For The Love of Hills 10K

The actual name of the race I ran this morning is "For The Love of It" 10K, but I'm going to assume the "it" refers to "a hilly course".

I knew what I was getting into with this race. This was my third time running this race, and 4th if you count the summertime version on the same course. Even though it's challenging, this course held my PR from 2017 to 2020, so it can be fast if you stay strong on the hills and take advantage on the declines.

In 2017 I ran a time of 41:51. In 2020 I ran a time of 43:43, just coming off an injury. My goal today was to set a course PR and ideally a distance PR (sub 41:17). 

Before the Race
The night before the race I had my traditional salmon with beets and pearled couscous. I slept horribly. I wasn't able to fall asleep until 10:15 and I woke up at 3:15. I was awake from 3:15-4:00, but then slept an additional 30 minutes from 4:00-4:30. That means I only got 5.5 hours of sleep. Lately I have been sleeping really well before races, but for some reason last night was an exception. 

I had a handful of almond butter filled pretzels two hours before race start. We left the house at 6:50 for an 8:00 start time. I already had my bib so I didn't need to worry about getting that. 

When we parked, I spotted my friend Kathy and we warmed up together. I made sure my shoes were tied tightly and that the loops were tucked under the other laces. These are the shoes I wore during the Houston Marathon and the laces had come untied during that race: the adidas Adios Pro 2. I still have not tried version 3 because I have plenty of mileage left on my version 2's. I warmed up for 2.2 miles, which included some strides. I had a caffeinated Maurten gel 10 minutes before race start. 

During the warm up, we noticed that the start line was in a different location than usual. We spoke to a race official at the start line who told us that the track was closed for construction so the race couldn't finish on the track as it usually does. So they moved the start back to correct for this. 

I immediately wondered if that meant the course distance would be wrong. After having run a 7.34 10K in December and a 3.24 5K in January, I was hungry for an accurately measured course! Eyeballing the new start line location, it didn't look far enough away from the original start line location to compensate for not running the track portion at the end. Plus, the track portion is the fastest part and that's definitely NOT the part you want removed from this hilly course. I tried not to think about it too much but at least now I was prepared for an inaccurate distance and not having that super-fast track finish.

After the warm up, I found Greg and handed him my jacket. It was cold but I knew that once I started racing I would be appropriately dressed. It was 30 degrees, sunny, and almost no wind. Thus, it receives a 10 out of 10 on my race weather scale. PERFECT! I wore my favorite CW-X capri tights, a short-sleeved t-shirt, arm sleeves, mittens and sunglasses. 

Miles 1-2
I was familiar with the course profile, but once the race started all I could remember was that mile 3 was fast/downhill and mile 5 was hard/uphill. I had forgotten what the first two miles were. I didn't look at my Garmin all that much, I ran by effort. During these miles I was running behind a pack of 5 men. My goal would be to pick them off one at a time. I quickly established my position as the third female.

Because this course is constantly rolling hills, I didn't remember if miles 1-2 were net uphill or downhill. My splits were 6:44 and 6:43 so I was hoping there were net uphill. These splits were discouraging because I was hoping to average 6:35 or faster and I wasn't sure if I would be able to speed up all that much in future miles. I shifted my mindset from "get a PR" to "just run hard". 

Miles 3-4
Now it was time to start picking off the men and hopefully running faster. I saw my friend Cheryl taking photos which was a pleasant surprise. She hadn't told me she was coming! That was definitely a bright spot in these miles. I wasn't looking at my watch so I wasn't sure how fast I was going, I just tried my best to put forth max effort. 

In doing so, I made my loud grunting/screaming noises. These are somewhat embarrassing, but it's just what happens when I go really hard. As I was passing one of the guys I said "sorry I am so loud!" He replied with "it's really motivating me to push harder, so thank you for that!" Wow- who knew my sighs of pain could be motivating?

I passed about three men during these miles, which helped restore my confidence. My splits were 6:27 and 6:20 for these miles. I was definitely taking advantage of the elevation loss. I think I had expected mile 4 to be uphill, so running a 6:20 was a welcome surprise!

Miles 5-6
I was in the home stretch. I felt like I was slowing down so much. Everything hurt and my energy level had fallen. I definitely didn't look at my watch because I felt like I had slowed WAY down. But I think I always feel this way during mile 5. Mile 5 is the hardest mile of the course and it's soul-sucking for sure! One of the guys was within earshot of me behind me and I was motivated to not let him pass me. I could hear his steps and his breathing. 

I saw Greg and Cheryl during mile 6 but it was hard to muster a smile for them. I was running out of gas. Mile 6 seemed to last forever. Because of the course change, there wasn't as much downhill during this mile as there had been in previous years, so I didn't get the "relief" I had been looking forward to. 

Mile 5 clocked in at 6:46 and mile 6 at 6:38.

The Finish
I gunned it really hard at the end. I guess I had more in me than I realized because I got a sudden burst of energy as I approached the finish line. I could not believe my eyes as I approached the clock: 40:xx! I would be under 41!!!

My official time was 40:31. I was the 3rd female finisher and the 11th overall finisher. In my wildest dreams I could not have imagined a time of 40:31! That's two 5Ks in a row of 20:15 and 20:15! 

But my disbelief was validated when I saw that my Garmin distance was a mere 6.15 miles, not 6.21. Shoot! 

I wasn't sure whether to be happy about my PR or frustrated that it wasn't a real PR. I was 46 seconds faster than my PR, so I have to believe that if the course was extended by 0.05 mile it would still be a PR and still under 41:00. In fact, my goal time was 40:55, which would have lined up perfectly with a slightly longer course.

The man who I had passed during the race came up to me afterwards and thanked me for my motivating painful groans! He said that when I was making those noises, it made him realize he had more effort to give and so he pushed harder. Contrast this to a 5K I ran a few years ago when a man approached me afterwards to tell me that my noises distracted him and made him pull a calf muscle! I always considered my noises annoying, and they probably are to most, but they don't cause calf strains. And at best they do demonstrate an extreme amount of exertion! 

I re-united with Greg, Cheryl and Kathy after the race and we chatted for awhile before the awards started. Overall it was a great morning!

Final Thoughts and Key Takeaways
With my last three races having slightly-off (or majorly off) distances, it has re-affirmed my belief in the PERSONAL Record. This is not the olympics. I am not a professional runner. My personal records are whatever I know to be my best performances.

I often use the example of the Boston Marathon 2018 in the wind/rain/hills (3:26) vs my PR in perfect weather on a flat course (3:15). Clearly my time should be faster on the flat course in perfect weather. But I see my Boston Marathon performance as superior. The crazy conditions (with many elites dropping out) and the challenging course required much more discipline with pacing, physical fitness, and mental strength.

Even though I would be hard pressed to consider myself a 40:31 10K runner, I definitely see myself as a sub-41:00 10K runner and that is still a PR. 

In 2020, I ran this race in a time of 43:43 coming off an injury. I then proceeded to run a time of 1:31:56 at the Newport News One City Half Marathon (four weeks later). I am running One City again this year, so I believe myself to be on track for my sub 1:30:00 goal, provided the weather conditions are favorable.

