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.

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

New Year's Day 5K: Workout or Race?

Yesterday morning I ran the New Year New Day 5K in Ashburn, VA. This race was a last-minute decision for me. I was pretty sure I was NOT going to run a New Year's race because I had done two 10Ks in December-- one of which I didn't blog about because there wasn't too much to say!

But as I was putting together my training plan I realized that I had speed work on tap for Monday, and that also happened to be New Year's Day. Whenever I can run my speed workout in a race, I do it! I like being in the race environment and seeing my friends. The fact that my friend Cheryl would be the official race photographer sealed the deal. 

I registered for the race on Friday and decided it would be my tempo run for the week. On Saturday, I ran my longest run since the marathon: 11.7 miles. It was supposed to be 12 but I arrived back home at 11.7 and my legs were pretty tired from Thursday's strength training session. 

On Sunday I did a 3-mile recovery run and my legs were still sore! If I had not registered for the race, I would have likely pushed my speed work to Tuesday. The soreness didn't bode well for fast running on Monday. Anyway, I ended up with 1,566 miles for the year in 2023. Much lower than my typical 2000-2500, but that was by design. And the spring "down season" seemed to work in my favor come fall!

Before the Race
Because I was viewing this as a workout, I didn't pay attention to what I ate the day before the race. And on race morning I didn't have my typical urge to go to the bathroom. The whole thing was super casual. The race started at 10:00am which meant I needed to eat more than I typically would before a 5K.

I had a Maurten Solid + a handful of almond butter pretzels at 8:00. 

As soon as Greg and I arrived at the race site, my body got the message that it was "go time" and so I was able to clear out my digestive system. Sorry if this is TMI, but it's an important part of pre-race prep!

Warm up with Greg in background

I had not studied the course in advance. I had run this race in the past - but it had been on a differentcourse. They moved the race to a new location this year. My friend Cheryl had sent me the map in advance and I could tell that the race started downhill, flattened out and then finished uphill.

I was pleasantly surprised to run into my friend Lisa when I was picking up my bib! She also had registered for the race on Friday. 

I warmed up for about two miles and had my Maurten gel. I timed the gel for a 10:00am start and then learned that the 10K start was 10:00, and the 5K start was 10:10. Oh well! This allowed me to get in more of a warm up anyway.

It was 41 degrees with 10-15 mph winds and overcast. The wind and the lack of sunlight made it feel closer to 31 degrees. I give this an 8 out of 10 on my race weather scale. Everything was ideal except for the headwind during the first half of the race. And it was also damp feeling (it started to wet-snow shortly after we finished!) When I took my jacket off after the warm up I was very, very cold! 

Mile 1: We started running and I decided to go with whatever I felt like doing. No target pace, no target effort - just go with the flow and run hard. I think there must have been a high school boy's cross country team at this race because there was a pack of about 15 guys ahead of me. One woman surged way ahead of me but aside from here, there were no other women ahead of me. 

The first mile was downhill so I took it fast, but the headwind was also a factor. I think the headwind negated the advantage of the downhill. But that just meant the final uphill would like have a tailwind - so it was the ideal setup of wind and hills. I didn't look at my Garmin much and it clocked in at 6:32 for mile 1. 

Mile 2: During this mile I started passing other runners - both 5K and 10K runners. The 10K had started 10 minutes prior so I was beginning to catch up with the walkers. As for the other 5K runners, it was fun to pick off the high school boys one by one as I cruised through mile 2. I don't really remember the elevation here but it seemed to be gently rolling hills - nothing too challenging. We still had a headwind and I was dying to turn out of that wind! My split was 6:36.

13-yr old boy vs. 45-yr old woman

Mile 3: This mile was all about passing people. There was a teenage boy (13-year old) in a bright orange/red outfit ahead of me and I followed him through the crowd of 10K runners. The 10K runners were all very encouraging as we ran past them. As I caught up to the boy in red, he surged until I caught up with him again and then he surged. I could tell he did not want me passing him. I was glad I was there to push him! My split was 6:28. This mile was net uphill, but it was the fastest mile because the headwind was gone and I guess I finally warmed up!

The final 0.26: When my watch beeped for 3 miles, the finish line was nowhere in sight. I really hoped the course wouldn't be too much longer than a 5K! I was now ahead of the 13-year old and riding the tails of a 16-year old - but he surged and didn't let me pass him. 

Finally I crossed the finish line in 21:11, second place female. Here is a video of me crossing the finish line.

After the Race
Surprisingly, I was not totally dead after this and immediately was able to start my cool down. Usually I need like 5-10 minutes to recover after a 5K. So I jogged back onto the sidewalk of the course and found Lisa and ran in with her. 

