Easter Sun Run Take 5

The Short:

I registered for the Easter Sun Run when they had a nice discount on the entry fee a few months before influenza tried to kill me. I was torn between bowing out/letting my entry fee be a donation to a good cause and running the races with whatever I had - since I was on an upward trajectory I chose running the races! It was the best way to get in mileage that day while visiting my parents anyway. I ended up placing 2nd overall female in the 10k and 3rd overall female in the 2 mile, plus I won a restaurant gift card in a drawing, so it went about as well as it could have under the circumstances. I am not back to pre-flu strength or fitness, but things are progressing and I'm hoping I can run some stronger races in 4-6 weeks.

The Long:

I have run the Easter Sun run four times before, in 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2023. It's a fun Easter weekend tradition! Last year's 10k was the only win I've had at the race, and I had hopes of returning to defend it, but with my body still weak from the flu I thought any podium placing would be a big win. The courses for both races are long so I never worry about times here but aim to place as high as I can.

I warmed up about 3.2 miles in a perfect race temperature but a cruel Kansas wind. After the 10k sorted out I found myself in 3rd female position. One of the women in front of me was a teenager, so I figured I had a good chance of catching her, which I did not long after the mile. 1st had been steadily pulling away from me, and I knew I couldn't speed up (in fact, I slowed down, lol - mile 1 was my fastest of the race, which is not my typical MO!) so unless she bombed I would be out of luck on a repeat win. I also knew she was in her 40s so I wouldn't get the masters win either.

I never felt good and by mile 2 I was really questioning why I'd decided to run the race. But, I was in 2nd female position, so I tried to focus on maintaining that. The course is marked every kilometer, so I also focused on just getting to the next K sign. I could see some men in front of me and tried to pull them in to keep myself going.

I think I have a photo coming out of this bridge
from every year I've run this race!

Around mile 4 the course does a couple of loops where you can see the people in front of and behind you. The course is on paths through a park that are curvy, which was nice with as windy as it was because I never had to battle a headwind for an extended time period, but it's hard to gauge your distance in relation to you competitors. From the mile 4 loops I learned that 1st had a substantial lead on me, and I had less of a lead on 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th places, who were all closer to me than I'd have liked based on how crappy I was feeling.

Since mile 2 of the race I'd also been telling myself that I didn't have to race the 2 mile or do a long run that day. Around mile 4, that changed to "I don't have to do those thing if I can maintain 2nd place". I pushed with what I had and when I saw Jon around mile 5 he told me I had a solid 2nd. I didn't really believe him and I felt like all of those other girls were coming for me so kept pushing. I was extremely thankful when I got to the finish line! It turns out he was right and I guess everyone else was dying even more than me because I finished 50 seconds ahead of 3rd.

New PR for the number of times I've been asked
to pose with the Easter bunny - post-10k

Ultimately 2nd felt like a huge victory. I ran the slowest I've ever run at this race, but I averaged 6:36 pace which seems better than anything else I've done post-flu. It was very hard though! I told my family that I didn't think I had it in me to race the 2 mile, then jogged a couple of miles while waiting for the 10k awards.

I think this was from the final stretch of the 10k

After getting my awards, I decided I would start the 2 mile and if top 3 (prize money) didn't seem do-able I'd just stop or maybe jog it in. I don't think anyone believed me, probably because I've said something similar between the races every time I've done both distances at this event. But, I truly didn't believe I was going to be able to do much. I'd been jogging around at 9:00 pace between the races and felt super weak. I just told myself I'd run a hard mile if I could, then evaluate and probably stop.

We had to stand on the starting line for an extra maybe 10 minutes while the race organizers had some cars vacate the course, and I continued to question my life decisions at that time but I think I also got some additional recovery in. The race start for the 2 mile is always a cluster because there are a ton of kids and teens who go out fast then soon slow down. The race is on a road for the first couple of minutes, then turns onto a park running path, right when the youngsters are really starting to slow. I think because I started off slower than I ever have in the race, trying to navigate around kids was a lot harder this year than in the past. I weaved a lot and had to step off the path into uneven grass a few times to somewhat maintain pace.