Other stats and notes:

• According to Strava, I ran a 20:07 5K in the middle of this race. Probably miles 2, 3, and 4. 
• Comparing this race to my 2017 course PR, every mile was faster!
• I think my recent increase in fitness can be somewhat credited to my Achilles tendinitis/bursitis being mostly cured. It has resulted in more ankle mobility so I can stride longer.
• My Illiacus muscle (lower abdomen, above groin, near hip) has been painful/spasming lately and it was silent during the race but I felt it tighten up afterwards. I'm going to PT regularly to keep this in check.
• In January I bought a new grand piano and I spent more hours playing the piano than running last month. You can see me play the piano on my YouTube channel. 

Up next is the One City half marathon in four week. I need my illiacus muscle to stay calm, good weather, and no illness! If all of those things happen I could potentially run a sub 1:30. 

Thanks for the photo, Cheryl

Going the Extra Mile

"Going the extra mile" is one of the most popular running cliches/puns out there. Never has it been so applicable to my running career as it was during yesterday's 10K. 

Background
I registered for the Jingle All The Way 15K a few months ago which was scheduled to occur today, Sunday. But as the race drew closer, the weather started looking miserable. Rain, wind, humidity, and warm temps. That's just not fun for me. So on Wednesday I made the decision to pivot and run the Ringing In Hope 10K which was scheduled for Saturday. The Saturday race was forecast to have perfect weather.

I love racing in December. There are so many festive races to choose from and the cold weather suits me. I didn't do too much to prepare for this race. The Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving served as a good workout and a way to "wake up" my legs after the marathon. Aside from that, I did one track workout which was a down ladder of 2000m, 1600m, 1200m, 800m, 400m - all with 400m recovery jogs. I ran that workout about halfway between the Thanksgiving 5K and yesterday's race.

Before the Race
I decided to try my adidas Adios Pro shoes again. I had abandoned them for the marathon because they felt too big. But with thicker socks for the cooler weather, they worked.

I went back and forth on my outfit a few times, but eventually settled on CW-X capri tights instead of shorts. I feel like compression tights give me a boost of speed so if it's cool enough for them, I wear them.

It was 34 degrees and mostly sunny, rising to about 37 by the end of the race. No wind. Hence we have a 10/10 on my personal race weather scale. I could not have asked for more favorable conditions. 

I arrived at the race 45 minutes before start time, got my bib and went to the bathroom. The race started and finished at a church, and that church was open for the race participants. It was a nice perk to have a warm prep area with real bathrooms!

Before I started my warm up, Greg and I tried to figure out where he would stand to take photos. We quickly looked at a course map and determined a spot that we thought would work. The only reason we had a course map is because my friend Cheryl had run this race last year and shared her Strava data with me. There was no course map on the website. [Edited to add: There are 5K and 10K course maps on the website but the links are not obvious. I am just seeing the maps today and did not see them prior to the race.]

Another thing to note about the map and Greg's position: this race also has a 5K. The finish line is the same for both races. We didn't want him too close to the finish line because I would be weaving through 5K runners at that point. So we also looked at the 5K course to see where they split apart and met up. The 5K course consisted of two out-and-backs in two directions. The 10K course was a large loop. They were only the same at the very beginning and end.

As I said above, I could not find either map on the race website. I had to search for Strava data from last year's runners to locate the 5K map. The 10K started at 9:00am and the 5K started at 9:10. This meant I would be finishing with 5K runners who ran around 30-35 minutes. I wouldn't have to do too much weaving because the courses joined up about 0.2 mile before the finish.

I warmed up for just over 10 minutes and took my Maurten caffeinated gel 5 minutes before race start. I didn't think I was in PR shape but I thought I was in pretty good shape. I decided to target a pace of 6:40 which would be about 30 seconds slower than my PR and I thought that might even be a bit aggressive. But I also decided NOT to look at the Garmin to pace this one. I just like having a neighborhood pace in mind.

Shortly after the start

Miles 1-2
The race started and it wasn't long before I saw Greg snapping photos and videos. He was standing at an intersection where I thought we would be turning left according to the course map. But as I said, I wasn't 100% sure I was aligning the map to reality when looking at it. So when we turned right I was surprised but I didn't think it was wrong. 

It was wrong. We were, in fact, supposed to go left as I originally thought! Nobody realized this until we all found ourselves in a parking lot. There was major confusion. A police officer was there and he didn't know what to tell us - he was not a course marshal. Eventually we realized that we ran the 5K course and had reached the first 5K turn around. We were over half a mile into it at that point. (I later found out that the was actually the second half of the 5K).

The leaders turned around and started running toward the rest of us, so we all turned around. At one point I just stopped and looked around, trying to figure out what was going on. The urge to stop my Garmin was strong, but I did not!

As we were all turning around, we were bunched together tighter than we had been previously, so I found myself running in a pack of 5 women. We were chatting about the situation and realizing that we had run the 5K course. Our attitude was positive and we started making jokes about the situation. I said I was going to stop my Garmin at 6.2 and walk it in! (Just kidding of course). And then we realized we wouldn't really know how long the course would be. 

I saw Greg (again!). I was only supposed to see him twice, but this course mishap meant a bonus sighting of my husband. Silver linings abound!

The amazing thing about this situation was that a pack of 5 women were running together at a relatively small, local 10K. All at a 6:30 pace. I was enjoying the company and not looking at my watch, so when it finally did beep for mile 2, I was shocked to see a 6:24 mile split. I think the pace was probably too fast for all but 1 of us but we kept going with it because it was so fun to be racing in a pack

Miles 3-4
I have run over 200 races of varying sizes and never once have I "raced" in pack of women like this. I should mention that none of us would win the race. The winner would be Perry Shoemaker, an Olympic

Marathon qualifier and holder of all sorts of records at the age of 50+. She was WAY out ahead, but we were all contenders for 2nd, 3rd, and so on. 

It was an entirely different racing experience. The camaraderie and the ability to feed off of each other's energy was amazing. And the fact that we were all sharing this odd experience of a super long 10K made it all the better. We took turns uttering short sentences to keep the vibe strong. 

My Garmin beeped for mile 3 (6:36 pace) and shortly after that the pack begin to spread apart. We went from 5 runners down to 4 down to 3.  We stayed a pack of three for a while longer and then one of the ladies pulled ahead. So then it was me and one other runner. The other runner (Lauren) told me to go with the woman who broke away, but I could not. Shortly after I pulled slightly ahead of Lauren and it seemed like the places might be solidified.

But none of us really knew what we were getting into. What would mile 7 of a 10K feel like? It was anyone's race. Except for Perry - there was no doubt she would win!

Mile 4 clocked in at 6:34. I wasn't keeping track of my pacing and as I type this, I am now realizing that miles 2, 3, and 4 were 6:24, 6:36, and 6:34. That's a FAST 5K right there. As for mile 1 - my data says 6:53 but that includes standing around trying to figure out what was happening.

Miles 5-6
I should note that the course had no mile markers. No course marshals. No directional signage. At one point a car pulled out right in front of me and I had to slow down for it. I have run the Ringing In Hope races many times in the past and the organization has always been excellent. I do not know what happened yesterday but it was certainly well below the standard I expected from them. 

I reasoned that mile 5 was the mile 4 I had studied in the course elevation profile. Which meant it was time for a big long hill. Mile 5 sucked the soul out of me! It had me seriously questioning my life choices. After running a sub 20:30 5K I was now expected to run three more miles, the first of which was a huge hill. Why did I do this to myself!?