Then I found Greg and we had THE BEST EVER post-race food. In all my years of racing, I have never encountered something so amazing. Hot Belgian waffles on a stick, and you could choose a drizzle flavor and a crunch topping. And there were so many options. 

I chose dark chocolate drizzle with Oreo. Greg chose apple cinnamon drizzle with sea salt. I normally never want food for at least an hour after I race, but I was so excited about this waffle. We later found Lisa and her husband and the four of us hung out for a while until the awards ceremony started. 

My award was a glass, a stainless steel water bottle and $20 off any of the Loudon County races in 2024. It was a wonderful way to spend New Year's Day and I am so glad I did this race!

Final Thoughts and Key Takeaways
I am really loving this "chill" attitude towards racing. It's making me run so fast without me even trying that hard. 

• I definitely didn't feel like I was racing this at 5K effort, given how great I felt at the finish line. 
• Maybe I was racing it at full effort but my carefree mindset masked the effort.
• Maybe if I did race a 5K all-out right now I would be much faster?
• The course was not certified, so instead of looking at this as a time of 21:11, I am looking at my average pace of 6:32. 
• According to Strava, my 5K time during this race was 20:17, which would be tied for my 4th fastest ever 5K. 
• It was interesting the wind negated the advantage/disadvantage of the uphill/downhill. So the first downhill headwind mile was slower than the last uphill tailwind mile.
• Considering I ran nearly 12 miles two days prior, this was a strong performance!
• If they do this race next year, I hope they get the course certified and continue to have the waffles.

As I go into 2024, I'm going to focus on enjoying races and being "present" in them as opposed to in my head with the Garmin and the pace I'm looking at. If I run by feel, I can trust that my body will do what it can!

Finish Line

Lisa and me

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.

The Perfect 10: Perfectly Wet!

I was supposed to run the Susquehanna River Half Marathon yesterday, but it was cancelled due to a tropical storm. This did not come as a surprise to me as the course runs over a mile-long bridge and the forecast called for gusts of over 35 mph. Thankfully I was able to cancel my hotel room with no penalty and the race offered a 50% voucher towards next year's event. I was really excited about the course so I hope to do it next year.

So instead of running the half marathon yesterday, I ran a local ten-mile race day called "The Perfect 10." Runners choose between a 10K or a 10 miler. I had run this same course back in 2015, also as a backup race for a half marathon that was canceled due to weather. My time was 1:15:31 back then. I reviewed my Strava data to get re-acquainted with the course profile and I remembered running a really strong race.

Why is this race always my backup and not my goal race? Mainly because it's not in a particularly exciting location, or a location that's new to me. It's also quite hilly. And I prefer half marathon tune-up races over 10 mile races. But I do enjoy races put on by our local running store, Potomac River Running. I knew the race would be well managed and I'd probably know other runners.

I received the cancellation email when I woke up on Friday morning. I registered for the 10 miler that same day and went to pick up my bib. On Saturday morning the storm was in full swing so I did my shakeout run on the treadmill: an easy 30 minutes.

Before the Race
I was quite indecisive about my outfit. On the one hand, it was forecast to be 62 degrees, which meant shorts and a sports bra. On the other hand, it was supposed to be rainy and windy which meant it would feel colder. I remembered the Firecracker 5K from July when I raced in a wet tank top and the cooling effect it had. So I figured I would wear a form-fitted tank top and longer-than-normal compression shorts. The hope was that these clothes would feel cool against my body and be tight enough not to be flapping around.

On the topic of weather, I give this weather a 6 out of 10 on my race weather scale. It was 62 degrees with 100% humidity and a light steady rain. Thankfully the wind was light at around 8 mph. If it had rained any harder, I would have given this a 5. If it didn't rain at all, I would have given this a 4. But it was the PERFECT amount of rain to keep me cool without being a heavy downpour. So, yay for the perfect rain!

We arrived about an hour before the race started. I drank a serving of UCAN Energy Powder in the car. I have been using this more and more before my long runs and it's been working well. There was a time when I had stopped using it due to stomach distress but I think that was a one-off incident. After that was done, I used the bathroom and started my warm up. 

The original plan was to run at least 13 miles so I would have the distance of a half marathon, but then I realized that 1 or 2 extra miles would not make a difference in the grand scheme of things so I warmed up for 2.3 miles. 

Greg played the role of cheerleader and videographer for this race. His injury is finally starting to heal but he's not ready to run quite yet. He wore a big poncho that was the same shade of red as the demons in the movie The Village. We had just watched this movie a week prior so it was fresh in our minds. Those demons where referred to "Those of Whom We Do Not Speak" so we kept making jokes about how Greg was one of Those of Whom We Do Not Speak. If you saw the movie and Greg in the poncho, you'd get it.

