Easter Classic 5K

On Saturday morning I ran the PVTC Easter Classic 5K with my friends Allison and Cheryl. My main goal was to celebrate Allison's birthday at brunch and she just happened to be running this race, so Cheryl and I joined her. My original plan had been to run my last long run before Boston on Saturday, but it was easy enough to move that long run to Sunday, and just run it slower if my legs were tired from the race.

I got to the race in what I thought was plenty of time to get my bib and warm up. But I ended up not having enough time to warm up. This was mostly due to the fact that the timing chip (a new system for this race organizer) was attached to the bib in a plastic bag and that bag kept falling off while I was warming up. 

I had to keep re-pinning the plastic bag to the bib and the bib to my shirt to make it stay. Before I knew it, it was time to start the race and I had only warmed up for 1.3 miles, at a slow pace. No time for strides or faster running like I had planned at the end of the warm up. 

I really didn't care too much about this race so I wasn't bothered by it. The weather was absolutely perfect: 41 degrees, sunny, and no wind. The last time I ran this race in 2019 with Cheryl it was 70 degrees with nearly 100% humidity. Easter was April 20th that year, so that partially explains the warmer temps. 

The race course was the W&OD trail in Arlington, around mile marker 4. The first half is uphill and then you turn around to run downhill.

Mile 1:
The race started and because it was cool and I hadn't run faster than a 9:00 pace during my warm up I had a hard time getting going. This was made worse by the fact that the first mile was uphill and the trail had some bumps in it to weave around. I was struggling quite a bit, but my legs just would not go as fast as I wanted them to. 

It was a small race and there was one woman ahead of me. She looked to be about 10 seconds ahead-- and I thought I might be able to pass her in the second half, but I wasn't going to try yet. I ended up running a 6:40 mile.

Mile 2:
This mile had a somewhat steep hill, then a turnaround and then back down. But even with a downhill second half, I was still not moving at the pace I thought I could be moving at. Part of the problem was the sun glare. The way the sun was hitting my face and low in the sky, I could not see the trail in front of me. And because there were bumpy areas, I wanted to have a clear view. So I ran parts of this mile with my hand at my head, acting like a visor. Note to self: bring a visor next time! 

The best thing about this mile was that Cheryl stopped to take a video of me running and to cheer. I had not been expecting that! She was using this as a training run, so she didn't mind stopping. This mile clocked in at 6:38. 

Mile 3:
My tempo runs lately have been around 6:35, so I wasn't even hitting that during this 5K. Which meant I knew I had a lot left in me for this mile. So I pretty much started sprinting as soon as that mile started. I blew by the woman who was ahead of me at around 2.5 and also passed some of the men. I had so much energy due to my legs not cooperating in the first half of the race.

I ran a 6:08 mile according to Garmin and 6:03 according to Strava! A new record for the fastest mile in a 5K! And I continued to sprint the last 0.13 at a 5:50 pace and was the first female finisher, 3rd overall finisher. 

After the Race
I then waited for Cheryl and Allison to come in and I cheered for them. We all won chocolate bunnies! And then we celebrated Allison's birthday at brunch.

Their new timing system didn't seem to work as well as they hoped, and that's okay. This was a super low-key race and I love that PVTC does this series. My official time was 20:14, making this my 4th fastest ever 5K. I'm most proud of my final mile in 6:08 or 6:03 and the fact that I was able to really gun it after a sluggish start. 

The day after the race (Sunday) was Easter and I was able to run 17.4 miles with plenty of energy. My legs were tired from the race, so I kept the pace easy, but it was a beautiful morning with very few cars on the roads. 

We are now two weeks out from the Boston Marathon and I feel really well prepared. I've run two 20-milers, a 17.4-miler and a 16 miler. My weekly mileage has ranged from 50-64. 

Final Thoughts

• Primary goal of spending time with friends achieved! 
• Felt great to be the female winner
• I was happy with my push during the final mile
• 5Ks that start uphill when it's cold need more of a warm up
• Greg stayed home because this was a girls' thing!
• I want to eat that chocolate bunny, but he's so cute.

PVTC Easter Classic 5K: Hopping Along

I haven't blogged about my racing plans for the rest of the spring, but I do have them! With only 4-6 weeks of potentially cool mornings left, my coach and I decided I should sign up for some shorter races. Today, April 20, had the potential to be cool given that it's still early spring. So I had registered for a 5K. But alas, it was 67 degrees and humid as hell.

A few weeks ago, I registered for the BEST Kids 5K-- a race that two of my friends were running. This is a small race that I have won in the past on a very fast course. As the race approached, the

forecast started to look worse and worse. On Thursday I determined that it would be too warm and humid to race it at full effort, given my immune system issues. I have struggled with a mono-like virus for 3 out of the past 6 summers and I am almost positive the virus comes on as a reaction to racing in the heat. So I made the decision to run it as a tempo run, and I figured I still could potentially win the race at that.

Which race to run?

The evening before the race, my friends and I realized that the course was flooded. There had been no word from the race director about cancelling the race, but it seemed suspect. One of the two friends, Cheryl, decided to sign up for the PVTC Easter Classic 5K, just 10 minutes away from the original race. So, I followed suit and registered for it too. This race does not offer on-site registration, so we needed to sign up the night before. The other friend, Allison, decided to stick with the BEST Kids race no matter what. She said she would come cheer for us if it was cancelled.