But I got through it and before the mile I'd moved up to a solid 4th female, not far off 3rd, and hadn't passed out so I was committed. I slowly reeled 3rd in by around 1.5, then sat right behind her for maybe a minute, gathering the strength to go. I didn't want to pass too early and blow the little I had, but also didn't want to leave it to a sprint finish. I passed with all the authority I could muster, then pushed to the finish with all I had. It was pretty miserable but I made it in 3rd! I definitely surprised myself by running 6:31/6:18 after I'd been feeling like I probably couldn't run another mile under 8:00 pace between races.

Top 3 in 2 mile

I did 1 more mile to cool down to 16 for the day. I'd wanted to get in 18 because I'm still clinging to the hope of running a marathon this season and haven't run more than 16 miles post-flu, but I stopped for the 2 mile awards and by the time those finished I was done. By some miracle I felt great the next day and did 15 miles for a 31 mile weekend though!

On paper these performances don't look good for me, but based on where I'm at strength-wise I was happy to pull them off. It was also the first hard running I've done post-flu where I haven't coughed. 

10k results are here, 2 mile results are here, my Strava activity with both races plus almost 8 miles of jogging before/between/after is here.

I love these checks!

My mom loves Chick-fil-A

Albani loved these bunnies in a stroller

Easter Sunday

March Madness

March 2024 in review!

Total mileage for the month: 235.4

• Feb. 26-March 3: 40.5 (thanks to Influenza)
• March 4-10: 18.5 (more thanks to Influenza)
• March 11-17: 51.3
• March 18-24: 74.8
• March 25-31: 80.2

#marchmadness

Races:

• March 30: The Easter Sun Run 10k(ish) and 2 mile(ish), because I signed up for the races during a big sale several months ago - I would not have registered after going through the flu! But they were okay; I was 2nd OAF in the 10k and 3rd OAF in the 2 mile, netting some cash and a decent long run workout. 

We really got into the "look like you're
going to punch someone" pose

Workouts:

• March 19: 4 x (1200 m at 10k, 0:45 rec., 400 m faster, 1:30 rec.). This was my first workout back after not running a single mile under 8:00 for 3 weeks, so I wasn't sure how it would go. I started in the back of the slower pace workout group and worked down as the workout progressed and I became more confident I was strong enough to do it. My splits were: 5:15, 1:30, 5:00, 1:27, 4:55, 1:25, 4:45, 1:25. I was proud of the dramatic negative splits and thrilled that I felt up for this! I don't think I lost that much fitness, but I was just too weak to show it for weeks.
• March 22: 6 x 0.5 at 5k w/ 0.25 rec., push reps 3 & 6 faster. In hindsight I wasn't strong enough to do a push rep mid-workout, but I managed to hang on after it, though pushing rep 6 ended up being staying about the same pace while it felt much harder. My splits were 3:03, 3:03, 2:56, 3:05, 3:03, 3:01. It was nothing impressive but it was a good second workout back!
• March 26: 4 x 1:00 hills + 3 miles threshold (12 miles total). I felt pretty good on the hills and ran the hill fast (for me) at 6:06-6:16 pace. On the threshold I felt like I didn't have much in reserves and just couldn't "dig". I ran it by effort and felt like I was blowing up, but I was reasonably consistent with 6:30, 6:32, 6:34. I didn't look at my splits until afterwards, but once I did I wished I'd have looked at them during to see that I wasn't fading extremely like I felt like I was. I called it at 3 miles because I thought I was slowing down so much, instead of going to 4 miles like originally planned. Lesson learned! But maybe still a good thing since I was feeling depleted. I did not get a confidence boost from this workout, but I know I need to be patient.
• Favorite workout: March 19 because it exceeded expectations.