Miles 1-3
The 10K and 10 mile runners started together. After 6 miles the 10K runners would turn off towards the finish line and the 10-mile runners would run a 4-mile loop to get to the same finish line. I didn't really

Mile 1, photo by Cheryl Young

have a time goal for this race. It was too hilly for it to be a true predictor of my Marine Corps Marathon time, so I decided it would be nice to beat my 2015 time (1:15:31) by at least two minutes, and ideally run under 1:13. If I was having a good day, maybe I could squeak under 1:12.

The race started and I realized it was on the small side for a Potomac River Running race. I think a lot of people must have bailed due to the weather. My physical therapist was supposed to run it and I didn't see him. I am guessing his absence was not weather-related though. 

The roads were soaked and I didn't even try to dodge the puddles. I did have to be extra careful with the potholes and there were places with a lot of fallen acorns that were also challenging. 

I took a caffeinated Maurten gel about 5 minutes into the race. It didn't sit well and I had a nauseous feeling for the next 10 minutes.  

I remembered my 2015 splits and and pacing. I paced it really well in 2015 so I tried to mimic that strategy. The first three miles were hilly but they were mostly equal parts uphill and equal parts downhill.

Mile 1: 7:03
Mile 2: 7:05
Mile 3: 7:18

Miles 4-6
As you can see, my pacing wasn't exactly going in the right direction. But I wasn't discouraged because I knew I was keeping the effort steady. In 2015, mile 4 was my slowest mile. So I gave myself some grace here. I knew, however, that I would be rewarded with a very fast mile 5. As I was giving myself grace, two runners passed me. One of whom was a female. I glanced at her bib to see if she was running the 10K or the 10 mile. I could see that the corner of it was a darker shade of blue which meant she was in the 10 miler. I told myself not to get too competitive at this stage in the game. I could catch up later.

She was ahead of me for maybe half a mile and then as we started descending the hill I was able to pass her. 

I saw Greg at mile 6 as we approached the start/finish, which is where the 10K runners were turning off. At this point, he told me that I was in second place. I honestly had no idea where I was in the field because I couldn't tell which runners were in the 10K vs. the 10 miler. But second place, that was pretty awesome. I hoped I could hold onto that. 

Mile 4: 7:25
Mile 5: 6:55
Mile 6: 7:04

Miles 7-10
I knew to expect that miles 7 and 8 were net uphill and miles 9 and 10 were net downhill. Mentally I told myself I just had to get to mile marker 9 and then I would mostly be done with the uphill. It didn't exactly
go that way and the ups and downs weren't exactly where I expected. But I told myself just to roll with it. I had another Maurten gel at the start of the 7th mile - this time without the caffeine. I only had half of it though because I didn't need the whole thing to get me through about 30 minutes of work. It didn't sit well but thankfully I was only uncomfortable for a few minutes. 

My legs were starting to feel pretty beat up by this point. They had zero pep going up the hills. I did not feel like I had strong legs at all. From a cardiovascular perspective, I think I had a little more to give. But my legs didn't want any part of it!

Running to the finish!

My biggest focus now was to hang in there enough so that the woman I had passed earlier in the race didn't catch up. I wanted to solidify my second place position. 

Unfortunately mile 9 was not the big downhill I had expected based on the elevation data. But mile 10 had a nice decline. 

The finish of this race was not nice. They had us run through the high school parking lot, down a hill, and then do a hairpin turn to come back up that same hill! And then down a hill with a few turns onto a track. But we only got to run about 100 meters on the track. At the hairpin turn I saw my competition about 20 seconds behind me. If she had a good final kick she could maybe close the gap. This motivated me to give it all I had, while also minding the pot holes and bumpy pavement in the school parking lot.

Mile 7: 7:42 (yikes!)
Mile 8: 7:25
Mile 9: 7:27
Mile 10: 7:03
Last 0.06 on my Garmin: 6:38 pace

I sprinted through the finish line with an official time of 1:12:53. I was the second female finisher! The First place female was over 8 minutes ahead of me; there was no attempt to catch her. 

After the Race
I reunited with Greg and it wasn't long before my typical dry heaving started. This was never an issue in my 30s. But once I turned 40 it's happened at almost every race longer than a 10K. And if it's not dry heaving, it's actual vomit.

Instead of doing a cool down run I decided to prioritize getting warm. Even though it was 62 degrees I was soaked and I did not want to risk hypothermia. I learned my lesson on that last year! I changed into dry clothing immediately and waited for the awards to start. 

I won a gift certificate to the running store which more than made up for the registration fee. Then we drove home and I was quick to get into a nice warm bath.

Final Thoughts and Key Takeaways
During the race and immediately after I wasn't too pleased with my performance. It got very hard in the last 4 miles and I slowed down. But the more I thought about it from all angles, the more I realized that this was a strong performance. 