When I woke up this morning and checked my weather app, there was a flood warning for the exact area of the course. It sounded like the course would not be run-able based on the description in the warning. But yet, we hadn't gotten a cancellation email from the BEST Kids race director. So, about 90 minutes before the race start, we finally decided to run the PVTC Easter Classic. We would meet up with Allison for brunch afterwards.

Before the race

Once Cheryl and I settled on PVTC via text message, Greg and I drove down to Arlington. Greg would not be running the race, but cheering and taking photos. Once we arrived, we found Cheryl and began the warm up. Cheryl, Allison, and I all had the exact same running outfits so we all matched. It was too bad Allison wasn't there, but Cheryl and I represented the red shorts with rabbits along the waistband. Perfect for easter!

These PVTC races are small and not chip-timed, but sometimes they can be competitive. I thought I could still potentially win, but I obviously wasn't sure. This was a crowd of "runners" who run races often, whereas the other race was a charity event that was most participants' only race of the year. I decided I would still try to win, unless some woman or women went speeding ahead of me at the beginning.

We warmed up on the course, which was the W&OD trail. I was familiar with it, as I had run this portion of the trail before work one morning back in January. On that day, the roads near my house were covered in snow and ice, but just 15 miles closer to the city, on this section of the trail, it was clear for running.

Two other fun goals: 

1. Run faster than my 5K split for the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler (21:35)

2. Run faster than the New Year's Day 5K, which was also warm and humid, and on a different portion of the same trail. (21:35)

My hope was that I could win, run under 21:35, and get negative splits all while running no harder than tempo effort, to protect my fragile immune system.

Mile 1: 7:02

Mile 1

The race started and I decided to ease into it. I ran right next to Cheryl so that Greg would be able to snap photos of us in the same shot. He was standing about 1/4 mile past the start line. Once we passed Greg, I turned on the gas a little bit. I knew that the first half of the race was net uphill and the second half was net downhill. I wanted to conserve my energy for the second half so I could run a negative split and feel good running faster. This is not my normal 5K approach as I typically go out hard.

Mile 2: 6:55

After the first mile, I was already feeling the impact of the humidity. I felt suffocated and like I wasn't breathing clean air. I guess allergies are really bad right now, too, with several types of pollen and ragweed out. And we were running on trail surrounded by trees. At the turnaround, I saw that Cheryl was in second place and nobody was tailing me closely, so I continued to run conservatively. It was mentally a relief to be heading back toward the finish, knowing the second half was mostly downhill.

Mile 3: 6:50

My original plan was to really gun it and try to be around 6:40 or faster, but as I was doing it, I saw no need! I was working hard, I was winning, and I was by no means "comfortable". I was running solid tempo effort so I knew this workout would help in future races. 

Last bit: 6:17 pace

As I approached Greg and the finish line, I sprinted in with a big smile on my face.  

I watched as Cheryl finished in second place, looking really strong! After we recovered, we cooled down for about a mile and a half.

My official time was 21:33, so I officially met all my goals. The good news is that this race felt much better than New Year's Day-- although I was on the verge of getting sick on New Year's and I started out much faster there. My award was a chocolate Easter bunny! 

After Cheryl and I gathered our awards, we (plus Greg) met up with Allison for brunch. We celebrated with mimosas, like we usually do. Allison ended up winning her race, and we were thrilled for her!

Next weekend I will be running the MUCH more competitive Pike's Peek 10K. At this point, I am going to try and run a PR because the weather is looking decent (mid 50s). My 10K PR is my oldest PR and I think I can beat it if the weather is favorable. I'll take on the 5K distance again in May!

New Year's Day 5K: A fun start

I ran the New Year's Day 5K in Reston, Virginia earlier this week. I've run a New Year's race every year since 2009, either on New Year's Eve or New Year's Day.

Cheryl, Allison and me in our "rabbit" gear

I prefer New Year's Eve races because then you can have an indulgent meal and a drink or two on New Year's Eve. But my favorite race was discontinued, so New Year's Day it was. There weren't a ton of options to choose from, and I really didn't like the race I ran last year. So I decided to run this one because my friends were running it, and Potomac River Running races are always well organized with good awards. 

The reason I wasn't psyched about this course was because of its awkwardness, which I will describe shortly. It was also only three weeks after my marathon, so I knew I probably wouldn't be very peppy. To add to all of this, I had been battling and on-and-off sore throat for the previous two days.

Before the Race

A few days before the race I thought it would be cool to try and run 20:19. But when I woke up that morning, I revised my goal to 21:19. I had a dream that I ran 21:xx, and that felt about right based on my energy level. Greg woke up with a sore throat and didn't feel well, so he opted not to go to the race. What a bummer because we had matching outfits! And, of course, it would have been nice to spend that time with him too.

Given that I didn't feel 100% either, I questioned if I should even run the race. But, keeping in mind that my primary goal was to have fun and see my friends, I went anyway.  Potentially this was a stupid idea, since I knew my body was fighting off some kind of bug. Racing a 5K would only hurt my immune system, and not help it. But, like many runners, I was stubborn. Even though this wasn't a goal race and I honestly did not care about my time, I still wanted to do it.