Long Runs:

• March 16: 12 miles (8:36) - after missing 2 long runs due to influenza, I was really happy to run 12 miles again, but it was harder on me than it should have been.
• March 23: 16 miles (8:08) - I was hoping I'd feel strong enough to run a little farther than this and possibly resume marathon training, but 16 was enough. I couldn't be too disappointed with 4 miles farther, 28 seconds/mile faster than the previous week - plus I felt fine for the rest of the day afterward.
• March 30: 16 miles (7:35) including the Easter Sun Run races.
• March 31: 15.1 miles (8:51). I went out for 10 miles but ended up doing a second long run for the weekend on Easter morning. I hadn't gotten quite the mileage in that I wanted on March 30, plus I had a lot of paused time during those 16 miles for race starts, refueling, awards, etc. - so I thought a long continuous leisurely run would do me good since I felt great by some miracle! My dad followed me the whole way in his car on bumpy dirt roads. I told him he didn't need to (he was worried about my safety being alone), but it ended up being really nice because he carried drinks for me!
• Favorite long run: March 30, but none of them were stellar.

Colin likes to look happy during our
mad poses

A very wet run + Sarah's birthday

Running Highlights:

• I felt like I spent this whole month having then attempting to come back from the flu - so, it was not my finest training month, but it made me more thankful for how good I usually feel! I felt far better at the end of the month than at the beginning.

Life Highlights:

• Albani competed in the State Archery Tournament.
• We visited my parents for Easter.

State Archery

The Arc's Employee Appreciation Night

Like my cats, I slept a lot

They are the cutest!

Blinded by the sun on Easter (photo by Jon)

Books:

• Gray Mountain by John Grisham
• The Hawthorne Legacy (The Inheritance Games #2) by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
• The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
• The River We Remember by William Kent Kruger
• Notes on a Silencing: A Memoir by Lacy Crawford
• Is This Anything? by Jerry Seinfeld
• The Housemaid's Secret (The Housemaid #2) by Freida McFadden
• First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston
• In a Single Moment by Imogen Clark
• A Sign of her Own by Sarah Marsh
• This is Our Story by Ashley Elston

Theme for the month:

• In running group photos it was March Madness.

Return from Influenza

I recently recovered from the dreaded flu, and I decided to write about my experience to share with anyone else going through it. I did a lot of research to learn more about what my body was going through, and there wasn't that much out there about marathoners and influenza - plus flu strains vary each season.

My illness in bullets:

• Day 1 (2/26/24) - My throat became sore mid-day. I felt fine otherwise and chalked it up to the extreme weather changes we were having.
• Day 2 (2/27/24) - My throat soreness continued and I felt a little "off", but nothing much. I ran a workout and my positive split and the way I felt made me think I was for sure getting a cold. I skipped my planned double to get extra rest. I felt worse as the day progressed, developing a cough and headache. Knowing what I know now (see the bullet points at the end), this workout was a mistake, but there was no way I could have known with the minor symptoms that were presenting.
• Day 3 (2/28/24) - I was feeling worse but still within the realm of a cold. I cut my planned 12 miles to 8 in the morning, and ended up mostly losing my voice and working just a half day. I rested all afternoon and hoped I'd feel mostly back to normal the next day.
• Day 4 (2/29/24) - The first day of feeling like I was dying, with sore throat, severe congestion, productive cough, body aches, headache, extreme fatigue, brain fog, dizziness, and a constant sick taste in my mouth. There was no way I was going to make it to work, and I got into my doctor that morning and tested positive for Influenza. She prescribed Tamiflu. She told me not to go to work again until Monday, and it was a huge relief to have 3/1/24 off plus the weekend to recover because I felt so awful. I did not run 2/29 or 3/1. 
• Days 6-8 (3/2/24-3/4/24) - My acute symptoms improved a great deal and by 3/4/24 I had only a cough, occasional headaches, and fatigue. 
• Days 8-16 (3/4/24 through 3/12/24) - I returned to work but each day came home and went to bed shortly after work, sleeping about 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. I was able to run 3-5 miles slowly most mornings, but that was all I had. My acute symptoms were minor, with a cough, occasional headaches, and fatigue, but I couldn't kick the extreme weakness.
• Day 17 (3/13/24) - I had my first run that gave me a glimmer of hope! After not being able to make it more than 3-5 miles, I felt good doing 7, albeit still slower than "normal" easy pace.
• Day 20 (3/16/24) - I was able to do a "long" run of 12 miles, although it was slower than normal and took way more out of me than it would have pre-illness.
• Day 23 (3/19/24) - My first workout back! Also my first day with no headache.
• I have continued to get headaches off and on as I've recovered from there. Ibuprofen takes care of them but I try not to take it unless I really have to. As of today (3/24/24), I am not as strong as I was pre-illness, but it's hard to know if I'm still coming back or if I lost fitness - likely both!