• Even though I had better pacing in 2015, it was 35 degrees cooler back then (the early March rendition of this same race).
• 
  Speaking of 2015, my original goal was to beat that time by two minutes, and I beat it by more than 2:30! In much warmer weather!
• Speaking of weather, even though the rain made this manageable for me, the humidity still posed a
  challenge. Running these kind of paces in temps above 60 degrees is really good for me. Especially on hills.
• Speaking of hills, I am sure I used extra muscles to stabilize myself on the downhills with the wet pavement. You have to be careful running downhill on wet pavement to not bite it! Especially in the adidas Adios Pro which has almost no traction.
• This course is not a good predictor for what I will be able to accomplish at MCM. All things being equal, the McMillan Running Calculator has me at 3:24. But all things will not be equal because MCM is far less hilly, and should be cooler. I'll also have an additional 5 weeks of training under my belt. So my MCM goal of sub 3:20 seems realistic if the stars align.
• Speaking of 5 weeks of training - I'm getting so close! I really only have two big weeks ahead of me and then I go on a cruise. During which I pray not to get sick. I know it's not the smartest idea to go on a cruise two weeks before a marathon, but my sister invited me and we haven't been on vacation together in a long time.

Provided that I don't get sick and that we don't have tropical weather on race day, I think I am good to go for Marine Corps. I have been having some minor high hamstring irritation, but I am keeping that under control with physical therapy. Today's race did not seem to make it worse; I hope I still feel this way tomorrow morning. 

Overall a fun morning and I am really glad I showed up!

Spontaneous Fiesta 5K

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I am taking an off season from racing this spring. Thus, my blogging frequency has declined. 

My reasons for taking an off season were to focus on strength training, to give myself a mental break, and to fully recover from Covid. I haven't taken an optional off season since I started racing in 2005!  It's been nice not having to adhere to a rigid schedule and feeling more free with my runs in terms of pace and distance. My goal has been to maintain a base of around 30 miles per week with a maximum of one harder effort per week. 

Of course this is probably the nicest spring I've ever experienced in terms of running weather. In February and March it was unseasonably warm which meant I didn't have to layer up. In April and May it's been unseasonably cool with low humidity. Almost every morning in May has been below 60 degrees, which is unheard of.  The past few mornings have even dipped into the 40s. I could have raced almost any weekend and had great weather! 

I succumbed to my temptations a few weeks ago when my friend Cheryl was racing the Fiesta 5K. The forecast was looking amazing, it was a flat course, and I didn't have plans for that morning. So I made the decision the day before the race to run it with her and I registered on site. 

The race was on Saturday May 6 and held in honor of Cinco de Mayo. I didn't have a goal time or a goal range or a pacing strategy or anything. I didn't come up with a race plan until about 15 minutes before the race. So unlike me! But that's the fun of having an off season.

The one thing I knew was that I did NOT want to run this race at 100% effort. I hadn't done enough hard workouts to prepare for that mentally and I wanted to keep this fun - not painful! Once again, the complete opposite of my usual race mentality.

Before the Race
The plan was to have a banana at home and then take a UCAN gel 30 minutes before race start. After eating half of the banana, I realized I shouldn't be doing that. I recently starting taking thyroid medication for mild hypothyroidism and you are supposed to take it first thing in the morning and then not eat anything for an hour. Otherwise it doesn't get absorbed. This will definitely impact race morning going forward. If I want to take my medication correctly, I will have to wake up even earlier to be able to take the pill, wait one hour, and then eat breakfast 2 hours before race start.

I am not sure if I blogged about it but I was treated for hypothyroidism back in 2019 using desecrated pig thyroid hormone. It was an over the counter supplement and it really worked to get my labwork numbers looking strong. However, I didn't notice any difference in how I felt so I stopped taking it six months later, thinking it wasn't that important. Back in January, my levels spiked with Covid and when they came back down they were still a little high, so my doctor decided to treat me with the prescription meds. 

I was reluctant to this because I don't have symptoms of hypothyroidism except for fatigue during the day.  I always attributed that fatigue to running 50+ miles a week but it's possible that my thyroid could be contributing. I generally don't like taking medication unless absolutely necessary, but I agreed to try it. After having been on it for over a month, I realized (through internet articles) that it wasn't like a vitamin/supplement. Once you are on it, you likely need to be on it for life. It's the same thyroid hormone your body makes naturally and you become dependent on the pill for that hormone. Yikes. Thankfully I haven't had any adverse side effects and I am feeling really good. So for now I will continue with it.

Back to the race. I arrived an hour before race start because I still had to register. I registered and then got in line for the porta potties. The line was not moving at all. After standing there for about 5-10 minutes, someone realized that nobody was coming out of the porta potties and they were actually locked with zip ties! And then it took awhile to find someone who could cut the zip ties. I was happy I got in line when I did because the line behind me was massive. 