I met up with my friends Allison and Cheryl and we ran a 2-mile warm up. It was unseasonably warm-- 60 degrees! Last year it was only 14 degrees for my New Year's day race. What a huge difference. During the warm up, we ran along the course. I had never run this course in a race before, but since most of it was on the W&OD trail, I was very familiar with it.

The Race

I had decided a few days prior that I would not look at my watch during the race and I would run by feel. Since I didn't care about my time, it felt like a low-risk thing to do. As such, I will not be providing a mile-by-mile recap, since that is not how I experienced the race. I experienced it as one big long chunk of hard running.

We started and I went out at what felt like 5K effort. Since I wouldn't be focused on my pace or my watch, I decided I would focus more on the people around me and just "be present". After running on the road for what felt like about half a mile, we made a hairpin turn onto a narrow downhill path. There was no passing on this path because it was so narrow, and there were also tree roots making the pavement uneven, so I had to be careful with my footing. At the bottom of the path, we made another hairpin turn onto the W&OD trail. 

I didn't mind the trail so much but it was rather hilly. It was a paved trail with no tree roots like the path, so it was easier to simply cruise. I thought I heard my Garmin beep at one point for a mile, but then I thought I heard it again like 3 minutes later, and I was confused. I hadn't seen the first mile marker, so I had no idea how far or how long I had been running. It was really disorienting!

Finally we came to the turnaround (another hairpin) so I knew I was about halfway done. But it felt like I was more than halfway done. My instincts turned out to be correct because this course was not a perfect out-and-back; there was more road running at the beginning than the end. So the turn around was probably like 1.75 miles. But I didn't realize that at the time. 

Things got really, really hard after the turnaround. We were now running in to a headwind and it was

mostly uphill. And then, of course, another hairpin turn, up the path with the uneven pavement, another hairpin, and then towards the finish. My goal during this time was to keep the effort hard and not to let any women pass me. Both goals were achieved, and I even passed one woman.

Once I was back on regular road, I got more peppy and accelerated toward the finish. I tried to catch a glimpse of the clock as I approached, but my view was obstructed. All I saw was the 21, which was not a surprise.

After the Race

It turns out I ran 21:35, which was good for first place in my age group and 9th overall female. I was pleased with this, given that the race had a relatively competitive field. I looked at my watch to see my splits. They were 6:54, 6:54, 7:16, and a 5:37 final kick. I was pleased with the consistency of these splits, and wasn't surprised that the last mile was the slowest, given the uphill/headwind. I do have to laugh that I had a few marathon miles faster than 7:16! And my average race pace is pretty close to my half marathon pace. Just goes to show that there are so many factors that impact a race time. 

Basically, my coach and I chalked it up to hard running on a difficult course and fun with friends! I wonder how my experience would have been different if I had looked at my watch. I think I would have been discouraged and spent a good portion of the race feeling like I wasn't running a strong race. So it's good that I just didn't look and ran the race without knowing how I fast I was going.

Ashely, me, Hannah, and Michelle (1st overall)

I cheered for Cheryl and Allison as they finished and then we did a cool down jog. Afterwards, we went to the awards ceremony and then we had brunch along with several other friends. We toasted with mimosas and celebrated the new year.

The day after the race, my easy run felt "off" and my sore throat came and went. But by Thursday, I ran a hill workout and felt really strong and energized. I was confident that I had finally beaten the bug. But by Friday at around noon, the illness came back in full force. On Saturday (yesterday) I had to skip my run entirely because I was so weak and tired feeling. Today I also skipped my run, but I think I feel a little better than yesterday. 

So, as I said initially, maybe this race wasn't the smartest thing in the world. But I could have ended up just as sick even without it. I'm optimistic that I will be fully recovered soon and that I can resume training for Shamrock.

2018 Lows & Lessons

This year was a mixed bag in terms of running. It started out well with a half marathon PR in Houston and my strongest-ever training cycle leading up to Boston. Boston went as well as could be expected given the high winds and heavy downpours, and I was happy with my performance. Then, I was sick for a good portion of the summer and unable to run. I was very cautious about returning to

running, and ultimately was able to resume normal training by mid-August.

My first few races back were flops (a ten-miler and a half marathon), and then I bonked my first long run in over four years! This put me in a little bit of a mental rut. I turned 40 in November, which meant entering the Master's division for most races. Then, things quickly turned around for me when I broke 20 minutes in the 5K, and then set a 6-minute marathon PR in 3:15. So the year started and finished on high notes, with some struggles in the middle.

That's the Cliff's Notes version. In my Instagram story, I posted the best 5 and the worst 5 running moments of the year, and I received quite a few messages from people telling me how much they appreciated me talking about the worst moments.

Often on social media, we tend to sugarcoat things and only post about positive experiences. So I decided to focus my year-end blog post on three "lows" and what I learned from them, and how they made the "highs" so much more rewarding.