The only thing that motivated me was reminding myself that I was not a quitter and the fact that I was in 3rd place. I guess those are pretty strong motivators, as they worked. But at the time it was very hard to stay in it! I still had the 2nd place runner in my sight. The gap between her and me stayed pretty much the same throughout mile 5. My split was 6:55 which was pretty miraculous because I felt like I was slugging by at an 8:00 pace.

Mile 5 or 6, waving to Cheryl.

Mile 6 was a similar story. There was not much respite from the hills, although I knew from the elevation profile that the worst was behind me. It hurt so much. It would have been easy to fall into the thought pattern of resentment. Resenting that this would not be the final mile. That my 10K was derailed by course mis-management. But none of those thoughts popped into my mind. I acknowledged the pain. Embraced the suck. I didn't look at my watch. I stayed focused on the woman ahead of me and reminded myself that the woman behind me could be very close. 

My friend Cheryl was cheering for me and taking photos at some point during this stretch. It was a huge pick-me-up right when I needed it. I was so happy to see her! 

Mile 6 was 6:52. Another surprise because I felt like I had faded to something in the high 7:00's!

Mile 7 and final 0.34:
At this point, I was truly going "the extra mile". Never had that phrase resonated with me so much! Thankfully it was a net downhill and I knew the end HAD to be near. I just wasn't sure how near. In my head I kept wondering when that turn would come. Would this be 7 miles? 7.5 miles? 8 miles? Who knew!? And with no mile markers, the course wasn't giving any hints. 

At this point I did feel like I could have pushed harder. I knew it in the moment, but I had no motivation to go deeper into the pain cave. 

Finally I saw Greg and I knew the finish line was in my reach. Mile 7 was 6:38 and the final 0.34 was a pace of 6:31. I maintained my third place position but the 4th woman was not far behind! Interestingly, the only time I saw a male during this race was during the first mile mix-up. I was either running with the women or running solo for the rest of the race.

After the Race
Our pack of women reunited and instantly started talking about all-things running. Neither of us knew each other but we all lived locally and we were all similarly matched. At least yesterday we were!

I also had the opportunity to talk with Perry, the Olympic trials qualifier and 1st female finisher. Interestingly, she had also been registered for the 15K on Sunday, but switched to this 10K for similar reasons. I had always known about her but had never chatted with her, so it was really amazing to get to know her a bit!

The theme of this race was definitely bonding with other female runners. And honestly that FAR overshadowed the fact that the distance was totally messed up. If anything, the messed up distance was a blessing in disguise because it allowed me throw caution to the wind and run with a fast pack of ladies and embrace the experience. I had been planning on a 15K originally, so I got more bang for my buck with this race! In kilometers, this race was 11.8K.

Final Thoughts and Key Takeaways
As I said above, the local women's running community was the real focus yesterday. From my conversation with Perry to the pack of 5 women to Cheryl taking photos of me in the middle of the race. We all support each other and have a shared love of sport. I'm so grateful to be a part of this. I've found "my place" so to speak and it's exactly where I belong.

Other takeaways and stats:

• My official time was 49:08, which is an average pace of 6:41
• My Garmin logged 7.34 miles or 11.8K
• According to the Jack Daniels VDOT calculator, the 10K equivalent is 41:12, which would have been a small PR for me, despite not believing myself to be in PR shape
• Strava says I ran a 20:17 5K during the race, which is over 10 seconds faster than my Turkey Trot
• My award for 3rd place was a free two-topping Domino's pizza, available for carry-out only
• I am considering this a PR and having PR cake
• Not only is it a PR because it's a new distance, but it also does equate to a 10K PR
• I do not feel robbed of a 10K PR, but I am motivated to go run another one soon
• The course mishap makes for a much more interesting blog post
• I'm not sure how the lead runner was expected to know which way to turn. With no lead biker and no course marshal, there was no way for him to know. Everyone else simply followed him.

For the past two months I have been of the mindset that I am not in the best shape of my life. Today's race proves that wrong. I am in the best shape of my life. And I believe I could have run a faster final mile if I had more motivation. I truly did go "the extra mile" yesterday and I love that I encountered a new challenge and made new friends while doing so.

Running for PR Pie

Yesterday morning, I ran the Ashburn Farm Turkey Trot 10K. This race offers both a 5K and a 10K and back in 2019 I ran the 5K. Prior to 2019, I had run the Virginia Run Turkey Trot 5K every year since 2006, but they decided to discontinue the race in 2019 due to lack of volunteers. So, this was my first ever Turkey Trot 10K, as I had always run 5 in years past.

I chose the 10K this year because I felt like my endurance was strong from the marathon training, but my speed was lacking. Even though I had never run a turkey trot 10K before, I had run this course in 2016 as a New Year's eve race. In 2016, I had set a huge PR by running a time of 42:09. So I knew it was a fast course. 

The first mile of the course contains a long hill with 70 feet of elevation gain. And then miles 2-5 are gently rolling. The final mile of the course is downhill by 70 feet. The 5K version of the course is similar with mile 1 being up hill, 2 being rolling, and 3 being downhill. I looked at my Strava data from 2016 to remind myself of the elevation profile and analyze my pacing. 

Mindset and Goals
When I ran the marathon a few weeks ago, I was happy with my performance, but I felt like I could have pushed harder during the gravel sections. Those six miles on gravel were my slowest and it was because I was trying to "just get through them" rather than fight hard to maintain my pace. I felt like I could have run 1-2 minutes faster if I had pushed harder and had a different mindset. 

So with this Turkey Trot, my primary goal was to push as hard as I possibly could. To never "just hang in there" and to have the confidence to make it hurt more when it already hurt. In nearly every race I run I always have the desire to stop. But I decided that I would immediately combat any negative thoughts and seek out the suffering that comes with racing at max effort. Embrace the sufferings as what I needed to be feeling.

If I did this, I thought I could set a new PR. My current PR was 41:33, set in December of 2020 on a flat course in perfect weather. I did not believe myself to be in "PR shape" and I had not run any workouts since the marathon nearly three weeks prior. And I had no idea if I was fully recovered from the marathon. But, I had nothing to lose, so why not go for it?

Since I believed myself to NOT be in PR shape (and I still believe I was fitter back in December 2020) I thought that simply pushing harder could yield a faster time. Yes, I pushed very hard when I ran the 41:33. But what if I ran even harder, always asking myself to give more? 

Before the Race
The night before the race I had pasta with chicken, spinach and sun-dried tomatoes in an olive oil sauce. It's a pretty typical meal for Greg and me before our long runs. Speaking of Greg, he decided to sit this one out. He is running a marathon on December 4, and he thought the turkey trot would take too much out of him. So I had a cheerleader and photographer. 

I went back to my December 2020 race report to read up on how I fueled so I could do the exact same thing. An English muffin with almond butter 2.5 hours pre-race, and half a serving of the Maurten Drink Mix 160. And then 15 minutes before race start (during my warm up) a Maurten caffeinated gel. 

I had picked up my bib the day before so once we arrived, all I had to do was warm up and use the porta potty. Logistics were super easy and we parked literally 0.1 mile from the start line. I warmed up for just over 2 miles and did some drills and strides. 

The weather gets a 10 out of 10 on my race weather scale. Turkey trots almost always deliver favorable conditions. It was 32 at the start, rising to 35 at the finish. Winds at 1-2 mph, and about 70% cloud cover. This is my absolute favorite weather for racing!