I then went back to my car and pinned on my bib and took my UCAN gel. I texted Cheryl and she said she was headed my way. She had picked out green shorts and a red sports bra due to the Cinco De Mayo theme. I matched with the exact same green shorts and red bra! We looked so cute together! 

We warmed up for just under a mile. Normally I would warm up for at least 15 minutes, but I wasn't taking this race very seriously! We did some strides and that got the legs moving. I decided to wear my adidas Adios Pro running shoes because I needed whatever boost in speed I could get. And those are my fastest shoes. 

Race Purpose
So if I wasn't going to be racing at 100% effort, why was I there? Lots of reasons:

• Could not resist the perfect 50-degree low-humidity low-wind weather
• Wanted to spend time with Cheryl
• Missed the racing atmosphere and wanted to be part of it
• Wanted run my first tempo since the Houston Marathon

At the start line I decided my goal would be to let Cheryl set the pace and try to keep up with her. I had no idea what kind of speed I had in me, and I had no idea if I would be able to keep up! But I decided I would try to keep up so long as I wasn't killing myself to do it.

Mile 1: 6:55
Cheryl went out harder than expected! My initial thought was that there was NO WAY I would be doing this for 3.1 miles. This was probably because I didn't have a sufficient warm up so it was really a shock to my system. But after a few minutes I settled in and felt decent. The best part about this race was that our outfits matched! We got a lot of comments on our outfits and it was fun trying to keep up with someone who was wearing my same gear. 

Mile 2: 6:55
She was so consistent with her pacing. The course was mostly flat with some minor inclines and declines. Nothing that I would consider a "hill" -- just some gentle slopes. It was not easy keeping up with her, she was running really strong. But I felt like it was manageable. 

Mile 3: 7:15
The headline here is a bit misleading. About a quarter into this mile, my shoelace came undone, just like in Houston! They came untied despite the double knot. This was a different pair than the Houston pair and I tied them super tightly. But I really should have tucked the loops under. Never before has this happened to me in a race and now it has happened twice in a row. 

So I stopped to tie my shoe. It was annoying and Cheryl would now be way ahead of me. Once the shoe was securely tied, I slowly closed the gap between Cheryl. Strava credits me with a 7:02 mile, meaning I spent 13 seconds tying my laces: PRETTY FAST LACE TIE!

Last 0.18: 6:19 pace
While I had been gradually closing the gap during the last mile, I really hammered it during the final stretch in order to be able to finish with Cheryl. It was fun to kick it really hard at the end, and I finished one second behind her. 

After the Race
Cheryl finished in 22:16 and I finished in 22:17. This meant we were 2nd and 3rd overall females! I won a $40 Visa gift card which was exactly the cost of the race registration, so it all evened out!  And then we went out for brunch afterwards. 

This race reminded me why I love racing so much. It's the atmosphere, my friends, the outfits, the energy, and winning age group awards!

I was pleasantly surprised that I could run as fast as I did an have it feel like a tempo, not a race. This means that my "off season" has not been detrimental to my fitness and I've still got it!

Greg, aka my race photographer, was unable to come because he had to work. He's on a new project and he's been working weekends. I think things should be easing up soon for him though!

Feed Fairfax 5K: Hello Humidity!

This morning I ran the Feed Fairfax 5K. This race was on my radar last year for the inaugural event, but I was injured and unable to run. 

This race starts about three miles from my house, making it the closest race to where I live. There used to be one that was a little closer, but they stopped running it five years ago. The coolest thing about this race

is that the course runs through a neighborhood that I am very familiar with. It's an expansive neighborhood with (relatively) little traffic so it's great for tempos and speed work. I often run a warm up to that neighborhood, do a workout, and then run home for the cool down. 

With the course map in hand, I knew exactly what I was in for. I have run those streets over a thousand times, so it was nice to feel 100% prepared from a knowing-the-course perspective. There aren't a ton of hills in that neighborhood, but depending on how you run it, it can be challenging with the little rollers and the longer inclines. 

Before the Race
Greg's marathon is now just two weeks away! He had his final long run on schedule: 18 miles with 9 at marathon pace. I am his coach, I felt like this workout would build his confidence and help him lock in that marathon pace feeling. Our plan was for him to warm up with me, stop to take photos of me during the first mile, and then meet up with me for a cool down post race. He would start his marathon pace miles after 8 easy miles. 

I didn't sleep well last night due to digestive issues that kept me up for over an hour. I woke up naturally at around 5:15. I often have pre-race dreams that my race course has obstacles like staircases, going inside of buildings, etc. Last night, I had a new one: the street was carpeted. It was a blue/grey carpet, and on the thinner side. I can still visualize it in my mind. As part of this dream, another race director (a female) had "stolen" the race from the actual director (a male) and therefore everything was messed up because the race had been stolen. It was an "imposter" race and the actual race would occur on Sunday because the Saturday one was stolen. My subconscious is fascinating!

