Category: Race Recap

Hey friends! I’ve got a fun race recap to share today!

Yesterday morning I did the Grandman Triathlon Relay in Fairhope as part of a two-woman team. There are typically three relay team members (swim + bike + run), but my teammate, Kristan, is an amazing triathlete and she can actually do all three on her own. She is healing up from a hamstring tear and she just needed someone to do the run for her (we basically did the same exact thing for the same reason last year). I was happy to be part of her team again this year!

The race started at 7 a.m. at the Fairhope Pier. I woke up around 5, got myself ready, made some coffee and headed down to the race. I got there around 6:30. Once I found a parking spot and walked down the hill (the same monster of a hill that I would have to run up during the race), I was greeted by volunteers with sharpies who were eager to write our team number all over me. Seriously. Both arms, both legs and a calf.

Once I got to the pier I found Kristan and the rest of her teammates pretty easily. The new orange jerseys are VERY easy to spot! I walked out on the pier to watch the swim get underway. The start is staggered (so not everyone goes into the water at once). The athletes jump in one at a time and start making their way to the shore.

I made my way back over to the transition area to watch as the swimmers came out of the water and got on their bikes. Once Kristan came through and headed out for the bike portion of the race, I knew I had about 45 minutes or so until I would start the run. I used that time to get a few warm up miles in. Since no one was actually on the run course yet (lots of geese, but no runners), I did a few miles along the course. I likely confused several of the spectators and volunteers who were working to get the water stations set up. I repeatedly told people that I was just warming up.

I got 3 miles in and made my way into to the transition area to wait. The transition area was a pretty hectic with all of the bikers zooming in, racking their bikes, changing shoes, etc. and heading out to run. I mainly just tried to stay out of everyone’s way and I cheered for as many people as I could as they came through.

I saw Kristan zooming down the hill (her orange bike, Betty, and her orange jersey made her hard to miss) and I was excited to get out there and RUN! She had to take the timing chip off and give it to me before I could take off. She told me that she had the ride of her life, which was really exciting and made me want to run even faster. She crushed the bike portion, averaging over 21 miles per hour! Smoking!

I secured the timing chip around my ankle and took off. You climb from 1 ft (we are talking literally at sea level here) to 80 ft in the first tenth of a mile into the run. I don’t know if that sounds hard or not, but trust me when I tell you that it is … very challenging!

I knew that the hill was going to be the biggest obstacle of the race and I told myself to be patient and not try to run up that thing too quickly. I wanted to take it easy up the hill and then start to push. Theoretically this sounds wonderful, but it is incredibly difficult not to get caught up in the heat of the moment during a race (and especially in a relay when you know your teammate just busted her hiney and is counting on you to do the same :)).

Once I got up the hill the course flattened out a little bit, but there were still some gentle rollers to deal with. Here is the elevation chart …

I came through the first mile in 6:22. I didn’t really have any specific pace goals in mind, so this seemed decent enough. I was steadily catching people and picking people off throughout the run, which is usually pretty fun (especially in a pure road race setting). I actually feel bad passing people when I am on a relay team, knowing that they had to both swim and bike before they ran. I, on the other hand, was fresh as a daisy and just had to run. I tried to encourage everyone that I passed and I hoped that they all saw the big “T” on my left calf (indicating that I was part of a team). I cannot even imagine having to run that course after swimming and biking.

The first two miles of the course are an out and back, so as much as I like to complain about the hill, it isn’t really all that bad because you do at least get to come back down. You definitely get a decent amount of momentum going down that thing and I kind of had to reign it in (for fear of getting completely out of control and busting my face). I’m pretty sure that if you did fall, you would continue to roll down just as quickly as you could run down. I didn’t, however, plan to test that theory. I came through the second mile in 6:19.

The last mile is a loop around the duck pond at the pier. I knew that I just had to keep pushing for one more mile. It can be really tough to hold the pace during the last mile of a race, but somehow I did manage to keep it pretty consistent this time. My last mile split was 6:20. After the third mile split you have to do a little “off roading,” through some sand and grass before making your way onto the sidewalk and around to the finish line.

My mom was down near the finish watching and got a good picture with the pier in the background.

My 5K time was 19:48 (according to Strava), but the course was 3.2 miles, so my official time was 20:15. Triathlon courses aren’t always exact distances, as in this isn’t a certified 5K course, so I’m simply including my 5K time for my own refernce. An extra tenth of a mile can definitely add 30 seconds or more to your 5K time. I was a little bit faster last year, but I think it was hotter and more humid this year. Either way, I am happy with the time.

I decided to forgo a cool down. I don’t think people really cool down after triathlons … at least, it doesn’t seem like they do. At a running event, you typically see lots of people cooling down after the race, but at a triathlon, not so much. Perhaps the run is the cool down? We just hung out, chatted with friends and waited on the results for a little while. I thought we might’ve won the women’s relay division, but then again, you never really know (especially since no one starts at the same time) …

We got to stand at the top of the podium again this year! Woo!

