire year, my only goal was to be faster than last year.
Tuesday I did light speed work.
Wednesday I made it to the track and it was the hottest track day so far-it will only get hotter from here so I took it nice and slow and tried to let my lungs get acclimated to the humidity and heat. I'm glad Erin was there to run the slower paces with me--Running is so much better with friends!

Thursday night was the 2nd race for the RTL series. I wasn't aiming to race this race but rather use it as a tempoish run to  keep some turnover in my legs. I started slow and was able to negative split. It will probably be the only time I will ever do that on that course due to all the bends and twists in the final mile.I ran slow enough to not kill my legs and fast enough to snag a 2nd OA female win (small race). It felt really nice to run this as a workout and not a race.

What made that race so much better is that my 2 youngest children ran the kids fun run!

They enjoyed the free icecream and face painting and of course being able to cheer their mamma to the finish line. I LOVE the race the landing 5ks, simply because they really know how make things fun and genuinely care about all the runners!

Saturday was my "goal" race.The course is flat and fast and I was hoping I would see my training pay off. I was also praying for a random cool day in May(which happened the weekend before and not on race day). But I got lucky and it rained, which dropped the humidity.

I ran this race last year and had a better than expected race.

Race morning I woke up tired,  exhausted, sore and not in the mood to run. I do a 1.5 mile warm up to try to get my mind in the game. while I was thankful for the rain, I was hopeful it would carry me to a faster than last years time. I love running in the rain and have had some of my best races/runs during down pours. Since my  main goal of going sub 19 went out the window a few weeks ago, I was just holding on hope I could go sub 20. I knew I could reach that easily.

A small crowd gathers at the start and off we go. I start off with the boys and quickly found myself in a small pack of 4 men. I knew a couple of them from last years race and made it a point to pass them and stay ahead of them. I made my move at the 1 mile mark, and I passed 2 men. I stayed with another guy for about a mile and then surge ahead of him. At this point it is pouring down rain. I pass another guy  but By 2.5 miles in I was running in no mans land. I wanted to hurry up and be done so I could take an entire week off from running.The last half mile of the course is  tough only because you can see the finish, have to run by it then make a turn and do a series of a couple tight turns and kick it in on the grass to the line. Last year I made the first of the final turns just fine because I had someone to chase. This year- yup, you guessed it. I turned at the wrong turning point (I went to far up and had to back track) this cost me 4 places (all the guys I kept ahead of me the first 3 miles finished in front of me) I went 3.19 and finished in 20:36 (19:58 if I hadn't made the wrong turn). I was pissed off when I crossed the line. All sorts of negative thoughts were flying around. I do a half mile cool down all while throwing myself a major pity party. My head was NOT in the running game at all that race.

My mood changed when I was able to meet a couple new members of the CRC. It was nice seeing their excitement of the new areas and races they were running. It made me realize that running is not my job,and I needed to chill out. And besides, even though this was a slow(for me) race, I was fast enough to make an OA win for the ladies. I earned grand prix points and a FF gift card-who can be upset with that?

I was also given a big bag of trader joe bagels. Due to the small race, there was a LOT of food left over and runners were literally walking away with bags of bagel, bunches of bananas and boxes of granola bars.

Sunday-Mothers day!!! I unleashed the iron beast in the gym that morning and had a not so relaxing deep tissue massage and stretching session that afternoon. I spent the rest of the day with my family and was able to put my feet up and RELAX. I didn't cook, I didn't clean, I didn't do laundry, I just enjoyed time with my husband and kiddos........
and had me a cupcake
: )

And then Monday I had a mom hang over doing everything that didn't get done while  I "took a break". Real life mom moment captured perfectly!

And now its time for a full week off of running. My body is tired. In the meantime, I will be getting my lift on it in the gym. Only 5.5 weeks until Iceland!!!