Anyway, shortly after waking up I had a banana, water + electrolytes, and some almond butter pretzels. I have decided that almond butter filled pretzels from Wegmans are pretty much the best pre-race fuel. I snack on them in the days leading up to a marathon or half marathon, and I eat them for breakfast before shorter races. 

I prepared Greg's UCAN drink. Greg has switched from fueling with Gu to fueling with UCAN. For this run, he had the Energy Powder beforehand and two of the Edge gels during.

Even though the race was close to home, we drove there so we would have a place to stash our stuff. We arrived at 7:20 (for a race start of 8:00) and parked about half a mile from the start/finish. We thought that it would be a good spot for Greg to take photos. 

Pre-race warm up

We ran to the start area where I got my bib and pinned it to my sports bra. We then continued to warm up together until the race was about to start. I had a caffeinated Maurten gel 12 minutes before the start to give myself some extra pep. 

The Weather
As I said in my previous post, I much preferred the hypothermia-inducing pouring rain and wind to heat and humidity. At least from a performance standpoint. I ran a time of 20:43 at last week's race and was only working at about 85% effort to do it. I perform well when it's cold. 

This morning, it was 66 degrees with a dew point of 64. It was foggy and misty. There were even times of very light rain. This would be challenging weather even if I were acclimated. But I was definitely not acclimated so it was extra challenging. On my race weather scale, it gets a 3 out of 10. Last weekend's race got a 4 out of 10. That was probably a high 4. Today was probably a low 3.

Goals and Strategy
Time-wise I wanted to run sub-21 for this race. But more importantly, I wanted to execute well. The idea was to run around the same time as last weekend, but run the race much harder. At FULL 5K effort, rather than 85% effort. 

Mile 1: 6:34
This mile was downhill the entire way. It wasn't a steep down hill, but a nice, long gradual downhill aiding you the entire time. It would have been a dream to end with this mile! As I said above, this neighborhood can be super fast or relatively challenging depending how you run it. I expected a lot of the runners to sprint this (because there was a prize for the first male and first female to get to mile 1), but I held back. My strategy was to run this mile hard, but not to get carried away by the downhill. I wanted to save some gas for the rest of the race. 

Even though it was the first mile and it was downhill, it felt WAY harder than last weekend's mile 3 - which was flat, and was 6:20. It must have been a really magical final mile last weekend to run a 6:20 and have it be not all that hard. . . when it wasn't even downhill!

Anyway, many runners sprinted across the start line and I held back a little. Sure enough, about a quarter mile into the race, I was passing people. It was annoying to have to weave so much, but I didn't want to be stuck behind runners that were slowing down. It wasn't long before I saw Greg and that definitely pumped me up. When I saw him, there were three women ahead of me and I was in 4th place. 

Mile 2: 6:46
This mile was all about passing other runners. Shortly after the first mile marker, I realized that I was closing in on the pack in front of me. There were 4 runners: a boy who looked to be about 10 years old, two men, and one woman. We ran up a very gradual, long incline and I started to increase my effort. I first passed the boy, who said to me "You got this!" I replied back "You got this too!" That boy's energy was amazing! 

Next I passed the two men and the woman, which put me in third place. The other two women were way far ahead and I knew there would be no catching them. Having people to pass really motivated me and helped me stay strong mentally. 

Mile 3: 6:46
Another net uphill mile. I was really pleased with my execution, and that I had enough gas to keep my pace steady. This mile also had some gentle declines, and because I knew exactly where they would be, I took advantage of them. I passed a few more runners in this mile, too.

It wasn't long before I saw the elementary school which signaled the final turn would be coming up. Seeing that school made me realize how close I was to the finish so I was able to pick up the pace a little

Photo by Cheryl Young

with that thought in mind. 

I turned the corner and Greg was there, and cheered me on. He ran with me for a tiny bit, but obviously he wasn't looking to keep up with me!

The Finish
The last 0.16 was a pace of 6:25 according to my Garmin. Not a super fast final kick for a 5K, but it was all uphill. 

My official time was 21:06, and I was the third female finisher. I was totally gassed after crossing the finish line and I knew I had given it everything I had. After catching my breath and recovering, I found Greg and we did a cool down together. We then parted ways, I ran back to the car and drove it closer to the start/finish area. I put on a dry t-shirt and a light jacket over that. It was 68 degrees, but I was wet from the mist, and I didn't want a repeat of last weekend!

After the Race
My friend Cheryl was taking photos at the finish line, so I hung out with her there for a bit before the awards ceremony started. The awards ceremony was cool because they had a giant-sized check for the winners. Even though it was made it in the amount that the overall winners received, they wanted first, second, and third place runners to hold the check. So that was fun. I won $50 cash for coming in third!