Grandman is such a wonderful event. The location, the organization, the volunteers, really just everything is great. Participating in any event as part of a relay is always so much fun! As much as I enjoy individual sports like running and tennis, I can’t deny that there is just something about being part of a team that makes a sport feel more meaningful. I am so glad that Kristan asked me to do this event with her again this year. I’m pretty sure that it’s becoming a tradition at this point …

Congrats to all of the athletes that competed yesterday! I am amazed by all of you!

I ran the Do it in the Bush 5K at Cottage Hill Park in Mobile Saturday morning. DIITB is one of the few trail races that we have here locally. Cottage Hill Park is actually the place where Daniel and I first met!

The main event of the weekend was Daniel’s triathlon in Auburn on Sunday, but I was able to do this race Saturday morning before we left to head up to Auburn. The race started at 7:30 a.m., which was nice, not only to beat the heat a little bit, but also so that we could go ahead and get on the road a little bit earlier.

We got to the park around 6:45 and I was able to register and go to the bathroom before warming up on the course. I was a little bit worried about getting lost in the woods and I wanted to make sure that we ran the course beforehand just to make sure I knew what I was doing. I wasn’t sure if I would have anyone to run with, as you never really know who is going to show up on any given day. We talked briefly with Aaron Freesmeier, who marked the course, before the warm up. He gave us some pointers and we set off to see what the trails were like.

We didn’t have any issues at all navigating the course at all! Every single root was marked with orange paint (that must’ve taken a lot of time) and there were lots of arrows, etc. showing you where to go. I definitely noticed that I was working harder than normal to run my “easy” pace on the trails.

The race started off in the parking lot at Cottage Hill Park. It used to start on a soccer field, but apparently there were some “issues” with the course measuring long in the past and they decided to change that up this year. It’s a trail race though, so accuracy really shouldn’t be a huge concern. We were only in the parking lot for the first tenth of a mile or so and then it was to the grass around the baseball field (same as it always has been). We were on the grass for less than a half of a mile before we headed into the trails.

I was in second place overall as we entered the trails. The first place runner almost turned off course not too long after we got on the trails and I passed him briefly as he got his bearings back. I really didn’t want to be leading this thing through the trails, but here we were. At least I knew where I was going! I knew that was going to come in handy.

I led the race through the first mile. The mile split was 6:29. The course winds in and out of the woods a few times during the second mile, but you are primarily on the trails the entire time. I love being in the woods and running on trails! I really wish that we had more trails and more trail races. I can totally see myself turning into one of those crazy ultra trail runners at some point down the road. Ha.

I likely need to invest in a pair of trail shoes though. I wore the Brooks Launch for this race (definitely not a trail shoe) and it worked out fine for a 5K, but if the race had been any longer, I likely would’ve wanted some better shoes. I love the Brooks Launch for road running though (I don’t want them (them being my shoes) to get their feelings hurt, so that seeemed worth mentioning).

I got passed back by the lead runner right around mile two. The mile split was 7:19. I didn’t know the split at the time. I decided during the warm up that I wouldn’t look at the splits since I knew I would likely feel like I was giving more of an effort than the splits showed.

After he passed me, he almost ran off course two more miles in the last mile, but I was able to yell at him and tell him where to go. The last mile took us back into the parking lot for a brief moment, back into the woods and then back on the grass. Lots of varied terrain! I finished a few seconds behind the leader with a time of 20:02.

It should be noted that the course was a tad short, but with a cross country style race, that is to be expected. My watch read 2.95 miles and my pace for the last mile was 6:37.

I LOVED everything about this race! It was such a laid back, fun approach to “racing.” I stayed upright, which is always good. Unfortunately the same cannot be said of my easy run on the trails Sunday in Auburn, but … it happens. I’m already looking for another trail race to do!

Have you ever raced on trails? What was your experience like? If you have any good race recommendations, send them my way!

Saturday morning I ran the 8K by the Bay in Mobile. The race starts and finishes at Arlington Park (near Brookley Field). This race wasn’t really on my radar as far as a goal race or anything like that and in fact, I had pretty much decided that I wasn’t going to even run it. My training has been lackluster over the last few weeks and I wasn’t feeling super excited about the idea of racing. I typically take a little bit of downtime towards the end of tax season when things get a little bit crazy, which seems to work fairly well.

Daniel is training for another triathlon (this time a shorter, sprint variety) and he decided that he could get in a good training ride by biking across the bay to the race. Daniel Holley was running as well, so I figured that I might as well just go for it. I haven’t done many 8Ks over the years (less than five I think) and it was nice to go into the race without any real time goals or preconceived notions about what a good time would be.

That’s not to say that I didn’t have a goal at all though. I was actually hopeful that I could keep my average pace fairly close to what it was at the Azalea Trail Run 10K last month (6:18 average). I figured that since the race was one mile shorter and it’s only been a few weeks without any major workouts that I might be able to pull it off. Spoiler: that was a little overly ambitious, but I got close.

The weather was amazing Saturday morning! The temperature was in the mid fifties when we woke up and warmed up to mid sixties by the time the race got underway. There was a slight breeze and it was cool, clear and crisp … perfect running conditions! The course is very fast. It’s an out and back with a few slight variations on the way back. You run straight on the way out. There is a turnaround just passed the second mile marker and on the way back you run two little side loops before heading back the way you came.