I talked to my doctor, a doctor friend, and several other runners who'd had this year's flu, and learned that what I experienced was well within the realm of normal for year's flu. While that was discouraging, it was nice to know what my experience was typical. The runners I talked to told me it took them 4-6 weeks to return to normal strength and training.

I have trained through many illnesses, including walking pneumonia, bronchitis, and cryptosporidium. I'm not saying this is advisable, but I've done it. I took 3 days off each time I had COVID, mostly as a precaution. I simply could not train through this. I took 5 days completely off, but had 16 additional days of very reduced activity.

The upside was that once I improved, I improved pretty quickly. I had no improvement in weakness for 2 weeks, which was the hardest part for me! But once I started feeling better I was able to get back to relatively normal running reasonably quickly. I did 75 miles with 2 workouts and a 16 mile long run the week of March 18, so thing have turned around.

Two articles that I found helpful:

This one is a faster read. The most interesting part to me was an explanation of a study in which mice were infected with influenza and 3 groups were compared: no exercise, moderate exercise (20-30 min./day) and prolonged exercise (2.5 hours/day). The group who did moderate activity fared the best, no activity was in the middle, then prolonged activity had the worst outcome. Based on this I decided my easy 3-5 milers were better than not running. Long runs were off the table, but I didn't have the strength to do one of those if I wanted to anyhow.

This one is longer and compares recovering from the flu to recovering from a 100 miler! I learned a lot here, including:

• The flu virus directly infects then destroys muscle cells. The effect is similar happens in ultra-marathons, and the body aches are due to muscle cell infection, and possibly destruction (my muscles felt this!).
• Some flu strains cause cytokin overload, where healthy immune systems go into hyperdrive and overload - the stronger the immune system, the more severe the reaction (meaning it strikes hardest in those with the strongest immune systems who are the healthiest to begin with).
• Exercise during early infection (before your body develops virus-killing antibodies) is the most detrimental. The increase in body temperature from exercise facilitates greater viral spread (this is why I wish I hadn't worked out when this began).
• Resuming hard running and racing shouldn't occur for 2-4 weeks, or for most for 4-8 weeks (eek).

First group run back!

Project Dreamweaver

I was blessed to be part of Nike's Project Dreamweaver from October 2021 to February 2024! The program offered support in many ways beyond free shoes - but the free shoes alone were a dream come true. I connected with many amazing women and Nike employees, and we were all spoiled beyond what I deserved. I was planning to write a lot more about the program, but a draft of this post got lost in the shuffle of this season, so...

You can read Nike's press release about the program here.

This is an interesting blog post with more details about the program.

Many details about the program are in this podcast.

Casey & I in Dreamweaver land

Dreamweavers in Chicago

Fast Women newsletter mention

Fabulous February

February 2024 in review!

Total mileage for the month: 308.1

• Jan. 29-Feb. 4: 78.6
• Feb. 5-11: 65.4
• Feb. 12-18: 82.5
• Feb. 19-25: 87.8
• Feb. 26-March 3: 40.5 (thanks to Influenza)

We are spelling WILD - can you tell?

Races:

• Feb. 17: Run with the Wind 25k in 1:48:01 for 3rd overall female, 1st masters female, a new single age state record for age 43, and a decent day on a course that it really tough for me.