The first and second place ladies both reported being slower than expected. I think by about a minute each, so that was validating! The humidity was pretty brutal. 

Top male and female finishers

This Feed Fairfax race helps feed Fairfax County residents. After the race, runners had the opportunity to assemble bags of food for those in need. I wanted to fill a bag but by the time I got there, the line was too long and I would miss the awards ceremony. I admit I still feel badly about not putting a bag together. Next year I will make a point of doing so. 

Final Thoughts and Key Takeaways
While I didn't get my goal time of sub-21:00, I was only 6 seconds off! And I was very pleased with how I paced and executed this race. I think I am most proud of having miles 2 and 3 be the same pace, and not THAT much slower than the first downhill mile. It was also nice to be able to pass so many runners in the second half of the race. 

It's crazy to think that running at 100% effort, I was about 20 seconds slower than when running 85% effort. The humidity was definitely a challenge and I guess this was my introduction to the many humid days ahead that await me!

My average heart rate for this race was 182, maxing out at 201. Last weekend, my average heart rate was 163, maxing out at 185. WOW. In terms of training my heart-rate back to it's pre-covid state, I think this race definitely helped. I definitely sent a message to my body that it needs to be able to handle high-intensity running. 

This race was very well-organized, benefited an amazing charity, and was super close to home!

Greg had a really strong marathon pace run. I told him to adjust "marathon pace" down by about 10 seconds per mile, and he did. Let's hope it's not this humid for his marathon in two weeks. I will be pacing him for the first half, officially running as a relay runner. 

I don't have any more 5Ks until June, which gives me some time to train and work on building more speed. 

3 Weeks Until Boston and OUCH!

With less than three weeks until the Boston Marathon, an injury has popped up, bringing my training to a complete halt. I'm going to document all the details here, mostly so I can go back and reference them, but the punchline is that I am having issues with SI joint inflammation; something completely new to me. The joys of growing older! 

How it started
On Tuesday, March 15, I was doing deadlifts with the hex bar during a strength training session with my coach. I have done these many times in the past and I was using a slightly lighter weight than I had used in my previous session. As I completed the set of 5, I noticed a crunchy/pinchy sensation in my lower back/left upper glute. It was so minor that I didn't even tell my coach! When I do strength training I get little things like this a lot. I did a little jog-in-place to shake the legs out but the weird sensation remained. 

Ever since that session I have had a mild pinching sensation around the left SI joint. I didn't even realize this was my SI joint because I have zero experience with back injuries. I continued to run without any problems or pain. The following Saturday, March 19, I ran 18 miles with 10 at marathon effort (pictured). Even though I felt a little pinch the whole time, it didn't impact me at all and seemed totally minor.

How it progressed
The first red flag was on the following Tuesday, one week after the deadlifts (March 22). I ran a very challenging workout that combined track intervals (1600, 1200, 800, 400) with road miles in between each interval at tempo effort. The workout went really well and I had no pain whatsoever. I hit all my desired paces. Greg took videos and my gait was totally even and balanced. 

When the workout ended, that minor pain in my lower back became much more prominent. In fact, it hurt to walk! I walked a little bit and then I began my cooldown. My cooldown was very uncomfortable. I noticed that the slower I ran the more it hurt, but I obviously wasn't going to run super fast on a cooldown. So I cut the cooldown short because my lower back/SI joint was painful. 

I told my coach about it and we had a zoom meeting to discuss it. At that point it really seemed like it was a tight glute medius. That seemed to be the bigger problem than the pain around the joint. I'm guessing that the joint pain was exactly the same but that the running caused all the surrounding muscles to tense up, so now I had muscular tightness as well.

March 22 track/road workout

I went to physical therapy the next day and my PT said that my glute medius was extremely tight and also that one leg was slightly longer than the other. He did something to get the legs the same length again and did deep tissue massage on the glute. We also did some exercises to get me using the glute normally. I told him I had a hill workout the next day and he said as long as it didn't bother me while running, I would be fine.

So the following day, Thursday, I ran a hill workout with tempo runs in between the hill sprints. Running up and down hill felt fine. The tempo run felt fine. I could feel a slight pinch, but it was totally mild. BUT - just like Tuesday, the cool down run was very painful. I was stiff and it was hard to move. 

By Friday, my glute muscle seemed to be in good shape but now the lower back pain around the SI joint was more prominent. That's when I decided to see a chiropractor. In retrospect, I should have gone to the chiropractor the day after I deadlifted (9 days earlier) but I didn't think to do that because it was such a minor issue. He told me my SI joint was out of place and he gave me an adjustment to put it back in place. I unfortunately didn't feel any relief from the adjustment but he said it worked so I assumed everything was ok. 