The race itself was fairly uneventful. I had 6:20 in my head as a goal pace, but wasn’t really sure as to how that was going to go. D Holley and I decided to start between 6:30 and 6:40 pace and see how things unfolded from there. We ended up running the first two and a half (or just over that) together and then he took off. We only passed a couple of people during those first two miles and no one passed us. I guess that’s a good thing!

Our splits for the first three miles were 6:34, 6:25 and 6:19. I couldn’t quite hold on to the pace, but I also didn’t fall off too much. My last two miles were 6:25 and 6:30. D Holley left me in his dust and finished with major negative split (and a 5:59 last mile). I finished fourth overall (first female) with a time of 32:22. I didn’t even realize it at the time, but that is actually an 8K PR for me! Woo hoo for unexpected PRs! I mean, granted, the bar was pretty low as I’ve only run a few 8Ks, but still … a PR is a PR. I’ll take any records I can get at this point.

Hopefully that is a sign of good things to come! If only I could figure out what it is that I actually want to train for …

In other news, I’ve decided that I want to PR in time spent on the water this summer and that’s exactly what we got to work on post-race. Brooks had a blast and everyone was worn out by the end of the day.

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! Talk to you soon!

Howdy! So … four 10K races in four weeks … done and done! I ended my 10K “streak” yesterday at the Azalea Trail Run in Mobile.

The Azalea Trail Run (ATR) has a long, renowned history. At one point, it was even considered to be one of the premier road racing events in the country. The name perhaps implies that there are trails involved, but this 10K is a fast, flat course along some of the historic streets of downtown Mobile that are known as the Azalea Trail.

The 10K has seen blistering records set by runners since its inception. Bill Rodgers won the first ever ATR back in 1978 with a time of 30:26. The current course record was set in 2001 by Abraham Chebii and is 27:26 (4:25 pace)! On the female side, past winners have included Joan Benoit (31:57 in 1984), Edna Kiplagat (32:12 in 2003) and Janet Cherobon-Bawcom (33:22, 32:41, 32:03 in 2011, 2012 and 2014 respectively). The current course record was set in 1997 by Colleen De Reuck and is 31:29 (5:04 pace)!

I just did a quick comparison of the results from 1987 vs. 2017. I say “quick comparison,” but in actuality I put all of this data into a spreadsheet by age and gender to calculate the percentages and totals (because this stuff is more interesting to me than taxes). In 1987, there were 4,161 participants (3,120 male (75%) and 1,041 female (25%)). In 2017, there were 1,692 participants (818 male (48%) and 874 female (52%)) in the 10K and 1,274 participants in the 5K. 2018 was the 41st running of the ATR.

I haven’t done this race since ( … checking … ) 2013. This is definitely one of the most well-known races in our area, but I’ve actually only run it 3 times before this year. For whatever reason, I never seem to have good luck with this one. It’s always back to back weekends with (if not the same day as) Spring Fever and I love Spring Fever so much, I don’t usually feel the need to do ATR. This year was a little different, however, as I decided to do four 10Ks over the four weekends in March! I was hopeful that this race would be my fastest of the four March races. Given that the course is flat as a pancake, it made sense (at least in theory), but I wasn’t sure exactly how the execution was going to play out after running so many races back to back (to back to back).

The race starts at 8 a.m. We got to Mobile just before 7 a.m., ran a couple of miles and did the typical pre-race stuff before making our way over to the start line. They still bring in some elite, professional runners and it’s always fun to see them lining up at the start line (this is as close to a Kenyan as I’ll ever get and it’s pretty cool :)). I averaged 6:24 pace last weekend at Spring Fever and I wanted to try to get that down to just under 6:20 at ATR.

I started off at what felt like a comfortable pace and was planning to run as evenly as possible. The first mile has two turns and after that mile there are only two more turns the entire race. It’s really such a fast course! The first mile typically clicks by pretty quickly as there are usually plenty of runners around and the pack hasn’t really separated too much. My split for the first mile was 6:17.

There were clocks at each of the mile markers, so I had some pace feedback out there (as opposed to last week when I purposefully chose not to look at the data mid-race). I felt really comfortable at 6:17, but I was also really close to a few other runners and I (somewhat unknowingly) picked it up a touch to catch them and stay with the pack. My split for the second mile was 6:14.

The third mile was fairly uneventful. I don’t think I really passed anyone or got passed by anyone. I focused on keeping a steady rhythm and not slowing down. We made a left turn right before the third mile marker and had a slight downhill segment for a tenth of a mile or so. That was quite nice! My split for the third mile was 6:18. The total time on the clock at mile three was 18:49, which was about 25 seconds faster than my time at mile three last week. I was definitely encouraged by this, but at the same time, I had to remind myself not to get complacent.

I caught up to a couple of guys during the fourth mile and ran with them for a little bit. We briefly chatted about how bright the sun was and that we wished we had worn our sunglasses. I don’t know why this random detail sticks out to me, but for some reason it does and thus, it goes into the post. Ha. I saw Daniel and Kenny out on the course cheering somewhere during this mile as well. That definitely gave me a boost! My split for the fourth mile was 6:23.