Hope all have a great week ahead and for the mammas (or mother figures to others), hope yall had a wonderful Mothers day!!!! What is something special that you did? Did you suffer a mothers day hangover?

I’m linking up with Holly at Hohoruns and Tricia at MississippiPiddlin‘ for their weekly wrap link and with Courtney of Eat, Pray, Run, DC.

Race recaps

What a whirlwind of a weekend! I traveled over 1200 miles, celebrated my grandfathers big 90th birthday and did 2 5ks back to back... While these races were some of my slowest times of the year, they were some of the best races of the year.
Here's is last week at a glance:

4/24-4/30
Monday-rest
Tuesday-4.5 miles including 8x400s around the neighborhood
Wednesday-5 miles easy
Thursday-4 miles easy- travel day
Friday-travel day
Saturday-5.5 miles including a 5k
Sunday-6 miles including a 5k,travel day

I didn't know until Wednesday that I would be able to run the Nashville RNR 5k. However, online registration was closed by then so I would have to sign up at the expo center and just hope the race wouldn't be sold out.
Thursday I packed up the kids and headed tp TN for my Grandfathers 90th birthday party(on Saturday. I was born in raised near Nashville btw so we go to TN about 1-2x per year). Terry had to fly out of state for meetings over the weekend so it was just me and 4 kids. Instead of driving 9-10 hours straight through, I chose to drive half way, stop at a hotel and finish the drive the next morning.(This is SO much better than driving straight through like we usually do!)
I honked the horn as we crossed the state lines...

Friday morning we left the hotel and drove the rest of the way to Nashville. I was super excited that I was able to navigate my way through insane and obscene amounts of traffic during peak hours. I dragged 4 hangry kids to the expo and I was in luck! the 5k hadn't sold out yet!!! I don't know how it happened but I ended up in Coral #1

After a quick stroll through the expo me and the Hangry bunch left. I really wish I could have taken my time so I could spend more money than I should on running gear,lol!

We go to my grandparents house(they live in Nashville,a short drive from downtown) and hung out for a bit before going over to my sisters house to stay the night. I had a 3:45AM wake up call and I needed to get some sleep!

3:45 came MUCH too early. I didn't sleep much due to knowing I had to get up early.I stumble around my sisters place getting dressed and grabbed a jar of peanutbutter and a piece of bread to eat later for breakfast. The good news is that I arrived at Nissan stadium without getting lost and found a perfect parking spot close to the exit so I could make a bee line out of there once the race was over. I had to help finish setting up for granddaddy's party as soon as possible.

I arrived at the stadium at 4:40 and stayed in my car until 5:20. I ate my breakfast, sipped on a diet Dr.Pepper and people watched.

I was planning to do only a mile warm up but also knew I had to walk a little bit to get to the start.

The views walking up to the start line were amazing!!! Its been 18 years since I have been in downtown Nashville, and while everything has changed, so much is still the same.... well, mostly the honkey tonks-(Nashville is one of those cities that cant expand anymore so instead of building and growing OUTward, every thing is building UPward)

 Since it was expected to be hot and humid, the races were rescheduled for an earlier start. My race started at 6:15 while the half and full marathoners would start at 6:45. (It was already 70 degrees by 6am with 100% humidity!!!) I followed the crowd and saw a large church had literally JUST opened their doors so runners could have a cool place to stretch and use their nice indoor restrooms. I didn't have to wait in line and even found a single stall private bathroom.

I walk out of the church and followed the masses to the starting line. However, I walked to the wrong start line. 5kers started 2 blocks over. I find my start line and then head out for a 1 mile warm up. I only get a half mile in and needed to pee again. It was already 6am and I thought I had time to find the church and get back to the start....

well by the time I got back to the church the lines were wrapped around the building and into the streets. I wait 10 minutes then gave up and went back to the start. The corals were already full and I had to try to find my corral. I found it but everybody was moving backwards towards the end of the corals. I went with the crowd and then realized that I needed to start right at the line and not in the back of the pack. Overall winners would be determined by GUN time and not CHIP time. So I turn around and find my spot at the front just in the nick of time! (I felt like a fish trying to swim upstream getting there!)