The 10K runners started at 8:15 and the 5K runners started at 8:25. This meant that if I ran a 40-minute 10K, I would be finishing with people running a 30-minute 5K. Which is a very popular time! I knew to expect crowding during the final mile when we joined back up with the 5K. I knew I would be plowing through them all so I hoped that would go smoothly!

Mile 1, up hill

Miles 1-2
The race started and the big 70-foot hill awaited! In 2016 I had run the first mile in 7:00, so I was aiming to run it in the low 6:50s and then have all subsequent miles be much faster. The nice thing about this hill is that it's not super steep, it's just long. So it doesn't kill your legs; you just need to be patient and accept a slow first mile. My split ended up being 6:47, a little faster than planned. Instead of worrying that I had gone out too fast, I told myself that this was good, and I would continue to hold a high bar for myself.

The second mile was gently rolling and I was able to settle into a groove. There were two women who were both far ahead of me and I was third. I was running with a group of guys but over the course of the second mile I passed many of them. My split was 6:41, which was faster than planned.

Miles 3-4
Since both of my first miles were a good 5 seconds faster than planned, I did not allow myself to ease up for the third. Nope. I had set a high bar and I would continue to get faster and faster. I wanted my third mile to be 6:40 or faster and I was going to make it happen no matter what. And I did. I ran a 6:40.

You know what I didn't really think about? Was how the race felt. Which is a first, I think! Usually it's impossible for me to ignore how much discomfort I am in and I get scared that I will not be able to make it to the finish line. That's when the "just hang in there" mentality comes in. Usually my mindset is as follows. This hurts. I want to stop. But I never stop in the middle of races. Come on, just hang in there. 

I finally noticed I was getting really uncomfortable in the 4th mile but then I pushed that thought out of my head and replaced it with "push hard!" I focused on my form. Using my arms to power up the gently rolling hills. Not looking at my Garmin on the up hills because 100% of my focus was the climb. Getting to the top of the hill and knowing I would get some relief, but that I needed to still push. Mile 4 was 6:35.

Miles 5-6
This was it. These miles would determine if a PR would happen. I knew it was on the line. I knew how badly I wanted it. I knew that this pain would last for less than 15 minutes but I would have all day to bask in PR glory. I remembered the feeling of regret for not pushing harder on the gravel of my marathon and I vowed that would not happen today. Negative thoughts, not today! Just hanging in there, not today! Today was the day for pushing hard and it was what I had been mentally preparing for all week. Mile 5 was 6:40, which meant a PR would be possible if I ran my absolute hardest for the last 1.2.

Final kick to the finish

All I had was downhill left. And not a steep downhill that killed the quads, but a long gradual downhill to the finish as a final reward. (This is a really fast course!) So I kicked it into high gear and I gunned it. I joined up with the 5K runners, and there were plenty of them, but thankfully I was able to run on the outside of the pack and there were only a few close calls of running into people. Throughout this mile I ran like my life depended on it and just totally emptied the tank. My split was 6:19 and the final 0.25 on my Garmin was a pace of 5:59. A quarter of a mile at a 5:59 pace after running six very hard miles. WOW!

The Finish
I crossed the finish line and immediately went for the finish line shoot barrier to lean on as I hunched over. I was incoherent for a few minutes and I felt like I might pass out. I was pretty sure I wouldn't - it was jut the shock of the sudden stop after running my guts out for over 40 minutes. 

I stopped my Garmin and didn't look down at it immediately. Did I PR!? I had no idea! I had lost all track of math during the last two miles so I wasn't even sure how fast I needed to run, but I told myself it was possible regardless. 

And yes, I did PR with an official time of 41:17. This is 16 seconds faster than the 41:33 from last December! Not huge, but not small either! A healthy amount of PRing! I actually thought that if I was going to PR, it would probably be by only a few seconds and I would be lucky to run 41:2x. After all, I believed that I was not in as good of shape as last December, so a PR should not have been possible. 

After getting out of the finish line chute, I vomited, I guess I am doing this at short races now. It used to just be half marathons and full marathons. There's just no avoiding it and I think it has more to do with my gag reflex than my digestive system. Because even if nothing comes up, I still dry heave. 

I felt sooooo wrecked. I didn't even attempt a cool down. I seriously gave that race every ounce of what I had and I do not think I could have squeezed a single second more out of it. This tops the list as one of my mentally strongest races ever, with zero negative thoughts, 100% confidence and the desire to continue to push harder with every single step.

Top 3 ladies!

I was the 3rd female out of 140, winning a cash prize of $100. I placed 19 overall out of 320. The first and second place females ran 35:55 and 39:12. I also won a plaque that I can put with my 2nd place plaque from the 2019 5K.  After collecting my award, Greg and I drove home and enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving at my sister's house. 

Greg and I will be making PR Pie later today, and we are still deciding on the type. I feel like with a Turkey Trot, it's more appropriate to have pie than cake. Other times it would be appropriate is if the Garmin measured 3.14 miles in a 5K or if I ever run a 3:14:15 marathon. 

Final Thoughts and Key Takeaways
The biggest takeaway for me is that you don't have to be in PR shape to set a PR. Even if your previous PR was set on a pancake flat course in perfect weather. Don't get me wrong - I am definitely "fit" right now. All that marathon training has paid off. But this PR would not have happened if I didn't mentally prepare myself to have an "always push harder" mindset. It definitely goes to show how much of a factor the mind truly is when racing. 

Now, if a PR is truly not on the line because of weather or a tough course or me not being in the best shape, will I still have this same attitude? I'd like to, but wow- did that HURT! Greg has said on several occasions "I had no business running that race as fast as I did; it probably wasn't medically advisable." I know what he means now. 

Other final thoughts and stats:

• Average cadence was 197.
• I paid close attention to running the tangents and my Garmin distance was 6.25, which is pretty good, and better than the 6.28 from the 2016 race. 
• I ran the first 5K in 21:00 and the second in 20:17
• I think the fueling strategy worked, as I was energized throughout the entire race.
• I can't believe I am still setting lifetime personal bests at the age of 43
• I was so thankful to have Greg there cheering for me and taking photos!
• I was thankful that Turkey Trots have returned. I missed running one last year. 

This time of 41:17 predicts a 5K time of 19:53 according to the McMillan calculator. So I think that will be my next goal before I start training for Boston. 

Christmas Caper 10K: Happy all the way!

This morning I ran the real, live Christmas Caper 10K in Washington, DC. This was the same course as my 5K from November, only doubled. It's a no-frills race series. No chip timing, no shirt. Just a race on a fast course with fast runners. 

I had run this race before, 12 years ago in 2008! I had to consult my race history in my blog to find the report and sure enough, I have a report from the 2008 race. In 2008, I ran 10 miles with hills two days before the race, 5 miles the day before the race, and then stayed up past midnight the night before the race at a holiday party. And then I was upset that I didn't PR. Hahaha! Back then I thought I was invincible and should be able to PR in any circumstances. My time was a "disappointing" 49:36. And then I ran 17 miles the following day. (Insert facepalm emoji here).

Race Approach
This year, my goal was to PR. The conditions were perfect (I give them a 10/10 on my race weather scale) and I was in outstanding shape. My 10K PR was my longest standing PR from 2017 at 41:51. I really had no idea how I ran that fast because that course was insanely hilly. And ever since that 2017 race I thought, "If I get good weather and an easier course, a PR should be no problem".  I had run six 10k races since setting that 41:51 PR, and none of the six were faster. Four of them were humid, one of them was coming off an injury, and one was on a track.