We made our last turn just passed mile four and were headed towards home. I was really happy to be running on the road that would take me to the finish line. I started counting the traffic lights and making bargains that I would “just keep running hard until you get to the second light and then we’ll reassess.” The “we” in that case was me and myself. I’m not sure who really won. My split for the fifth mile was 6:22.

I still felt pretty decent at this point during the race and knew that I could at least maintain my pace for another mile, if not speed up ever so slightly. I counted more traffic lights. Each one got me a little bit close to the finish line. The 5K runners merged with the 10K runners during the last mile, which has been disastrous in the past, but I must say, they did a great job of keeping the racers separated this year. The right side of the street was sectioned off and the 5K runners stayed to the right, while the 10K runners stayed to the left. It worked.

As a side note, I really don’t think that every race needs to offer a 5K option. I would much prefer that ATR just be a 10K. There are plenty of other 5Ks every other weekend for those that want a 5K option. In my opinion, the quality of the entire event is watered down when multiple race distances are offered and run at the same time. Let’s expound a bit on my findings above regarding the participation from 1987 to 2017. According to Running USA, the total number of road race finishers from approximately the same time frame has increased from just under 5 million finishers to 17 million finishers! Over the time frame that the total road race participants increased by over 250%, the number of participants at ATR has decreased by 59%. Sad! We need to start a campaign to make Azalea great again!

Okay, okay, back to 2018. I got off on a tangent! Before I even knew it, I made it to mile six. My split for the sixth mile was 6:17. At this point, I tried to pick it up for the last two tenths to squeak under 39:00, but I waited a bit too late to make that happen. I crossed the finish line in 39:07 and I am super happy with that!

We did a two-mile cool down after the race and stayed around (FOREVER) waiting on the awards. In the past, they have done overall results and “local” results (for the non-elite runners), but they didn’t do that this year. I was bummed about that, especially because they have always done it in the past and the race site specifically says that they do local awards. All in all, it’s definitely not a big deal. If we hadn’t waited around for over two and half hours, I wouldn’t have even cared, but at that point I was starving and was in a state of hanger. There was also a team competition and they didn’t do results for that either, which was also disappointing.

But … we found out today that our team, the Grinder Gals, was first place in the open female division! Woo hoo!

All in all, this is a wonderful event. I wish the results and awards were more efficient, but to be fair, this is a big race and it makes sense that it would take longer (especially given that there are multiple races as well). If you are ever in the area and are looking for a historic, crazy fast 10K course, ATR is the race for you!

I don’t have any races planned until August! I mean, obviously that will change, but for the moment, the plan is to survive tax season and my first semester of teaching (whoever thought that trying to do those two things simultaneously was a good idea is crazy :)). I’m thinking I either want to train for a one mile race or for an ultra … or maybe something in between! Ha. I’ll keep you posted.

Howdy friends and random internet strangers! I’ve got race recap three out of four for the month to share with you today. Next up is Azalea Trail!

Today I ran my 11th Spring Fever Chase 10K! It’s one of my favorite races of the year, if not my most favorite. Here is a conglomeration of race photos over the years …

We got to Fairhope around 7 a.m. for an 8 a.m. race start. Daniel picked our bibs up yesterday, so that we didn’t have to worry about that today. We met Jessica downtown and ran just over two miles before making our way to the start line. I was ready to do this thing!

Last year I ran the race without a watch and while that turned out to be a great decision, I decided to wear my watch this year … but, I didn’t look at it one. single. time. during the race. I don’t know how I had the self-restraint to do this, but somehow I did. The only time during the entire race that I saw a time was on the clock at mile 3 (the other mile markers don’t have clocks).

Like most races, the start of this race is typically a little chaotic because so many people run too fast for the first half-mile or so. They really made a point that if you weren’t running under 7:00 pace, then you didn’t need to be on the front row. I feel like they have said this before, but it seemed like more people actually listened this year. Several young kids still managed to pass everyone in the first tenth of a mile. Several of them were excitedly talking about how they were running “sub-7” (which I thought was adorable) and for that first quarter-mile, they certainly were.

We had a good bit of rain yesterday and the first turn (about a half-mile into the race) was underwater. Thankfully, we had run that little stretch during our warm up and knew which side of the street (err well, the grass) would be the best path. I dodged the puddle and avoided getting my shoes muddy, which was nice. I caught up to Daniel around mile one. His training has been going really well, but he hasn’t been feeling good the last few days. I knew that he was likely struggling if I was catching him and I was bummed for him. He loves this race as well and wouldn’t have run if it had been any other race.

My mom and dad came to the race to cheer for us and they were just past the one mile mark. Per usual, my dad yelled, “GO KID!” as I ran by. He has always called me Kid and I hope that never changes. They’ve definitely been my biggest fans over the years and I always get a boost from seeing and hearing them on the course. We also had several friends that didn’t race today that came out to cheer as well, which was much appreciated. Having people out along the course cheering for you is the best!

I caught several runners during the second mile. Miles two through four have some rolling hills and since I don’t typically run well on hills, I always plan to conserve on the uphill portions and not expend any unnecessary energy. The hills are also part of the reason that I chose not to look at my watch during the race. I have a bad habit of looking down at my watch if I feel like my pace is fading. For some reason I need an external source to either confirm or deny my feelings (but that’s likely a discussion for another time and place :)).