The only thing I had on my mind at the start was my grandfather. I had told him before I left his house that I was going to try to win the race or at least make top 3 overall, just for him!

(The 5k race isn't as competitive as the half and full,so I knew the odds were good that I would place if I kept in the 19 zone)

THE RACE

I start out conservative and wait for the lead lady to zoom ahead-- she did and my plan was to run on her heels until I found the opportune moment to pass(maybe stay with her and then pass her at the line?) My plan was working GREAT. I was running a comfortably uncomfortable pace and the first mile I was feeling good. I wasn't starting out too fast, and I felt me and the lead gal were sharing the cyclist for lead female.There were a couple inclines, and small rolling hills, but more downhill initially(a 100ft elevation drop-but what goes down must go UP!) The streets were lined with spectators almost the entire course and it was pretty amazing hearing the roaring crowd! My favorite part was running down Music city Row in front of all the honkey tonks.I felt like a rockstar,like I was in a much larger race than it actually was.The hills started after the first mile was done. I am sure the locals don't consider their hills to be real hills, but to my legs, I felt every singe hill and every single square inch of elevation on the course. This is where the race really started for me.

At the 1 mile marker I am still in 2nd place position. I make a sharp left turn and see the 3rd place gal out of the corner of my eye. She was either going to fade up the hill or be determined to push up to take the lead spot. I pick up my pace and told myself I needed to make my move before she did. I attack the hill and am about to pass the 1rst place gal, and then 3rd place gal charges past both of us, moving herself up to leading lady and bumping me into 3rd. I kept looking for the downhill so I could gain some momentum to catch up. (The downhill I was looking for never came btw). My legs were burning but I think about my grandfather and how much physical pain he has been through this past year with his cancer battle,and tell myself I had no room to complain. I find it in me to push a little more.

I pass the 2nd place gal and surge ahead. She catches back up to me after a minute and passes me. I pass her back. We play this cat and mouse game until mile 3. At the 3 mile marker she throws the hammer down, puts herself in another gear and sprints to the line, outkicking me by a full 10 seconds. It was quite the duel though! I cross the line with a gun time of 20:33.(Did you know that  according to THIS ARTICLE for every 10ft of elevation on the race course, it can slow you down by 1.74 seconds? top elevation for this 5k was 534 (lowest was 415-basically not a flat section anywhere)  So based on that formula the hills slowed me down by 92 seconds. If this were a flat course I should have been right between 19:00- 19:22.) 

While this was not my fastest race by a long shot, it was a GOOD race in the sense that the top 3 ladies finished one after the other with no boys in between, and we pretty much ran together until the last quarter mile. I am glad I had a pack of gals to run with!!! I loved the last half of the race because i felt i was actually racing, fighting for that 2nd place spot! Its been a while since I've had a race like that, and it was just what I needed! I ended up placing 3rd OA female, 1/244 in my AG, 3/1983 females and 15/2770 runners.

After the race I did a 2 mile cool down with the 1rst place gal and made a bee line back to my sisters place to get a shower and head on over to the church to help set up for the party.

(I also said a silent prayer for all the half and full marathoners on the course. It was going be a tough day for everyone!)

The party was AMAZING! I need to do a separate post for that. It was a stressful start to say the least, I spent most of my time behind the scenes in the kitchen(yes we cooked for 300+ people) but man did everyone have a great time!

Race #2

I signed up for this race on Wednesday just in case the RNR was sold out. 