March 4th: The Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans Half Marathon
Original race report is here.
In this race, I was hoping to set a new half marathon PR. I knew I was in better shape than I had been six weeks prior when I set my Houston PR, and I thought I would be able to shave about a minute off of that time. After the first three miles, though, I realized that the heat and lack of cloud cover was going to foil my plans, so I purposely slowed down. After another couple of miles, the slow down was no longer by choice-- I was bonking. Despite that, I was able to hold a respectable pace in the 7:30's.

This race confirmed, for the ump-teeth time, that my body doesn't tolerate heat. It was only 60 degrees, which most runners found to be pleasant, but without any acclimation or cloud cover, I was baking. When I ran the Rehoboth Beach marathon in December, I ran both the first half AND the second half in almost the exact same time as this New Orleans race. So even though I was bummed in March, it made my marathon achievement in December all the more sweeter-- knowing that I ran that I ran two of those 1:37:40's!

April 8th: The Crystal City 5K Friday
Original race report is here.
I was just finishing off the strongest training cycle ever, having run 320 miles in the month of March, 7 days a week, averaging 72 miles a week. This included VO2 max work each week, so I felt like had

both endurance and speed. The weather for this race was not ideal (a little windy and warm) but since it was a short distance and I was in such great shape, I thought I could PR. That didn't happen. I bonked, feeling like crap during the final mile, and ran a disappointing 20:47, which was 30 seconds slower than my PR at the time.

I was down on myself but my friend Allison (who is always able to offer me a new perspective) suggested that running a Friday night race after a long, stressful day at work wasn't the ideal circumstance to PR. Some of my Instagram followers pointed out that it's unlikely to PR a 5K during marathon training, but I disagreed with that. I still maintained it was possible to PR a 5K during high-mileage training if you had been working on speed.

About six months later, I not only PR'ed the 5K, but broke 20 for the first time during marathon training. In fact, When I ran the Crystal City race, I was about 16 days out from Boston. When I ran the Turkey Trot in November, I was 16 days out from Rehoboth. I was at the exact same point in my training for both races. I learned that Allison's theory of a weekday night race not being ideal was spot-on, and that it was possible to PR a 5K in the midst of high-mileage training.

November 16th: A long run failure
Original blog post is here.
This run hurt. It was meant to be 22 miles, starting at a pace of around 8:00 and progressing to 7:35 by the end. The snow we had gotten the day before screwed up my original route plan, and resulted in a much later start than anticipated, throwing off my fueling plan. To top it off, it was a very windy day.

I could tell by mile 11 that I wouldn't be able to keep up my pace for the remainder of the run. I felt

like I was exerting way too much effort for the paces I was running. I slowed down a lot in the 16th mile, and ran a very tortured 17th mile, culminating in me stopping completely. I walked a mile, and then did a very slow jog for another mile to get home. My legs were wrecked, and the next day I ran my slowest recovery run in years because my legs were in such a bad state.

The previous weekend, I had missed my goal at the Richmond half marathon. And four weeks prior, I had been way off of my goal at the Lower Potomac 10-miler. So, mentally I was feeling a little defeated. I did trust that I was putting in the work and that I still had a shot at a great marathon, but I didn't have any training runs to support that belief. Furthermore, the fact that this training cycle got a late start meant that I didn't have a lot of long runs under my belt. In fact, only an 18 miler and a 20 miler up until that point. And the race was three weeks away!

I learned a lot from this experience. First, bonking a long run doesn't equate to having a bad marathon. Although it certainly made me respect the distance and the effort level. Second, you don't need a lot of long runs if you are consistently running high mileage. I only had 3 runs over 15 miles leading up to Rehoboth Beach: 18, 20, 22.

I also learned that the treadmill is not my friend. The day before that long run, I had done my easy run on a treadmill. And even though I kept it to a pace of around 8:50, my legs started feeling sore and achy about halfway through it. I had run a very hard workout the day before, so instead of giving my legs the chance to recover, I beat them up even further on the treadmill, and then proceeded to tackle 22 miles the following day.

Other low moments and final stats
Getting sick over the summer with my mono-like virus was obviously a huge low. Thankfully (or not) I had come down with this summer illness multiple times in the past and I knew the quickest way to recover was to simply do nothing for a few weeks. No running, no walking, no going to work, no leaving the house. With this approach, I was able to go back to work after 4 weeks and I was able to resume normal running after 6 weeks. This is short compared to the 3 months I spent sick in 2012 and 2016.

My total yearly mileage as of today is 2,350. This is my second highest-mileage year ever, and it includes six weeks off due to illness. Last year I ran just over 2,500 miles.

Here are my weekly and monthly graphs for the year:

Weekly Mileage

Monthly Mileage 2018

Happy new year and thank you to my blog readers!

Run! Geek! Run! 5K Race Report

After having run three races as training runs this summer, I was itching to race something full-out. Since getting sick for six weeks last June (combined with my history of summer illness) my new rule is to not fully exert myself in warm and humid weather. But today it was finally cool enough to race!

This race has been on my schedule since July. I knew I would want a "comeback" 5K once the weather got cooler, basically just to practice racing again, so this was it. This race used to be an 8K in

Washington DC. Now it's a 5K in Alexandria, VA. I ran the 8K back in 2011 and really enjoyed it, so I figured I would check out the 5K.