The third mile is the hilliest of the race and you crest the biggest hill right as you pass the mile three marker. My time was 19:15, which would translate to right at or just under twenty minutes for the 5K. I knew that if I wanted my total time to be under forty minutes for the 10K, I had to keep working and couldn’t afford to let up at all. I focused on staying in my rhythm and not slowing down.

For the majority of the fourth mile, I was running with a pack or three or four guys, which was really nice. I typically find myself in no man’s land during races and it is always much better to have someone to work with. My mom and dad (and our other friends) were on the course again somewhere between mile 4 and 4.5 cheering and that gave me another little boost. I almost took my poor mother out on this turn (she was standing right in the tangent and I really wanted to yell at her to move, but I didn’t (ha)). After the race we had a good laugh about how I came over and gave her a hug during the last mile of the marathon and this time I just wanted to yell at her because she was in my way.

Once I passed them, I knew that I had a mile of flat-to-downhill running before the final climb. Bring on the downhill! At this point, I was only running with one other guy, but I was definitely thankful to still have someone with me. We flip-flopped back and forth a few times, but basically we just worked together for the entire rest of the race. He passed me (briefly) right around mile six. Until that point, I had basically conceded mentally and just assumed he was going to out kick me at the end of the race. Once it actually started to happen though, something switched in my brain and I decided to give it my best shot. It was a sprint to the finish and I barely edged him out!

I’m glad that I didn’t just throw in the towel and I’m glad that I had a little extra incentive to really make those last two tenths count. It was fun to check my splits afterwards since I hadn’t looked at my watch during the race. They were pretty consistent and make sense given the course. I need to trust myself more and rely on the Garmin less. My splits were 6:21, 6:21, 6:32, 6:25, 6:26, 6:20 and 5:47 for the last two tenths. As far as placement goes, I was first female and fourth overall.

Jessica and I ran two miles after the race to cool down, grabbed some coffee and came back in time for the awards. The race takes place during Arts & Crafts Festival, and each year the award is a print done by a local artist. We have them sprinkled throughout our house!

After the awards, I walked around the Arts & Crafts Festival for a little while with my mom and dad. We saw some really interesting pieces, like the saxophone pelican and the “crazy hair” guitar man.

All in all, it was a wonderful day. Spring Fever did not disappoint! I am thankful to have a wonderful group of friends and family who always support me, no matter if I am first place or last place. The time on the clock and placement in the results truly don’t matter, but sharing life with people who love you unconditionally … that’s what it’s all about.

Run happy friends!

I’ve got a race recap to share with you today!

We ran the McGuire’s St. Patrick’s Day Prediction 5K in Pensacola on Saturday. This was my second time running this race. There were over twelve thousand participants in the 5K, which is huge! I’m fairly certain that is the biggest 5K that I’ve ever run in. The winners crossed the finish line before the last runners even started. Madness!

The race is technically a prediction run, which means that each person guesses their finish time and person who finishes closest to the predicted time wins. You aren’t allowed to wear a watch and there aren’t any mile markers or clocks along the course. However, there is also a “speed” division and you can wear your watch if you are not competing for a prediction award. This little tidbit was lost on me the first time I ran this race and I ran watch-less when I didn’t really need to. Oh well.

There is also a team competition, which makes it really fun! We had a Warehouse Grinders co-ed team. The top five runners for each team count towards the results and the team with the lowest total time wins (very similar to cross-country scoring, but using your time instead of your place).

The race starts at 9 a.m. (which is a little bit later than most races, but is kind of nice when you have to drive about an hour to get there anyway). We left around 7 a.m. and our team carpooled over to Pensacola. We got a two-mile warm up in before the race. I would’ve liked to do three, but it was fairly warm and another mile likely wouldn’t have helped one bit. We almost missed the start as it was. We had to ease our way into the front of the corral a few minutes before the start.

It was crazy crowded in the corral (makes sense given that there were twelve thousand folks crammed in there). If you are competing in the speed division, you really need to be as close to the front as possible. If you aren’t, you waste a lot of time stuck behind and weaving around other people. I got a couple of rows back and started just behind some of my teammates.

Everyone takes off so fast! Way. too. fast. I immediately felt like I was going to be trampled. Of course, after the first quarter-mile, you’ve passed a lot of the folks that sprinted off of the starting line. Speaking of getting trampled though, there was a tiny little dog that somehow got caught up in between the barricades at the start of the race. He was bobbing and weaving around all of the runners. It’s amazing that no one tripped (that I know of at least).

After the first quarter-mile, I tried to settle into my goal pace range. I predicted 19:00 (not that I was competing in the prediction division, but you still have to predict a time regardless). I wanted to keep my pace between 6:05 and 6:15. As per usual, the first mile was a tad fast. I was really trying to hold back a little, but somehow I came through the first mile in 5:59. I thought I was in about fifth place or so for the females (it’s actually quite hard to tell exactly what place you are in a race that size though :)).