Even if I hadn't been in the best shape ever, a flat course with perfect conditions meant a shot at a PR. I told my coach I wanted to PR and his response was "yeah, let's just do it" as if it was no problem! I liked having the mindset that it was really a matter of getting it done. I had the fitness and the conditions, all I needed to do was to execute. 

Fueling Strategy
If you have been following my blog you know that I have been experimenting with different fueling strategies since my digestive nightmare at the Harrisburg Marathon in November. I am using Maurten products, and for a 10k, their website recommended having their Drink Mix 160 three hours prior to a 10k, and then a caffeinated gel 30 minutes before race start.

I had only tried the Drink Mix once before on a training run, so I decided that instead of drinking the entire serving (500ml) I would drink about half. And instead of my normal English Muffin with peanut butter, I would have half an English muffin with Almond butter. To summarize:

• Almost half of the Maurten Drink Mix 160 packet three hours before race start
• Half of an English muffin + almond butter 2.5 hours before race start
• One caffeinated Maurten gel 30 minutes before race start

This worked really well and I had no digestive issues before, during, or after the race. 

Before the Race

Greg and I left the house at around 6:30 for a race start of 8:00. He ran the 5k, which started at 7:50. We arrived at the race, got our bibs, and used a wonderfully warm indoor bathroom at the nearby golf course. It was 28 degrees, so I decided I would warm up for a little longer than usual. 

I wanted to dress festively but also appropriately for the weather. I wore green capri tights, a red short-sleeve shirt and arm warmers. I find that a short-sleeved shirt plus arm warmers is better than long sleeves for racing because it lets some air into the core. When I ran the Indianpolis Half Marathon last

Photo by Cheryl Young

year, it was 28 degrees, overcast and windy. I wore a long-sleeved shirt, and I regretted it.

Some people wear shorts in this weather. I find that tights do not slow me down or weigh me down, and my legs don't overheat. And if my legs are too cold, they won't move as quickly. So I will race in capris if it's 35 degrees or cooler. I overheat in my face and chest area, so wearing a lightweight short-sleeved shirt was perfect, with the arm sleeves keeping my arms warm. I wore convertible mittens with hand warmers inside of them.

I wore my new adidas Adios Pro shoes that I wore in the Marathon. I really wanted to wear my green Nike Vaporfly Next% because they matched the outfit so perfectly, but those shoes simply don't work as well for me as the adidas.

After putting on my bib and using the bathroom, I warmed up for 3 miles. I paused to watch Greg start his 5k. He looked strong! I made sure to include strides and faster running in my warm up. At 28 degrees, it can be difficult to get moving and I wanted my legs nice and warm starting at mile 1.

After the warmup I lined up at the start line in my mask. The 10K race had only 15 runners total! Very small. Of those 15 runners, 5 were female. I did not know this at the time, I only know because I looked at the race results afterwards. There was no chip timing so I wanted to line up close to the starting line. However there were other serious-looking runners up there and I didn't want to crowd them (social distancing and all).  So I lined up about 10 feet back. 

Miles 1-2
As the race started, three women were ahead of me. One of them was Cristina, a long-time friend and fellow blogger. So I started out in 4th place. For a race with 15 total runners, that's quite the competitive field!

I eased into my pace during the first mile and focused on Cristina. She's a great pace setter and even though I knew she would be faster than me (the goal wasn't to keep up with her) I knew her start would be strong and controlled. As I said earlier, I knew that all I had to do to PR was execute and stay mentally strong. I had the fitness. This race would be all about my mindset.

I focused on finding a rhythm and establishing a flow. During the first mile, I saw Greg running on the opposite side of the course in the final stretch of his 5k. I could tell he was working hard and that motivated me to increase my effort level. I also saw my friend Cheryl in the 5k, which was a nice pick-me-up.

Mile 1: 6:45
Mile 2: 6:37

Miles 3-4
In terms of pacing, I knew I needed to average 6:40 to PR. But I didn't want to just PR, I wanted to run my fastest race possible. So I reminded myself that the Garmin was for informational purposes only, and I shouldn't slow down if I saw a pace that I thought was beyond my ability. Miles 3 and 4 were the hardest, and I think this is true of any 10K. By the time you reach the 3rd mile, you are already tired and

Just before the turnaround

 you have been running hard for awhile. And yet you still have over half the race to complete. So it can 
be really discouraging.

We turned around near the start line and ran the entire course again to create the 10k distance. I saw Greg at the turnaround and he cheered for me and snapped some photos. The course was fast and flat, but there were 3 momentum-stealing hairpin turns. I personally think I need to work on my hairpin turn and I am not great at executing it. Partially because I am a cautious runner and I am afraid of falling or hurting myself if I do a movement that isn't straight forward. 

After I turned around it was time to run the entire course again. That thought was exhausting and intimidating so I started to break the race down into more manageable chunks. I knew this race would be all mental so I played little games of creating small goals. Usually that goal would be "stay strong until you reach that point up there on the road" or "run really hard until your watch beeps for the next mile." This was a good way of distracting myself so I didn't think about having to run that entire course again. 

Mile 3: 6:35
Mile 4: 6:40

Miles 5-Finish
That 6:40 mile was slower than the previous two but I was not discouraged by it. There was a slight headwind during that mile and once I got out of it I was able to pick up the pace a little. With just two miles to go I knew I was on track for a PR and so I needed to stay as strong as possible. I was

Approaching the finish line

successfully able to battle any negative thought just as soon as it arose. And most of the time I was too busy with positive, happy thoughts, that there was significantly less negativity to battle. I just had to constantly focus on pushing and staying positive.

As for my competition, the three women stayed ahead of me for the entire race. Cristina remained in my line of vision for most of the race. I didn't expect to catch her, but it was still nice to have the competition and be reminded that this was a race and not a training run. 

With just 1 mile to go I started getting really giddy and excited inside. I thought about the PR cake and I wondered if Greg had also PR'ed. I kept telling myself that if I gave up now, there would be no PR cake! The closer I got to the finish, the more excited I became. And the race was still hurting a lot. I am not a religious person but I somehow found myself praying to God to help me get to the finish. I sprinted it in while Cheryl and Greg cheered me on.

Mile 5: 6:35

Mile 6: 6:34

The last 0.28: 6:10 pace

After the Race
I stopped my Garmin at 41:33, which is a PR by 18 seconds! Of course, my Garmin measured 6.28 miles (as did other people's Garmins) so my official pace will not match my Garmin average pace of 6:36.  But wow, a 6:36 pace for a 10k?! That is way faster than I could have imagined!

I was so happy to finally break that PR. In a real, live race! I was the 4th overall female, but interestingly enough, there were only 5 women total. It's crazy that with a time of 41:33, I was the second-to-last place female. This just shows that placement is all about who shows up and it's never really in your control. 

Greg was very close to his 5k PR of 19:24. He missed it by a few seconds. 

We briefly chatted with Cristina and Cheryl and then ran a short cool down. Afterwards, we drove straight home and I got in my epsom salt bath. One of the best things about running in really cold weather is that the bath afterwards feels amazing. 