On Monday of this week, the weather for the race was looking iffy. The forecast called for 70 degrees with 95% humidity. I briefly contemplated bailing out, but decided I wouldn't make any decisions until the forecast solidified. As the week progressed, the temperatures dropped, and rain crept its way in.

In terms of goals, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. On the one hand, I hadn't been doing any 5K-specific workouts. I had two hill sprint sessions under my belt and a few short fartlek sessions (timed road intervals). But that was it. My hard workouts had been primarily focused on building lactate threshold, running between marathon pace and half marathon pace. None of these workouts were good race predictors, particularly at the 5K distance. My best-case-scenario goal was to be very close to my PR (20:17), but realistically I expected somewhere around 20:30. I definitely wanted to be sub 20:45, and probably would have been disappointed if I didn't hit that goal.

Before the Race
Race morning arrived, and I had everything set out as usual. I ate my typical english muffin with peanut butter, and mixed my UCAN with water to take 30 minutes before race start. Greg decided not to run this race, so he went as my cheerleader and photographer. When we were about 10 minutes

Warming up

into the drive, I realized I had left my UCAN on the kitchen counter. I had had it in my hand, but had briefly set it down and didn't pick it back up again. I was really frustrated with myself for this because I literally had the bottle in my hand right before we were about to leave. Oh well, I had run plenty of 5K races without UCAN before, and at least I had eaten my breakfast.

It was raining pretty heavily when we arrived. I didn't bring a top layer to warm up in and I was soaked waiting to get my bib. I pinned it on inside the car and soon it was time to warm up. Once I started running, I literally warmed up. It was about 62 degrees with a slight breeze. The rain let up slightly during my warm up and I hoped it would remain light throughout the race and not be coming down in buckets. I've raced two 5Ks in pouring rain and it definitely added an extra layer of challenge. I've also raced half marathons and full marathons in pouring rain, and I think it posed less of a challenge at those distances, because you're not going so fast that you worry about slipping on something.

I warmed up for 2.5 miles, which included some strides and drills. I then met up with my friend Cheryl, who was running, and Allison, who was spectating. We headed to the start line and started scoping out the field. Cheryl and I were the only two women up front, but we were soon joined by a woman in a Boston Marathon shirt.

Mile 1: 6:34
The race started and things felt pretty good. The course is mainly flat, with the first mile being a slight decline of 14 feet, according to Strava. I didn't have my normal "pep" off of the starting mat, so I

Mile 1

figured I would ease into my pace and just focus on staying relaxed. The woman in the Boston shirt shot out ahead and was probably about 10 seconds ahead of me. I didn't realize it at the time, but looking at the photos, I learned that I was running alongside another woman. About half a mile in, I realized that the Boston-shirted woman was running about my same pace, and wasn't widening the gap any further. When my Garmin beeped a 6:34 mile, I didn't really have any emotional reaction. Initially I had planned to go out at a pace of 6:28-6:30, but things felt hard enough.

Mile 2: 6:39
It was during this mile that I realized that I didn't have a lot of pep. I had a positive mindset and I was telling myself to push and reminding myself that I could run faster, but my body was locked in at the pace it was going, and I couldn't convince it to move any quicker. This course is an out-and-back and I slowed almost to a walk at the hairpin turn, due to the pavement being wet. Thankfully, the rain was pretty light, and not the downpour I had feared. I remained in second place throughout the mile and believed that my position was locked in.

Mile 3: 6:36

Heading toward the finish

Shortly after the second mile marker, the Boston-shirted girl ahead of me stopped running. She pulled off to the side for some reason. I continued on at my steady pace, still not able to convince myself to push any harder, and she resumed running about five seconds later. The gap between us was now a lot smaller-- probably 4-5 seconds. Still, I doubted I could catch her because I felt like I couldn't go any faster. I really wanted to catch her, but I didn't think it possible. But about half a mile later (about 2.5 miles into the race) she stopped again. I hated to be opportunistic since she was obviously hurting, but I figured since I was going to pass her, I might as well do it so quickly that if she were to start up again, she wouldn't believe that she could catch me. I somehow found another gear and pushed harder and ran faster as I passed her. She said something encouraging to me and I grunted back, as that's all the energy I had for communication.

I held a steady pace until about a quarter mile from the finish line. At that point, a spectator yelled that another woman was right behind me. Shoot! That meant I had to push harder, I simply had to! I wasn't going to lose the win in the last quarter mile. So, I somehow found it in me to rally more energy, which had previously been lacking, and I sprinted my way to a win in 20:34. I later learned that the second place female finished 8 seconds after me, and was not the woman in the Boston shirt who had stopped. According to my Garmin, I ran the last 0.13 at a pace of 5:52.

After the Race
I watched Cheryl finish about 30 seconds after me and then re-united with Greg and Allison. I then approached the Boston-shirted woman and asked her if she was okay. She said that she had just run the Berlin Marathon the previous weekend and was fighting an illness. She ended up placing third, which is a huge accomplishment considering she had to stop!

I then cooled down for two miles with Cheryl. We proceeded to collect our awards and then headed

Podium finish

for brunch. I won a bobble-head trophy and a gift certificate to a local restaurant.