Trae's going away run

Workouts:

• Feb. 2: Fast finish long run with 12 miles easy, 1 mile at MP (6:45), 1 mile at threshold (6:15), 1 easy to finish. I felt strong on this one!
• Feb. 6: Wild Card Workout of 400 m, 800 m, 400 m, 800 m, 400 m at 5k pace w/ 200 m jogs; 1 mile at 20k pace on the road then jog back to the track; 2 x 800 w/ 400 at threshold straight into 400 hard; 400 w/ 200 at threshold straight into 200 hard. Splits were: 1:31, 3:04, 1:31, 3:05, 1:30, 6:31, 1:40/1:26, 1:38/1:27, 0:47/0:42. We drew sticks for the order on this one, and my portion ended up last again! It went: Sally, Lisa, Casey, me. See January's post for a description of Wild Card Workouts.
• Feb. 10: 16 miles via 4 easy, 3 threshold, 7 easy, 1 threshold, 1 easy. I'd planned to run the Cabin Fever Reliever 20k on this day, but I had a cold all week and opted out. That meant I didn't have a workout planned, but Karen was doing a 5k time trial so I helped her out with that (6:22, 6:41, 6:25) then the others I was running with finished at 14 miles, so I decided to do another threshold mile (6:28). Sometimes it is fun to have those decide-as-you go days! I also wasn't sure how I'd feel so I'd told Karen I'd try 6:30ish but may not be able to do it. I was somewhat congested and weak, and my heart rate was high as it had been all week, but I was on the mend and able to do this okay. I don't think I'd have had a good race so I made the right call on that, though it was disappointing.
• Feb. 13: Wild Card Workout of: 1 mile at 10k, long recovery*, 1200 m** at 10k, 400 jog, 400 hard, 400 jog, 200 hard, 200 jog, 400 hard, 200 jog, 800 at 5k, 1:20 jog, 1 mile Gerinomo run into a 1:00 hill hard, 1:10 jog, 1 mile at 10k. Paces were: 6:11, 6:10, 5:30, 5:13, 5:44, 5:50, 6:35, 6:57, 6:13. *The long recovery was because we jogged into the track after the first mile on the road, but the way we usually go in was locked. We then jogged all the way around the other side and to the starting area only to find that the track was partially snow covered, reasonably deep in some places. Then we hopped the fence with the aid of a chair to get back to the road loop that was clear. **Due to running on the road instead of the track, all distances in meters are approximations, which is why I gave all paces instead of times. We drew sticks again for order on this one and it was: Rebecca, me, Karen, Casey, Sally.
• Feb. 21: Wild Card Workout of: 800 m at HMP, 200 jog, 800 m at 5k pace, jog to road; 0.5 threshold, 10 squat jumps, 0.5 threshold, 10 jumping lunges (continuous), jog to track; 800 m of (200 m at threshold, 200 m hard) continuous, jog to hill; 4 x 1:00 hills w/ jog down recoveries. Splits were: 3:15, 3:05, 3:07, 3:08, 0:46, 0:43, 0:49, 0:43 and hill paces 6:25, 6:20, 6:26, 6:05. We went alphabetical order by last name: Karen, me, Lisa, Casey.
• Feb. 27: 2 x (4 x 400 m) + 2 miles HMP, w/ 200 m jogs between reps & 400 m between sets. I developed a sore throat and shallow cough on Feb. 26 and hoped it was just allergies, but this workout confirmed that I was getting sick. I was super frustrated because I'd just been sick at the beginning of February! My 400s were 1:30, 1:29, 1:30, 1:30; 1:28, 1:28, 1:28, 1:26 and HMP miles were 6:22, 6:39. I was originally going to do 3 sets of 4 x 400 m in 1:30, 1:28, 1:26, but I was feeling pretty weak and decided to stop the 400s after 2 sets and join the tempo crew for the end of the workout. That didn't feel much better but it didn't sting quite as hard, probably because I ran a big positive split. At least I know why I was struggling! Post-workout I felt a lot worse and I skipped my Feb. 27 double, cut my Feb. 28 mileage, and took Feb. 29 off - then tested positive for Flu B.
• Favorite workout: The Feb. 13 one was my favorite, but all of the Wild Card Workouts were really fun!