Cheryl and me after the race

Final Thoughts and Key Takeaways
I was so excited to PR. . . have I mentioned that yet?  I hadn't set any PRs in 2020 that weren't virtual. And while I do count virtual PRs and real PRs, it's more satisfying to have the time be official.  Speaking of official times, I ended up with a time of 41:35, even though my finish line photo showed faster on the clock:

Based on this photo, it looks like my official time should have been 41:32. Or at least the 41:33 that my Garmin logged. But it ended up being 41:35 officially. Based on this photo, I am going to claim 41:33. After all, Personal Records are 'Personal' and there's no way this is a 41:35. I know I am splitting hairs but when you work your butt off for every little second, they all matter.

Other final thoughts:

• I think the adidas Adios Pro shoes helped. I am not sure how they would be in a 5k but I did think that they were a fast shoe for the 10k.
• Knowing that I can run 6.28 miles at an average pace of 6:36, I think I am also in shape to set a 5k PR
• It's awesome to compare this race to my 49:36 of 2008. I've come a long way for sure.
• I will be racing another 10k on New Year's Day. That race also offers a 5K, but I want another shot at this distance to see if I can go even faster. I needed to breakthrough that 41:51 plateau, and now that I have, I feel like I can keep going!
• The fueling strategy worked perfectly. No issues during the race aside from some burps here and there.
• I beat a guy who once gave me grief at a 5k for being too loud when I ran. He had told me that my sounds distracted him. I was over a minute ahead of him today.
• PR cake tonight. I have not decided on a flavor yet.

Riding the PR Train, Eating PR Cake

I started racing almost exactly 12 years ago. I had been a treadmill runner for years, but I didn't discover racing until my 5-year college reunion in 2005, which had a two-mile race. I was the first female finisher and I had a blast. One of the other runners suggested I run a 10K the following weekend in DC, so I did it and once again loved it. I ran my first half marathon in September of 2005 and my first marathon in May of 2006.

I've been training consistently ever since, with my longest breaks being my two bouts with mono in 2012 and again in 2016. Throughout all this time, I've never had as much of a "breakthrough" season as this spring. Typically runners see the most improvements when they first start out-- during the first 3-4 years of solid training. While I did see improvements over that time, I pretty much plateaued from about 2009-2013. PRs during that period were few and far between. I think it was a combination of dealing with injuries, and doing the same type of training runs over and over. I didn't have a personal coach who was focused on developing me and tailoring a plan to my needs. 

The past two years have been a "running renaissance" for me, and the PRs have been fast and furious! I know that I will reach the law of diminishing returns and the PRs will become smaller and more rare. So I am savoring my PRs now. Literally savoring them:

10K PR in February 2017

Marathon PR in March 2017

10-Mile PR in April 2017

5K PR in May 2017

Greg has been PRing like crazy too. I'm extremely grateful that we are both healthy and able to train together. With all of this PR celebrating going on, I have maintained my mindset of running being about so much more than PRs. I'm enjoying the training and putting in the hard work. When I set a PR, it's not so much the time I am happy with, but it's that I'm learning how to execute on race day, and that my training has been consistent.

Here's a more technical look at my racing history, since I started using my training log in 2008:

10K Pace over time

5K Pace over time

Now that my spring races are officially over, my plan is as follows:

• Run 3 short summer races between now and July 4th
• Early July: Take a little time off so I am rested for marathon training
• Late July: Go on a running cruise (more on that in future posts)
• August: Kickstart marathon training the first week of the month
• September: Run a half marathon
• October: Run a 10-miler
• November: Run the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon 

Finally, here is a recap of this week's training.

Monday: 5.8 miles easy @ 8:38 average

This was the day after the 5K. My legs didn't feel sore or tired or anything! I credit that to the flat course and the fact that my legs are used to running fast from all the speed work I have been doing. I should mention that I got soaked on this run. I was completely drenched from the pouring rain.

Tuesday: 7 Hill Repeats

Cool down after the hill repeats

I asked my coach if he intended to put hill repeats just two days after a 5K. He responded yes, this was intentional to see how much my legs could handle. Ok! 

I warmed up for 2.1 miles, and then started the workout. The plan called for 6 to 8 hill repeats at 5K effort. Each repeat was 75 seconds each. Whenever my plan calls for a range I try to be right in the middle. If I am feeling absolutely amazing I will do the high end of the range. If it's a tough day I will do the low end. Anyway, I climbed about 30 feet during each 75-second repeat. My paces were: 6:53, 6:54, 6:41, 6:42, 6:48, 6:31, 6:32. So my legs ended up handling it just fine, but they were very tired at the end. And admittedly, I ran the last two repeats harder than 5K effort without intending to. I ended with a cool down of 1.9 miles.

Wednesday: 6.9 miles easy @ 8:40 average

Greg and I ran to the track to see if they were done with the maintenance that had prevented us from using it the week prior. Unfortunately, the track was still closed, so this meant we'd have to go to a different track for our upcoming workout.

Thursday: 5.3 miles easy @ 8:25 average

My plan had a track workout scheduled for this day, but the forecast was calling for thunderstorms so I figured I should stay close to home and do the track workout the following day. It poured heavily, and I was drenched again, but there ended up being no thunderstorms.

Friday: Track workout

Greg and I drove to a different track, which we immediately discovered was the home of a gaggle Canada geese. About 30 geese were lounging around in the center of the track while we were warming up. As we started our workout, they decided that it was time to migrate to the outside of the track!

The workout was 200m, 400m, 600m, 800m, 1000m, 800m, 600m, 400m, 200m, all with 90 seconds recovery jog. What made this workout difficult was the short recovery jogs, particularly during the 800-1000-800 stretch, where I typically get twice that amount of time to recover. Thankfully, the geese were smart about making their moves and there was only one close encounter as they walked across the track to the outer field. My splits were 0:42, 1:31, 2:18, 3:10, 4:01, 3:12, 2:18, 1:29, 0:41. It was a tough workout with the sun shining right into my face when turning the corner, and I wasn't wearing sunglasses. 

By the end of the workout the geese were safely gathered on the outside of the track. We cooled down for 1.3 miles, which included the jog back to the car.

Saturday: 14 miles @ 8:30 average

It took a while for this run to start feeling decent. The first three miles were a struggle in that my legs had no pep. My energy level was decent, thanks to taking a serving of UCAN before the run. The middle portion of the run felt okay, but not as good as previous long runs this spring. I became mentally exhausted during the last two miles and really wanted to call it quits at 12 miles. But I hung in there and was happy that I completed the full run. If I hadn't re-arranged the schedule on Thursday/Friday, my legs would have had an extra day to recover from the track workout. In the afternoon, I got a massage that was painful at times, but much needed.

Sunday: 3.4 miles recovery @ 8:46 average

Greg and I ran a different route than what we typically do for 30 minutes, and it ended with a huge hill. There's a monster of a hill very close to my house but we usually run in the opposite direction because it leads to more residential areas that are easier to run in. But since it was the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, there were very few cars going the other way.

Total mileage for the week: 49.4.

I'm on day 58 of a running streak, which makes me tied with my longest streak ever. If I run tomorrow, I will set a new streak PR.

I'm looking forward to another month of hard speed workouts and racing! The weather is certainly heating up, so I'm definitely not expecting any more PRs. Course PRs, however, are another story.

Racing a 10K During Marathon Training

This morning I ran the "For the Love of It" 10K.

I'm in the height of my training cycle for the Myrtle Beach Marathon, which means I've logged 70+ mile weeks for the past several weeks. The past seven days were no exception. From last Saturday through yesterday, I logged 71.3 miles.