I steadily reigned in a few of the other girls during the second mile. It was nice to have some folks to chase! I still felt pretty decent at this point and was happy to be out there pushing myself. I came through the second mile in 6:09. Whew. I knew if I could hold on to that, I would have a very respectable finish.

Of course, it’s easier said than done to hang on during the last mile of a 5K, and sure enough, my pace started to fade. I had solidified my place as second female and while I could see the first place girl ahead of me, she was out of reach. The course also starts to feel *really* long during that last mile. You can see all of the runners strung out ahead of you and you see just how far you still have left to go. It is a challenge not to get complacent. My last mile was 6:26. I picked it up a tad for the last 0.1 and “sprinted” it in at 5:44 pace. My overall time was 19:11. Not too far off from what I expected! I’ll take it. It’s not my best and not my worst. That seems to be a theme these days.

Daniel had a great race and finished in 18:10! Our team did well too and we finished second in the co-ed division. Obviously we would’ve preferred to be first, but we had a great time and ran with our friends. There’s nothing better than that! We got in a 1 mile cool down after the race and stayed around at the post-race party for a little while. The race is more well-known for the after party than the actual race itself, I do believe. The people watching is quite spectacular!

Hey friends! I’m coming at you this evening with a quick recap of what I hope will be the first of many 10K recaps this month!

After the marathon in January, I decided to shift my focus more towards some shorter distance races (i.e., 5Ks and 10Ks) for the Spring “race season” if you will. I heard lots of wonderful things about the Wine 10K in Birmingham and decided that it might be fun to branch out and do a race in a different city.

I headed to Birmingham Friday afternoon, arrived in time to pick up my packet from Trak Shak and to meet my mom at our hotel. The timing worked out really well because she just had a birthday (which technically wasn’t supposed to be mentioned on the internets (hopefully she will forgive me)) and we were able to use the race as a good reason for belated birthday celebration trip as well. We’ve gotten pretty good at doing these quick weekend getaways!

By the time we got to the hotel, we were both very tired. We ordered room service and called it a day. I got a great night’s sleep and was ready to go the next morning. Well actually, I didn’t exactly jump out of bed the second my alarm went off or anything like that, but after a cup of coffee, I was happy and ready! Ha.

Going into the race, I didn’t really have a specific plan. I have been doing a lot of threshold workouts around 6:25 pace and so I was thinking that 6:15 to 6:20 pace should be a reasonable goal. I didn’t know much about the course beforehand. I looked at it on the map, but that didn’t really mean anything since I wasn’t familiar with the area.

The race started at 8 a.m. Saturday morning at Patriot Park. The course is a point to point route and ends at Lakeshore Park Plaza. The race was amazingly well-organized and everything ran very smoothly. It was really quite impressive.

I got to the start about 45 minutes before the race started and did a two mile warm up. I ran into a few people who I knew, but for the most part it was an entirely new field of runners. I had an “elite” bib (with a sub 40 qualifying time), which is cool, but also quite intimidating, especially when you start looking around at the other runners in the corral with you. It’s never a good idea to compare yourself to others, but it’s really hard not to play the comparison game before races. Everyone you see looks so stinking fast! In this race, everyone I saw actually was very stinking fast.

As soon as the gun went off (actually, they might have fired a cannon or a rocket of some sort (it was CRAZY loud)), I was immediately lagging behind everyone else that had started near me. I wanted to keep the pace honest and not start out too fast. I glanced down at my watch a few times and was seeing 6:10 or faster. I knew that wasn’t sustainable, so I just had to let the pack go on ahead. My first mile was 6:14.

The next two miles were a little bit tougher with a few rolling hills. For someone who trains on pancake flat terrain, hills are not my friend. I am very quick to say that I am not a strong hill runner. This race made me realize that it’s probably time that I did something about that and actually worked to get stronger on the hills. Sounds like a good goal. Right? Right. So anyway, miles two and three were 6:26 and 6:25.

Here’s the elevation chart for reference …

As you can kind of see from the map above, there is a nice little downhill stretch from mile three to four. I clocked a 6:02 on that mile. Whew! I wasn’t expecting to see a split like that, but I was happy with it for sure!

The last two miles of the race ran on the Lakeshore Trail, which I guess is also called the Homewood Shades Creek Greenway. It’s a paved trail that runs beside Shades Creek. The trail itself was very nice to run on, especially with a nice view of the creek. The only downside to this part of the course were the two places where you had to do essentially do a 180 degree turn to run up and over a little overpass. It’s tough to come to a basically a complete stop, run up and over anything and then continue on without messing up your rhythm. Miles five and six were 6:25 and 6:33.

I finished with a chip time of 39:34, which is 6:22 average pace. Not too far off of what I expected and given the hills, I’m definitely happy with it! I was 14th female and 44th overall. The top 50 finishers got a custom blue ribbon on their medals (which is actually a functional wine stopper) and the remaining top 100 finishers received a red ribbon on their meals. I liked the added touch of having an award for overall placement regardless of gender, age, etc.

I ran for team Cadence Coed and our team was very well represented! Lots of podium finishes and the team won the coed division, so that was cool.