Final Thoughts and Takeaways
I really wish I hadn't left my UCAN fuel at home. I lacked "pep" in this race, despite a significant taper and I think that's the culprit. However, I don't know for sure, and my result could have been the exact same if I had taken the UCAN.

I think that unless I am training specifically for a 5K, then I don't have the ability to shift into a really high gear- both mentally and physically. If this had been a four-mile race, I think my average pace would have been exactly the same. I felt like I could have continued on at that pace for quite some time, but I just couldn't bring myself to go much faster. I often feel this way in 5Ks when I am not training specifically for them. According to the McMillan calculator, this race predicts a 1:11:23 10-miler, but I'm pretty confident in my ability to run sub-1:10:00 in two weeks.

I don't have any training runs or races that indicate a sub-1:10:00 is possible, but my gut tells me I am in better shape now than when I ran my 1:10 PR in the spring of 2017. The 10-miler is also my sweet spot and the distance that I think I race the best.

It was a really nice pick-me-up to get a win and to break tape. Particularly after having taken so much time off this summer. But I'm still hungry. I'm hungry for 60+ mile weeks and PRs and the cool weather that makes those possible. I feel like I've been on the verge of being back in full swing for a while now, and I'm anxious to actually BE back in full swing.

Leesburg 20K: The ups and the downs

This morning I ran the Leesburg 20K as a training run. I'm four weeks into my comeback after six weeks of being sidelined due to illness. Last weekend I ran 10.6 miles at a pace of 8:26, so I felt like I could definitely handle the 12.4-mile distance.

The plan was to run this race alongside my friend Allison. She wanted to run the first half (all uphill) at her goal marathon pace, and then speed up on the way back. It's nearly impossible to NOT speed up during the second half of this race unless you completely waste all your energy charging uphill. Her goal pace for the first half was between 8:15-8:30 which is well within my easy range. She wanted to practice setting the pace so the plan was to let her set the pace until the turnaround point at around mile 7 and then I would set the pace on the downhill.

I've only run this race once before, in 2008. (Yes, I have a blog post on that!) I ran a time of 1:44:26 at full effort, which was my PR, since it was actually the only 20K I have ever run. I was thinking it would be nice to beat that time and set a PR but that goal was secondary to sticking with the plan. This race also has a 5K, which I ran last last year.

Before the Race
Everything with my recovery had been going along really well until Thursday of this week. The combination of not sleeping well for several nights in a row, the heat/humidity, and my first speed work ended up setting me back a bit. I was able to hit my target pace during Thursday's workout (15 minutes at 7:07) but I felt like total crap for the rest of the day and into Friday. I ran extra easy on Friday and cut the run down from 60 minutes to 45. I took an unscheduled rest day on Saturday to be on the safe side. Thankfully, I was able to dig myself out of the hole by Saturday afternoon thanks to some solid sleep, hydration, and nutrition.

I woke up feeling like my normal healthy self so I decided I would do the race as planned. I figured I could always drop out if I started to feel bad mid-race. Greg was running it too, so we did our normal pre-race routine which included fueling with Generation UCAN.

Allison and me in matching shorts
(after the race)

We arrived at the race, retrieved our bibs, used the porta-potties, and then met up with Allison and some other friends. Allison and I had coordinated our outfits beforehand and wore matching yellow shorts. She is an ambassador for rabbit running gear, and has successfully roped me into enhancing my running wardrobe with more shorts and tanks than there are days in the week. Not to mention Greg, who was wearing a new rabbit tank and shorts. (Click on that link to get a 10% discount after you are done reading!)

It was about 68 degrees with 100% humidity and partly cloudy. Thankfully we didn't have to worry too much about the sun getting us with the majority of the course being shaded.

Miles 1-3
The race started and we got pulled out at a pace of around 7:30. I hadn't warmed up so this was a huge wakeup call to my legs. But it wasn't long before we got the pace under control and my legs thanked me.

This race is deceptively hilly. There are only a few noticeable hills but the entire course is run on steady inclines. The majority of the course is on the W&OD trail (a paved bike path), which is thankfully shaded but deceiving in its elevation profile. Thankfully, both Allison and I were prepared for this so we didn't freak out when the effort felt harder than it should for the paces we were running. Greg decided to stick with us initially so the three of us ran as a pack.

Mile 1: 8:27 (59 ft gain, 24 ft loss)
Mile 2: 8:24 (28 ft gain, 26 ft loss)
Mile 3: 8:36 (127 ft gain, 91 ft loss)

Elevation profile according to Garmin

Miles 4-6
Even though my easy pace is between 8:15-8:30, this is not my easy pace going uphill. Easy probably would have been more like 8:45 with my current fitness level. So the effort was more like "moderate" which I tolerated reasonably well. Had I been running this race on my own as a training run, I probably would have been more conservative up the hills, but Allison is really strong on hills so I kept up. Greg, on the other hand, decided to dial it back around mile 4 and told us he'd see us at the finish. This was a little bit of a relief for me because I knew if I wanted to dial it back, I would be able to run with Greg. But the plan was to stick with Allison and I was holding the pace well and didn't have any signs of fatigue.