The final straw
The next morning (March 26), it was time for my longest run of the cycle: 23 miles. My plan was to run from Leesburg to Falls Church on the WOD so that the run would feel like it had a purpose vs. an out and back. Greg and I would drive to Leesburg, he would run the first 8 miles with me, turn around, get the car, drive to Falls Church and pick me up. 

I was nervous about this run and I was debating if I should even do it. On the one hand, I had visions of the run making the issue so much worse and having to stop on the trail. On the other hand, things felt fine and I really wanted to do the 23-mile run. I was totally looking forward to it and once that was complete I told myself I could take a few days off if needed. I wish someone had told me that you should take it easy the day after a chiropractic adjustment. But I hardly ever get adjustments, so this is all new to me. Also, if I knew that was the case, I may have delayed the adjustment until after the long run!

Greg and I ran 8.5 miles together and then it was time for him to turnaround. I did feel the pain around my SI joint, and it was slightly worse than it had been on the previous weekend's long run. But still manageable. When he turned around, I was fairly confident (let's say 80% confident) that I would be able to make it to 23 miles. Or at least 20, which would still be plenty. 

I continued on my own and I stopped briefly at mile 10 to toss my water bottle in a trash can and take a gel. I noticed that my glute and hip were a little annoyed, and the first few steps after the stop were difficult. But once again, totally manageable. But after another mile or so, things really started to go south! My hip started seizing up, my glute was in pain, and my lower back hurt even more. Over the course of 5 minutes, everything started going crazy until I was forced to stop. At 12.09 miles.

I was about a mile away from a shopping center where I could sit inside a Starbucks, call Greg from my Apple Watch and wait for him. But I couldn't walk! I just stood there on the side of the trail feeling paralyzed. Lots of people asked me if I needed help but I told them I would be fine and I was going to call for help. Thankfully, I was very close to a break in the fences/grass/trees that surround the trail and was able to slowly get myself into the back of a parking lot of an office park. If this had happened at mile 15, 16, or 17 I would have been screwed because that's "no-man's land" and there are very few trail exit points.

The pain got pretty bad and it brought me to tears. I knew that Greg still had to run 4-5 miles back to the car in Leesburg so I called my friend Cheryl who lives in Reston. I knew I was in Reston (it was technically Herndon) and I gave her the name of the of the business I was standing in front of so she could find it on Google and come to me. The main reason I needed Cheryl was because it was 49 degrees and I was wearing a tank top and shorts. That's perfectly fine attire if you are moving, but it got cold very quickly when I stopped moving. She found me shivering with blue lips and gave me her jacket as I sat in her warm car. There, she gave me tons of info on SI joint pain (she's dealt with it) and we waited for Greg to come pick me up. Greg called the chiropractor who I had seen the day before and got me in to see him immediately. Thank goodness!

The chiropractor said the SI joint was still in alignment but now the hip was out of alignment and all the muscles around the glute and hip were extremely tense. He corrected the hip, but I still had a ton of difficulty walking around the rest of the day. 

Recovery
I spent the rest of Saturday and all day Sunday icing the area, taking Aleve and using my Rapid Reboot compression system for the hips and glutes. I already had a massage scheduled for Sunday and she did deep tissue work and cupping. Most all movements were difficult. Especially going up stairs, bending over and sneezing. Sneezing was the worst of all. 

On Monday I was back in my PT's office for dry needling and a walk on the Alter-G anti-gravity treadmill. The walk was to help my brain realize that everything was okay, I could walk normally, I didn't need to tense up and brace for pain. On Tuesday I was able to get in with my sports medicine doctor who finally provided me with some clarity on the situation. 

Official Diagnosis
According to my doctor, it's most likely SI joint inflammation with tension of the surrounding muscles and inflammation around the hip (trochanter). She said there was a slight possibility that I had a bulging disk, which could only be ruled out through MRI. I definitely wanted to rule out a bulging disk, so I am getting an MRI next week.

Because it's most likely inflammation and muscle tension, she prescribed a therapeutic dose of Naproxen (NSAID) and continued PT. If my symptoms don't improve within a week I will go back for a cortisone injection. Normally I would try to avoid an injection, but with Boston coming up, I will do whatever is needed to get to the start line feeling good.

So for now it's rest, PT, and NSAIDs. Once I start to feel better I will attempt running again. I'm going to be fairly conservative, as my goal is to get to Boston feeling good. I don't think I can salvage much training at this point. Most likely it will be a full week off of running and then short, easy runs as I gradually return. 

I can now walk with a normal gait and the pain isn't anywhere near what it was over the weekend. I am seeing dramatic improvements each day and I hope this trend continues. This certainly sucks, but I wasn't trying to PR at Boston anyway. I just want to be healthy when I get there.