The after party was very cool! There were mimosas, grilled cheese sandwiches and tons of other stuff. It was really just a beautiful day to be outside enjoying the fresh air. I ran into a several people who I knew, but it was so strange being at a race in a different city and not knowing the majority of the runners. You don’t realize how connected you are into your own little running community until you do a race somewhere else and it’s like, “Where are my people?” Everyone in Birmingham was super friendly and I’m excited to hopefully do a few more races up that way soon!

After the race, mom and I did a little bit of shopping. I really only wanted to go to Lululemon and Anthropologie. Those are probably two of my favorite stores ever and we don’t have access to them in Mobile (which is a definitely a good thing). I got a couple of basic tee shirts from Anthropologie and NOTHING from Lululemon. I didn’t see anything that I had to have. Pure craziness.

We had a very restful afternoon and went out to dinner Saturday night.

Sunday morning we slept in a little bit and went on a nice walk from the hotel. It was another beautiful day! We really couldn’t have asked for better weather. We walked a few miles and found some trails and some water. There is something so soothing about being by the water …

It was a wonderful trip and I’m so glad that mom and I got to spend some quality time together!

I’d like to call this race the ultimate dichotomy. It was not my day and it was my day. Confused? Read on …

I should probably start this recap at the start line of the race, but of course, I’d rather back up and start … somewhere else … perhaps at the beginning of the training cycle. If you’ve run a marathon, you know that there is so much more to a marathon than the race itself. This training cycle involved 5 friends (all training for the same race), 9 races, 35 workouts and 1,300 miles. Sharing the journey with friends made this one really special and I honestly think the camaraderie carried us to the finish line.

I started training for this race the first week in September. On paper, the training was a 9 week fundamental phase, a 9 week specific phase and a 1 week taper. In actuality, it probably looked more like a 9 week fundamental phase, a 5 week specific phase (culminating with pacing the Mississippi Gulf Coast Marathon) and then 5 weeks of chaos. I won’t rehash all of it, but basically I didn’t recover as quickly as I expected to from pacing the marathon, which caused me to miss a couple of key workouts and then I came down with a sickness that caused me to miss a couple of key weeks of training. No bueno.

I debated whether or not to even run the race and was |thisclose| to running the half instead of the full. In fact, I didn’t actually register until the week of the race (one of the many benefits of running a small, local race). Even when I did register, I knew that the chances of me running my “A” goal (< 3:00) were slim. I was oddly at peace with this. Somewhere along the way I realized that my time truly didn’t matter. Of course it feels great to set a goal and crush it, but it also feels great to run happy and without pressure. I went into the race with expectations of having a great day and enjoying myself. That is not to say I wasn’t prepared to work. I was prepared to fight. I knew the marathon would be tough regardless, but it was a challenge that I was ready to tackle.

The temperature was a little under 30* at the start. I wore two pairs of socks, shorts, a long-sleeve shirt, a singlet, gloves and a toboggan (not a sled :)), oh and my Goodr sunglasses (I love those things!). I feel like I was dressed very appropriately. Part of me really wanted to run in tights, but I’m glad that I didn’t. My legs were definitely numb for the majority of the race, but I’m fairly certain that this was, in fact, a good thing.

My plan was to ease into the pace over the first couple of miles, maintain a smooth, steady pace through mile 11, run based on effort from miles 11 to 20 (the hilly section of the race … theoretically, the effort level should’ve stayed the same during this time, but the pace would naturally slow up the hills and speed up slightly down the hills) and run it home one mile at a time.

Here is what that looked like based on my mile splits:
Easing into it: 7:24, 7:05
Smooth and steady: 6:56, 6:58, 6:58, 6:54, 6:52, 7:07, 7:08, 6:50, 6:59
Effort based: 7:28, 7:24, 7:12, 7:21, 6:56, 7:28, 7:28, 7:57, 7:33
One mile at a time: 7:32, 7:40, 7:46, 8:04, 8:14, 8:21

I started the race with Alex and Young Daniel. We all trained for the < 3:00 goal and we planned to start out together and see where the day took us. We ran the first 3 or 4 miles together, which was great! For < 3:00, you need to maintain 6:50 pace for the entire race. I knew fairly early on that 6:50 wasn’t going to happen. I just couldn’t settle into a smooth rhythm where 6:50 felt comfortable. The way I see it, if your goal pace doesn’t feel comfortable for the first 10 miles of a 26.2 mile race, it’s either going to be a really long day if you try to force it or you can reassess and settle on a more manageable goal.

I ran the first five miles of the race as part of the Grinder Gals relay team. This was my fifth year running as part of a relay team and so far we are five for five on winning our division. YAS! Having my team out there along the way was so nice! I got to see them every five miles (at 5, 10, 15 and 20) and they cheered for me and encouraged me every time. I handed the relay bracelet off to Lizzie at mile 5 and continued on my merry little way.

At this point, Alex and Young Daniel had pulled away, which was great. I knew that meant that they felt good. I saw Daniel briefly around mile 7 and I told him that I was going to reassess my goal. I didn’t really know what the reassessment was exactly, but I knew that < 3:00 wasn’t going to happen. I took a gel around mile 8. I grabbed a cup of water at the aid station and the water cup was probably 50% liquid and 50% ice. Brr!