Mile 4: 8:30 (192 ft gain, 105 ft loss)
Mile 5: 8:20 (94 ft gain, 24 ft loss)
Mile 6: 8:11 (138 ft gain, 148 ft loss)

Miles 7-9
We turned around on the trail shortly after we hit the 7-mile mark. This was an enormous mental relief. But it wasn't all downhill yet. There was still a sizable hill to tackle. Mile 7 provided some
downhill respite, which made mile 8 all the more punishing as we climbed back up.

As I said earlier, the race only has a few noticeable hills and this was one of them. To rub salt in the wound, this hill was not shaded and it was up a curve. At that point, I told Allison to run ahead and I might catch up with her on the downhill. I knew I needed to take it easy up that hill if I wanted to have any leg power to finish the race.

So now Allison was ahead of me and Greg behind me, and I was all alone to pace myself. On one hand, this meant less accountability, but on the other hand (the better hand) it meant less pressure to go fast in this race setting and potentially over-do it. The hill finally ended at mile 8.5 and I welcomed the rest of the downhill, shaded mile with open arms and was pleased to see my pace shoot down with no added effort.

Mile 7: 8:15 (37 ft. gain, 82 ft loss)
Mile 8: 8:21 (91 ft. gain, 30 ft loss)
Mile 9: 7:56 (124 ft. gain, 158 ft loss)

Miles 10-Finish
At this point, I was definitely ready for the race to be done. Even though I was running at a "moderate" effort, it was warm and a longer distance than I had run in three months. I gave myself permission to slow down and go easier, but I was in a groove that felt natural so I pressed on. Of course, my competitive mind was wondering what pace I needed to maintain to set a PR and beat my 1:44:26 from ten years ago. I didn't want to be foolish and relapse into illness just to set a PR in a race I wasn't even racing. But I also felt like it was attainable at my moderate effort.

Meanwhile, Allison was no longer in view. Initially, we were talking about speeding up to around 7:50 once the downhill part came. But she was obviously running much faster than that and I didn't attempt to reach her.

The last portion of the race was actually flat, which felt difficult after nearly four miles of downhill running. And the shade went away. But with less than a mile to go, I knew I could hang in there and continue at the same pace, even though it meant increasing effort.

I rallied and pushed myself up one final hill, confident that I would PR.

Mile 10: 7:50 (67 ft gain, 143 ft loss)
Mile 11: 7:51 (130 ft gain, 178 ft loss)
Mile 12: 7:49 (0 ft gain, 85 ft loss)
Last 0.5: 7:54 pace (18 ft gain, 12 ft loss)

After the race
I crossed the finish line in 1:42:42, which is a PR by nearly two minutes! The official pace was 8:16. Maybe this warrants PR cake, which I have not had since January.

I placed 43 out of 334 women
I placed 10 out of 61 in my age group (35-39)

I am happy with these results given all the time off and the effort level.  Immediately after crossing, someone approached me and told me that my book helped her qualify for Boston. I was more happy to hear that than I was to be finished with that race. I LOVE it when people tell me that my book has helped them. I would have liked to have had more of a conversation with her, but I was still recovering from that final uphill push and in need of water.

And then I saw Greg cross the finish line in 1:43:58. So he wasn't all that far behind. Allison, on the other hand, smoked it! She crushed her goal in 1:40:32, and that wasn't even all-out race effort for her.

It was an exciting finish line with so many of my friends finishing shortly before and after me. We spent some time chatting and exchanging race stories. The theme for me was "am I okay, given how crappy I felt on Thursday and Friday" and the answer was yes. I had some minor dizziness and a slight nauseous feeling, but those are normal for me when I run long in the heat.

I achieved all of my goals except for the goal of staying with Allison. And I'm happy to NOT have achieved that since it means that she exceeded what she thought she would do. I should also mention that exactly 4 weeks ago, I ran a 5K training run at a pace of 8:46. And now I can run 4 times that distance at a pace of 8:16 at the same effort level. Comebacks are awesome.

The morning went even better than I could have hoped. I feel great, I didn't over-do it, I got to run with Allison, I had fun, and I even PR'ed! This means that I can continue training (with some caution, of course) and pushing toward my fall race goals.

Respect the 5K!

Now that I have run over 50 5K races I can confidently say that it does not get any easier. In fact, it feels like it's getting harder for me.

Am I saying this because I'm just coming off of a marathon training cycle and I'm not used to running hard and fast? Maybe. I think that today's race gave me a new perspective on the 5K distance. I'm not discouraged by this perspective, but I think I have a bigger challenge ahead of me than I previously believed if I ever want to run under 20 minutes. Today marks the 1-year anniversary of my official fastest 5K time: 20:17. I've run about 7 5Ks since then and have not been able to go any faster. Granted, I have spent most of that time training for marathons, but at some point I really want to breakthrough this plateau.

Meanwhile, I haven't even raced a 10K in over a year. My fastest 10K and fastest 5K paces are only about 10 seconds apart, so I feel like I have much more opportunity in the 5K. But then. . . it's always harder than I expect.