My plan was to run just fast enough to win it (very very small local race!) and to just run even splits.To be honest, when I woke up my legs were sore and I didn't feel like showing up. But I had already paid for it, and I needed to shake the soreness out of my legs anyways. I get to the race, pick up my packet and do a 1.5 mile warm up. My legs felt like lead and I was already planning to go as slow as possible and still be in the lead. The small crowd gathers to the start.Gun goes off and I hang with the highschool kids for a couple minutes. my legs felt surprisingly good so I just rolled with it. I passed the pack of highschoolers and went up front with the boys. I see mile 1 in 6:32, which felt like a 7:32. at the turn around point, I see I have quite a lead and then I see Theresa, a lady who was my stand in crosscountry coach during summers and running camps. I haven't seen her since I was 17 years old!! I started cheering for her like crazy and then a lady riding bike pulled up on the course and was riding right in front of me. I pretended she was my cyclist for being lead lady,lol!!! by this point I was running in no mans land and since I new I had such a lead, I slowed down and tried not think about how sore my quads were. I cross the line at 20:45, one of my slowest times of the year but oh well.

After the race I catch up with Theresa and we wait (and wait)for awards. She ended up 3rd OA female. Turns out she ran this race on a whim. She is a long distance runner and hasn't done a 5k in years. She didn't decide to run until about an hour before the race started. What are the odds of us running into eachother!? It reminded me of the other time I jumped into an out of state race on a whim and ran into another person from my runninghood (you can read about that race HERE).

We catch up on everything and I'm pretty sure I gushed about how beautiful and ageless she is and how much I looked up to her when I was a teen. I remember being 15-17yrs old running with her and seeing how fast she was (and still is!), seeing how in shape and fit she was(and still is!) even when she had 3 children. She inspired me to want to continue running and lead an active lifestyle,even if I ever became a mother. 20 years, 4 kids, 3 professional figure cards, and many many many races later and I think I did a pretty decent job,lol!!!

There was a snafu with the timing system so awards took a bit longer than normal. I ended up with a pretty decent prize given how small this race was!

And since inquiring minds want to know, here is what was inside the blue bag:
MTSU coffee mug
MTSU coaster
MTSU Blue Raider Tshirt
MTSU dog leash with matching MTSU dog collar
MTSU magnet car decal
MTSU license plate
$15 gift card to local wing place
2x$5 gift cards to Moes
1 $150 gift certificate to an indoor aquatic facility (basically a free pool party)
1 tube of NUUN
1 tub of Amino Acid recovery powder
1 protein shaker
1 water bottle
1 bag of doggie vitamins
2 doggie treats
lots of coupons for doggie grooming, doggie day care and dog food
coupons for local resteraunts
1 sweat towel

Not bad,eh??

Final thoughts:
While I didn't set any PRs, while these were some of my slowest races, these races in particular made me realize that some races are not about the numbers on the clock. Some races are about running for those who cant, some races are about being able to duel it out to the line and finish satisfied. While I'm slightly disappointed I didn't win the RNR Nashville, I am so happy I made top 3 like I promised my grandfather. I was happy I had a good race despite it not being the time I wanted. The MTSU 5k I ran, again it was not a goal race, I didn't run it how I had planned, BUT I am thankful I was able to see Theresa again after all these years. It helped me realize and put into perspective not only how much I have changed as a runner but despite all the changes in my life over the past 20 years, I kept true to myself about staying active and being involved in fitness even after I had 4 children. I am not sure if I would have ever pursued fitness how I did if it wasn't for her. I'm pretty sure I would have stayed active, but running with her during that short time frame in my life really left an Impression and she was one of the main influences I had in regards to running and fitness. I really don't think Theresa had a clue she left such an impression with me since she only coached us for such a short time. It wasn't constant coaching you get like through a team, but it was for short periods. Long enough for a seed to be planted though......
Which is yet another reminder that you never know who is looking up to you, you never know how your story may influence others......
If you made it all the way through the novel, bless your heart!
Do you like to run races when you travel out of town?

I’m linking up with Holly at Hohoruns and Tricia at MississippiPiddlin‘ for their weekly wrap link and with Courtney of Eat, Pray, Run, DC.