Because the Disney World Half Marathon was cancelled, I wanted to run another tune-up race prior to the marathon on March 4th. But because it's February in the Washington DC metro area, there were no half marathons within a reasonable driving distance. Given that I had already taken time off work for Disney, I didn't want to take any more time off for a race that required a flight. So I had to settle for a local 10K. But that's not a bad thing! This 10K is part of the =PR= trophy series, giving me points that accumulate throughout the year. Plus, many of my friends were running it.

My coach didn't want me to sacrifice my mileage volume for this race, and he also wanted me to practice running hard on tired legs. So he intentionally gave me zero taper. Actually, I refer to it as the anti-taper.

The Anti-Taper
The anti-taper is running 71+ miles in the week leading up to the race, including a set of 10 x 800m on the track, a 21-miler, and a half marathon distance two days prior. Here's how it went down:

Saturday: 21 miles @ 8:18 average

Sunday: 3.4 miles recovery

Monday: 7.8 miles easy

Tuesday: 2.4 miles warmup, 10 x 800m with 400m recovery jogs, 1.5 miles cooldown. I averaged 3:13 for my 800's, which is supposed to predict a 3:13 marathon finish time, but I'm not convinced!

Wednesday: 8.1 miles easy

Thursday: 13.1 miles easy. I was actually prescribed a 2-hour run, but I cut it short at 1:52 once I reached a half marathon. My legs were tired, and I figured that was plenty.

Friday: 6.6 miles recovery. I took this one very easy at an average 9:01 pace.

Before the Race
In terms of my goals for this race, I knew I was in better shape than when I ran a 42:09 on New Year's Eve. And that was a "long" course according to my Garmin. So I had those two things going for me. Working against me, however, was that this course was more challenging and that I didn't have a taper. Given all of this, I hoped to run a sub-42:00, but I wasn't sure how my legs would hold up on the hills.

Race morning arrived and Greg and I did our usual routine. When we arrived to the race, we went to the bathroom and warmed up for about 20 minutes. It was about 20 degrees and sunny with a very slight breeze. I thought this was perfect racing weather and I figured I might even get warm with the sun being so strong. I wore CW-X compression tights and a light-weight half-zip.

The start line was not shaded and my friends and I were commenting that we were actually warm. Greg was particularly worried that he had overdressed. I ran a 5K last February in sunny 14-degree weather and I actually felt hot at times, so I wasn't surprised that 20 could feel warm with direct sunlight.

Miles 1-2
The race started and I noticed that quite a few women totally sped past me right out of the gate. It was hard to believe that such a small race could attract so many fast women, but it did. This was a competitive field, and I think it's because it's one of the few races in the DC area in February. I noticed that I was running a 6:35 pace, so I reminded myself to run my own race and not worry about what these other women were doing.

In terms of the elevation profile, I had studied one of my friend's Strava data from last year. I've run this course as a 10-miler, but as a 10K, I didn't know when the ups and downs were. I knew to expect that the entire course would be hills-- almost no flat sections. But it's nice to know when to plan for the ups and downs. Based on my friend's Strava data, I knew that the first two miles were net uphill, so I figured I'd aim for around 6:50, depending on how it felt. Both miles clocked in at 6:47 so I knew I had set myself up well.

Miles 3-4
I was leap frogging with another women during these miles. She was quite strong, but I think I passed her for good during the 4th mile. There were also several women in sight who I was trying to catch, but I couldn't quite reach them. I knew my endurance was solid and I was confident that I could hold a strong pace throughout the race. We ran over a timing mat at the 5K point, and the results later showed that my split was 20:50. The exact same time as my 5K PR!

Miles 3-4 were net downhill, and my splits reflected that (6:30, 6:29) but it seemed as if there was much more uphill than down. In fact, it really felt like this race was net uphill. In the other popular 5K and 10K courses that I run, I usually notice long stretches of downhill. This was never the case- or so it seemed! I noticed long uphill stretches, but never fully rewarded with the reverse!

Miles 5-6
At this point, I knew I was on track to PR, I just had to keep it together and not fall off. But mile five

Mile 5: Ouch this hurts!

was brutal. So painful! I felt myself really slowing down and there was nothing I could do about it. The hills seemed to go on forever. They were so long. We would turn a corner and I would expect to see a downhill, but it kept being up. Up, up, up! I had to really rely on my mental toughness here. My legs were exhausted and I started cursing my coach for not allowing me to taper! I felt like I was going to totally bonk and miss my PR substantially. I logged a 6:52, which was definitely respectable given how awful I was feeling.

The last mile was supposed to be a net downhill, but that didn't happen until the very end of it. I looked down at my Garmin about a 1/3 of the way in and it read 7:11 for my pace. Oh man! I was running so hard and giving 100% of everything, but that Garmin would not budge out of the 7's! Finally I saw some Garmin movement about halfway through the mile back into the 6's. The last part of that mile was definitely downhill, but there were a lot of twists and turns as we made our way through a high school parking lot and onto a track. I ended up with a 6:40 for the 6th mile, which meant I must have been going super fast during the second half of it.

The last 0.26
This race finished on a track. We ran almost an entire lap, which was cool. It felt amazing (mentally) to be running on a flat surface, but it didn't feel much easier physically. Before arriving at the track, a woman passed me and I didn't have anything left in me to try and fight. I was spent. All I wanted was to try and squeak in a tiny PR at that point, which I realized was still possible.

With about just under 100 meters to go, I could see the finish line clock at 41:2X. I tried doing the math in my head to see if I could reach it under 42, but then I just told myself to give 110% and run my absolutely hardest possible. I was super motivated to get a sub-42 and it was right within my sights! I was able to find another gear and gun it for the finish line.

41:51 official! A new PR by 18 seconds. It was even a Garmin PR too!

Text with my coach

After the Race
Greg cheered me into the finish and told me that he ran a 40:58, which was a PR for him too. My friends Rochelle and Hannah also set big PRs, with Hannah going sub-40 for the first time and Rochelle winning the race. Hannah's husband also PR'ed with a sub-43. For a course that was so challenging, we certainly all pulled out some stellar performances. Greg and I cooled down for just over a mile and then went to check out the results.

I won first place in my age group and was the 11th overall female. The awards ceremony was thankfully held inside the school so we didn't freeze while waiting for the awards to be presented. A small group of us went out for a celebratory brunch afterwards. It was definitely a fun and proud morning for us all.

The crazy thing is that my 5K PR pace and my 10 PR pace are now almost the same. According to my Strava data, I ran a 20:24 5K during this race. My 3.1 split was 20:50- my official PR. After the marathon I plan to race a 5K so I can really see what I am capable of there.

Most of all, I'm really excited about what this means for the Myrtle Beach marathon in four weeks. The fact that I ran a 41:51 on such a hilly course on tired legs definitely indicates that my stamina and speed are at an all-time high. Combined with the rest of my workout paces, I now have the confidence that I can run a 3:20 or faster.

But there's more work to be done! I have another tough week ahead of me, and I'm guessing a relatively short taper for the marathon itself.

Ringing in Hope 10K Report: A 2016 Grande Finale!