Mile 9 was my best mile of the day. All of a sudden, I felt good! I really think it took me 9 miles to warm up. The funny thing is that the hills on the course start at mile 10 and so even though I felt good momentarily, I knew it was going to be brief. I started running based on effort (as planned) and I actually didn’t look at my watch for the remainder of the race. I knew I was doing what I could and the pace didn’t matter.

I saw Daniel again around the half way point of the race. I told him that I was good and that he should go on up and check on the other guys. He could ride up and check on Kenny and Cody, then make his way back to Alex, Young Daniel, me and Sasser. He was all over the place and took some great pictures in the process. He also deserves a special award because if we thought it was cold running, it was twice as cold on the bike. I’m pretty sure his hands were solid blocks of ice at the end of the race.

As I came through the relay exchange at mile 15, I gained an unexpected running buddy. Bowie paced Kenny for a few miles, but Kenny was crushing it and Bowie decided to drop back and run a few miles with me. I’m pretty sure my 7:20 (ish) miles felt much nicer than Kenny’s 6:20 (ish) miles at that point. Also at mile 15, my relay team caught up to me and Rebecca ran with us for a mile or so as well. You know how sometimes you are running a marathon and you are counting down every. single. mile. the entire way? I’ve been there many times, but yesterday … the miles just flew by (and it wasn’t because I was running fast by any means). I was just happy to be out there and to have friends supporting (and distracting) me.

Since Rebecca was running her leg of the relay, she went on ahead to make the handoff to Jessica. I took another gel around mile 17. At mile 18, things got real. We came to the toughest hill of the course (half a mile at 7.5% incline). If Bowie hadn’t been there, I’m fairly certain that I would’ve been walking. Somehow I made it up that dang thing and kept on trucking.

Before I knew it, we were already at the next relay exchange at mile 20. Rebecca had just run 5 hard miles and when we came through the exchange, Bowie peeled off and she jumped in to run with me. She yelled back to our team, “Come pick me up in a few miles!” and I jokingly chimed in with, “ME TOO!” I was so ready to be done with the race. If someone had offered me a ride to the finish, I would’ve gladly accepted. The only thing motivating me at this point was that I thought I was winning the race for the females. It gets kind of confusing out there with all of the relay teams, etc. and I never had a bike escort or anyone really confirming for sure that I was in first place, but I thought I was.

Rebecca ended up staying with me for five miles. I can’t thank her enough for that. I can’t say that I was great company at that point, but we’ve run together enough that words aren’t really necessary. Just having her there meant so much. At that point in the race, my focus really was to get through one mile at a time. Every mile got me closer to the finish line and that’s all I cared about. Time meant nothing. Finishing meant everything.

Around mile 24, a girl zoomed by me. She didn’t have a bib on her back (all relay runners are supposed to wear two bibs … one on the front and one on the back so that delirious marathoners can distinguish who is who in the final miles of the race). I looked over at Rebecca and was like, “Is she relay?” We thought she was, but we weren’t sure. There was a brief pause and then Rebecca just went ahead and shouted out to the girl, “Are you relay?!” She hollered back, “Yes!” Whew. Not that I could’ve done anything about it at that point, but it was really nice to know that I didn’t need to do anything about it. Ha.

At mile 25, Rebecca peeled off and I was left with just ONE MILE. Hallelujah! One mile seemed doable. As I came down the finishing stretch, I had to do a double take because there was someone who looked a whole lot like my mom standing on the side of the road. Of course with my delirium, it could’ve really been anyone, but no … it wasn’t just anyone … it was my mom! She drove 3 hours that morning (a marathon of her own) just to see me finish the race. Apparently, she had a “feeling” that I was going to win and a mother’s intuition is ALWAYS right.

After a brief hug, I crossed the finish line in 3:14:XX (official results aren’t posted yet) as first female! I was so happy! While this isn’t a marathon PR, it is a course PR by 9 minutes and it is the first time I have won the full marathon here. I made my way through the finishing chute and got my medal, a mylar blanket and lots of hugs from friends and family.

Shortly thereafter, I did a brief interview and I’m fairly certain this is the face I made when he asked me, “So, what’s next?” I’m pretty sure I answered with something very eloquent, along the lines of, “Oh geez. I have absolutely no idea.” Too soon man, too soon.

I stumbled over to the car to put on all. the. clothes. and then we made our way back over to catch the awards.

I have to brag on my training buddies for a minute … Kenny finished second overall with a 2:48, Cody finished third overall with a 2:49 (a PR!), Alex finished under 3:00 (a PR!), Young Daniel finished in 3:03 (a PR!) and Sasser finished in 3:20 (his first marathon and a BQ!). Our relay team finished first overall in the female open division with a time of 3:08! I’m so proud of every single one of us. Training and racing together was truly a wonderful experience!

A friend pointed out that my time of 3:14 was appropriate because of this verse. I love it so much. Thank you Stacy for pointing this out.

Perhaps it wasn’t just this race that was the ultimate dichotomy, perhaps it is the marathon itself. It simultaneously humbles you makes you feel like you can conquer the world.