Spelling WILD again

After the Feb. 13 workout - the one where our
track reps were foiled by snow

Long Runs:

• Feb. 2: 15.1 miles (7:38), with a fast finish, described above.
• Feb. 10: 16.1 miles (7:41), with a split tempo workout, described above.
• Feb. 17: 18.9 miles, including Run with the Wind 25k at 6:56 pace.
• Feb. 24: 18.4 miles (7:47) including Karen's 2 mile fast finish from about 14.2-16.2 (7:02, 6:47).
• Favorite long run: Feb. 24 because I felt really great.

Beautiful sunrise

Fabulous February

Running Highlights:

• Watching the U.S. Marathon Trials plus all of the events that went along with it was an amazing experience! I made the trip with 4 running buddies and we all want to go again in 2028. Details are here.

Galentines Run

Life Highlights:

• My long weekend in Orlando was amazing. We were there Friday through Monday and had non-stop fun. We spent all day Sunday at Universal Islands of Adventure.
• Albani had her winter homecoming dance.
• Albani qualified for the state archery tournament, which is next month in Branson.

Archery tournament at Spokane

Books:

• The Other Mothers by Katherine Faulkner
• Just Another Missing Person by Gillian McAllister
• The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
• Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
• Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
• The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See
• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
• Chasing Perfect: Peace and Purpose in the Exhausting Pursuit of Something Better by Alisah Illian.
• The Warsaw Orphan by Kelly Rimmer

Theme for the month:

• Fabulous February...although also sickness February because I had two illnesses this month.

Fabulous February

Fabulous February + Chinese New Year

Run with the Wind 25k

The short:

I ran Run with the Wind in 2023, 2022, 2015, 2012, and 2010, so you'd think I'd have figured out how to race it by now, but I have never been able to finish strong and this year was no different - though finishing strong with 5 miles against the wind and uphill is relative I guess! I ran 10 miles of the race with my running buddy Sally, but she had more in the tank in the final 5 and I also settled a bit when I lost contact. I was hoping I could average under 7:00 pace, and I did that with a 6:56 average. By some miracle it seems I ran a slight negative split (6:56.3 average for the first 7 miles, 6:54.9 average for the final 7 full miles), which is quite challenging on this elevation profile. I ended up 3rd overall female, 1st masters female, and with a new state record for the 25k in 1:48:01. This was the second fastest I've run at this race, and the fastest I've run from Carthage to Sarcoxie, which is the harder direction with a net uphill.

My state record will be here.

My Strava activity is here.

Mid-race smiles

It's hard both directions, but this one is harder!

The long:

I updated this bit from my 2022 race recap; it is still very accurate:

I've run this race 5 times previously, which was enough to know that 1) you never actually have a tailwind the entire way, 2) it's hilly, and 3) 25k state records are generally easily attainable since it's not a common race distance. The race organizers announce the night before the race which direction it will run, and this year was Carthage to Sarcoxie, which means primarily a south and east route. The northwest wind was behind us going south and we had a headwind going east.

Sally rode to the race with me and we had a great time on drive. The race had a bus this year, which was a nice update! We parked at the finish in Sarcoxie, picked up our packets, and boarded the bus bound for the starting line. The bus was supposed to depart at 8:00, but it left nearly 30 minutes late and we arrived at the Carthage starting area less than 20 minutes before the 9:05 start. We dropped our bags, used the bathroom, and jogged as much as we had time for which was about 1.25 miles. I'd have liked to get in at least 2 miles plus drills and strides, but what can you do? I was very cold on the warm up (the wind chill was 7*!) and questioned if I should have put on a thicker shirt, but there wasn't time.

Sally and I planned to run together, knowing that one of us would likely feel stronger at some point, much like at Bass Pro. The woman who beat me at this race last year (Katie) was in it again, so I expected she would be tough to beat, but I also thought Sally and I had an advantage working together. From the gun, one male took out hard, then Katie, then a few other men, and next Sally and me. I planned to run by effort and wanted to go out conservatively, fearing the hills from past experiences. Sally and I chatted and relaxed. After a few miles, we started passing men. I told Sally she had to tell me when we passed 5 miles so I could take a gel, because I didn't want to look at my watch and the course didn't have mile markers.