This morning I raced the Semper Fi 5K in Washington DC. This is my third time running this race. As I said above, I ran my fastest ever time on this course exactly one year ago. The two big differences between today's race and last year's race are the fact that I haven't been training for the 5K distance (last year I had 6 solid weeks behind me), and the weather. It was about 10 degrees warmer this year than last. But still, I was hopeful that I would set a PR. I thought sub-20 was probably a stretch with the heat and humidity, but I really thought I could squeak under 20:17 based on how fast my track workouts were during marathon training.

Before the race
This race did not have race-day packet pickup like it has in years past, so luckily my friend Allison was able to get the bibs for Greg and me. Greg and I met up with Allison and Cheryl, pinned on our bibs, and warmed up to the start line. The race started at 8:30 which annoyed me slightly. If you aren't offering race day bib pickup, then can't you start at 7:30? I guess the race organizers wanted to offer the option of using metro as transportation.

We warmed up for just over two miles and returned to the start line at 7:20. We lined up, in the corral and starting chatting among ourselves. I noticed that it looked like the race was getting ready to start, even though it wasn't even 8:25 yet. And suddenly. . . HONK! The horn went off, catching everyone off guard and the race started five minutes early.

Thankfully, we were lined up and ready, but I can't say the same for some of the other runners who were still finishing their warm ups. Starting a race late is annoying, but starting a race early can really screw things up for people who are finishing their last-minute preparations.

Mile 1
Still in shock by the early start, I realized I was thankful for even 5 minutes of slightly cooler weather. It was 70 degrees and humid, with partly cloudy skies. I went out at a pace of 6:25 and it felt really good. I thought to myself, this feels really comfortable and I will definitely be able to run this pace the whole time! I could tell that Greg was right behind me and I thought it would be great if we could stick together for the whole race.

Initially, there were two women ahead of me, but I passed one of them about 3/4 of the way through the first mile. I was now in second place. But then, a woman came up from behind and passed me as we approached the mile 1 marker. I assume she must have been one of the people who missed the start of the race and had to work her way up in the pack. I was once again the third female. My 1-mile split was 6:25.

Mile 2
Shortly after the mile marker, I felt myself slowing down, even though I was keeping the effort level
steady. And then I got a cramp in my chest. It was uncomfortable but I was able to still run through it. The race suddenly became very difficult. I pushed harder in order to try and maintain my pace but it was not happening. I was getting slower and slower but pushing harder and harder.

Greg was a few feet ahead of me at the turnaround point, and then he widened the gap even farther as we made our way back toward the finish line. I kept reminding myself that it was supposed to hurt and that hurt = happy, but it wasn't helping. I wanted to stop so badly. And I momentarily told myself I would never run another 5K again. I didn't think there was any way I would make it to the finish line. It took every ounce of mental strength I had to not stop and walk. And yes, this was still during mile 2! My split was 6:42.

Mile 3
I tried to rally for the final mile, as that was part of my original race strategy. I wanted the final mile to be my fastest as it has been in years past. The best way to describe mile 3 is torture. I was in so much pain and even though I knew I wasn't going to PR, I told myself I had to "practice" the feeling of pain so that when my PR day arrived, I would be able to take full advantage of it.

I think success in the 5K is largely dependent on how much pain tolerance you have. I can be moderately uncomfortable for a long time in a half or full marathon. But I struggle to allow myself to feel so much pain, even for a short period of time. I decided I would salvage the race by practicing the act of continuing to give, give, give even when I felt like I had nothing to give. I logged a 6:47 split for the final mile. This was followed by a 6:25 paced run to the finish line.

After the Race
I felt like I needed to collapse after I crossed the finish. I found a nearby tree to lean on. And then it took 2-3 minutes to be able to talk to Greg, who had finished in 20:18. Thankfully, I was able to see Allison and Cheryl finish although instead of cheering I just waved my arms.

That was a MASSIVE amount of effort and quite torturous. And it got me a time of 20:40. Sigh. I have to admit I'm little bit discouraged but in a positive way. I have even more respect for the 5K distance so when I do finally break 20, it will feel like more of an accomplishment. I think that going sub-20 this summer will be a long shot, although not entirely impossible.

I'm pleased that I had so much "fight" in me this morning, as compared to the Crystal City 5K I ran in early April. During that race the last mile was into a headwind and uphill and I just didn't have the motivation to fight for it.

Me, Allison, and Cheryl

In hindsight, do I think I should have gone out slower? Actually, no. I think that the best pacing strategy is probably to go out hard and try to hang on. It was very difficult to hold on during the second half of the race so if I had started slower, it would have been even more difficult to motivate myself to run faster. I think I am going to have to keep doing that if I want to test my limits. It would be one thing if I totally crashed and burned like I did in Crystal City. But I held it together just well enough to not be crawling at the end.

After the race, we got our awards and did a cool down jog back to the car, followed by brunch.

To sum up the key takeaways:

• Sub-20 or even setting a PR will be more difficult than I expected; I have a lot of work to do
• This race was excellent practice for pushing through the pain and suffering
• I have this experience to channel when I run future races
• I had fun! I got to hang out with Allison, Cheryl, and of course Greg
• It's not a warm-weather PR but it's a warm-and-humid PR!

Two more weeks of training and then I'll put myself through this whole ordeal again!