For the 7th year in a row, Greg and I ran the Ringing In Hope New Year's eve race. This race offers both a 5K and a 10K option, and typically we do the 10K. This year, I'm registered for the Walt Disney World Half Marathon on Saturday, January 7th-- just one week later. I'm also in the thick of marathon training. So, I figured I would simply ask my coach what to do. I sent him the following note a few weeks ago:

"I would like to participate in either the 5K or the 10K, but I don't want it to impact my half marathon. I also don't want it to impact my marathon training, because Myrtle Beach is fast approaching and I know I need to get my long runs up. Can you think of a creative way of incorporating either the 5K or the 10K? Perhaps I could run at a tempo effort, and/or as part of my long run? Maybe the long run can be moved to January 2nd because I don't have to go to work that day? In any event, I'm open to whatever you think is best, given that my top priority is the marathon, followed by the half marathon. This New Year's eve race is more of just a fun thing."

I figured he'd probably tell me to run it as part of my long run, or do the 5K as a tempo. The response I received was not what I expected:

"That’s no problem at all. The 10km will fit in nicely as you’ll get your legs spinning quickly the week before the half marathon. You could run a few miles afterwards also but I’ll think about it more once you get through this week."

So, it was on! I hadn't run a 10K since this race last year, when I ran a 44:18. My PR was from October of last year: 43:56. The good thing about this year's race was that they moved the course to a different location. So even though I had technically run the race six times, I had never run this new course. I had heard good things about this course, which is used for a 5K/10K Turkey Trot as well. I wasn't a fan of the previous course at all, so this change was very welcome.

Most of my gripes about the previous course were resolved, although two minor annoyances still remained. First of all, they placed cones in the middle of the road and forced you to run outside of them, which made it impossible to run the measured tangents. This resulted in a Garmin distance of 6.29. Last year's course measured 6.27. I overhead many runners complaining about the cones and how at the Turkey Trot race, they don't use these cones.

My other complaint was that the 10K runners had to weave around 5K runners for a good portion of the race last year. This year, we only had to weave around slower 5K runners during the last half mile. It was still annoying and made the finish more difficult, but it was an improvement over the previous year's setup.

Race Week: Workout and Goals
On Monday of this week, I ran a set of 4 x 1600m repeats on the track, followed by 3 x 200m. I always run track workouts based on feel and I don't look at my watch until the rep is complete and

I've hit the lap button. My splits were 6:48, 6:43, 6:35, 6:30, 0:40, 0:41, 0:40. My previous fastest 1600m rep time had been 6:38, so during this workout, I ran two miles faster than that. And honestly, it didn't feel all that hard.

This workout made me re-think my goal for the 10K. I had originally hoped to run somewhere in the low 43's, but now I figured I would probably be able to run the race sub-43:00, somewhere around a 6:50-6:52 pace. My revised goal was to run a 42:55 or faster and beat my PR by over a minute.

For the remainder of the week, I only did easy runs so that my legs could recover for today's race. I continued my run streak, which started on December 1. I've now run for 31 days in a row, averaging 7.6 miles a day! That's 234 miles in December.

Before the Race
The race started at 9:00, so I ate half a bagel with peanut butter at 6:30am. I then drank one serving of UCAN at 8:15 as Greg and I were driving to the race. It was 30 degrees, partly cloudy, with winds at about 8 MPH. After much debate, I decided to wear CW-X capri tights and a short-sleeved shirt with arm warmers. I figured I could remove the arm warmers if I got hot. Yes, it is possible to get hot in 30-degree temperatures if the sun is out.

We warmed up for two miles and I decided to ditch the arm warmers before even starting. This ended up being a good decision because I felt comfortable throughout the race in short sleeves, arms exposed.

Miles 1-2
I had studied the course elevation profile and tangents pretty carefully. Even though the cones made it impossible to run the true tangents, I did my best while staying on the correct side of the cones. My plan was to run the first mile at pace of 7:00 because it was a 71ft net elevation gain.

The race started and a bunch of runners flew past me. I didn't let this faze me as I knew I would be passing many of them later in the race. I counted the number of women ahead of me. My friend Rochelle was in first place, and I was pretty sure she would win, and there were 4 other women ahead of me as well. I picked off the first of these women about halfway through the first mile, which put me in 5th place.

Mile 2 was also a net uphill, and my plan was to run this at a pace of 6:57, but I ended up going slightly faster in 6:54. During this mile, I gradually passed the other two women who were ahead of me so that by the end of this mile, I was the third female. I knew there was no chance of passing the second place female, as she looked to be about a full minute ahead of me.

Mile 1: 7:00
Mile 2: 6:54

Miles 3-4
I was relieved to be done with mile 2 because I knew that the next two miles were a net even elevation gain, with some gentle rollers. Now that I had the two slowest miles behind me, I gained the confidence to really turn on the gas. And that's when I started passing some men. Probably about 3-4 of them during this part of the race. I also still had Greg in my sights, although he was way up ahead. I had predicted that Greg would run the race about a minute faster than me, but at this point I could still see him, which was nice.

I pretty much just cruised through these miles. The wind was a little bit of a factor during the third mile, but it wasn't too horrible. I felt really strong and I had a nice pep in my step. I also felt like I had a really good rhythm going in my head. Whenever I looked down at my Garmin, I was shocked to see my paces.

Mile 3: 6:49
Mile 4: 6:40

Miles 5-6.29
At this point, my Garmin was showing an average race pace of 6:50, which was my stretch goal. The exciting thing was that the last two miles were a net downhill, counter-balancing the first two miles which had been net uphill. So I knew at this point I was setup for a huge PR and that I was going to crush my goal.

I excel at downhill running and I actually ran my fastest-ever mile during this race. Kind of crazy to set a one-mile PR during a 10K.

The most challenging part of the entire race came at the very end. The 5K runners merged back onto the course with the 10K runners, and because that race had started 10 minutes later, there were quite a few of these runners, going at about a 10:00 pace. I focused on the man who was running in the 10K about 30 feet ahead of me and tried to follow his path. The course narrowed, 5K runners were all over the place and you really had to pay attention to where you were going. In fact, one of the 5K runners decided he was finished about 10 feet before actually crossing the finish line so he started to walk at that point!

In any event, I knew I was actually close to breaking 42 minutes, so I gave it everything I had and sprinted to the finish.

Mile 5: 6:37
Mile 6: 6:21
Last 0.29: 6:08 pace

My official finish time was 42:09. A PR by 1 minute, 47 seconds! WOW!

My Garmin average pace was 6:43, and according to Strava, my actual 10K time was 41:42. A big difference! Which is why the cone placement irks me so much. 6:21 is the fastest mile I've ever run, and I also set an unofficial 5K PR as well: 20:13. Although I should note that the 20:13 was the second half of the course, which was net downhill. All that being said, my current 5K PR pace is 6:39, and I just ran a 10K at a pace of 6:43.

My medal for winning 3rd place

I was the third overall female finisher, and that came with a $100 prize package of gift certificates. Rochelle, who was the first female finisher, won gift certificates to the same places, so we can all go there together to celebrate!

Up Next: Disney
I'm really looking forward to the Disney World Half Marathon next weekend. I think I will be able to run a solid race, in spite of the possibly unfavorable weather conditions. The last time I ran Disney (in 2013) it was 63 degrees and very humid. It was tough, and the extended forecast shows similar conditions, but I'm mainly going to focus on running a hard effort.

After a difficult summer of being sick with mono, I'm thrilled to end the year on such a high note. I'm looking forward to 2017 and hoping to stay healthy.