Rural racing at its finest

The miles passed quickly and the hills didn't seem as bad this year, despite this being the harder direction on this course. I could tell Sally felt better than me for most of the race and she was pulling me along. Before I knew it we were halfway, we had passed all of the men between us and Katie, and we could see that we were maintaining pretty steady with Katie. Sally gapped me a bit going up a hill around mile 8 or 9, and I caught back up going down it but could tell that she was itching to go get Katie. I encouraged her to go chase her down, and hoped I could hang on.

Me hanging on

We took a turn onto the final long stretch heading east into the wind. You can also see by the elevation chart that 10 to the end is a long net incline. Sally gapped me again and this time I couldn't close it. I watched her pull farther away from me and closer and closer to Katie over the next few miles. I got a little complacent running alone, into the wind, and uphill, but I stayed pretty steady with just a slight slow down - but if it hadn't been uphill I think I'd have been consistent. I wish someone with Strava premium had been on this run because I've love to know my GAPs!

Final couple of miles

I was thankful when I saw Sally turn left and knew the final half mile was in sight. I stayed steady through the finish but now wish I'd have kicked because I ran 1:48:01 (1:47:59 just seems a lot better!). I was pleasantly surprised to see my time because I'd only broken 1:50 on that course once before, and that was going the easier direction. Once I learned that Sally ran her final 5 miles in the 6:30s, I felt a lot better about my performance because I hadn't been fading so much as she had been hammering! I don't know official splits or my 7.75 mile time, but my average for my last 7 full miles was a tiny bit faster than my average for the first 7 full miles, which I have definitely never done at this race - so, progress. I have never run a stellar pace relative to my fitness in this race, so I am happy enough with this one! My perfect day would have been the race that Sally had, but I'm glad I didn't have a bad day like last year. 

Finish

Post-race we enjoyed soup and snacks while waiting for the awards. I ended up getting 4 awards: 1st in my age group, top female age-graded performance, state record, and something else. This was a fun low-key race and I look forward to the next - which will surely be flatter!

We won identical awards

With the youngest (14) and oldest (71)

State record breakers - ages 71, 43, 33, 26, 14

2023 event photo on the registration site
featuring me, Colin, & Amy up front

Olympic Trials Marathon Trip

When Orlando was announced as the location for the 2024 Olympic Trials Marathon, one of my running buddies spearheaded getting a group together to go spectate. Allegiant flies direct and cheap from Springfield to Orlando, we found great deals on AirBnb and Turo, and the trip was organized! We made the most out of our long weekend, laughed excessively, and made lifelong memories. Here is a summary of what we did!

Friday, February 2:

• Christian, Sarah, Jessica, and I left Springfield at 11:00 a.m. Our flight and Turo car pick up went smoothly. Jessica lived in Orlando for 10 years so was nominated as our main driver for the weekend.
• We had lunch as Miller's Ale House, which was delicious. Their specials photos were effective because three of us ordered the same thing.
• We found our AirBnb and unloaded. It was adorable, clean, and just what we needed! 
• Jessica drove us by her old house and got to talk to her old neighbor in his yard.
• We went to a Citius Mag podcast live show, which took place right after a Hoka shake-out run. We got free Hoka bags and posters, and ice cream (they also had free Olipop and Goodrs, but we were a little too late for those).
•  We then went to the Brooks Hyperion House, where everyone got two free drink tickets and appetizers (which ended up being "dinner"). The Brooks House definitely had the biggest party vibe of everywhere we went: music, lights, crowds, and the free drinks probably helped. There were also free shirts but they only had XXL left. Jessica and Sarah nabbed hats. Abby met us there, after her flight got in around 6:00 p.m.
• We next tried to pick up Holly from a Mill City party, but she had actually not made it there yet, so we went by the Nike hotel to get her. There we also got Dreamweaver cheer squad shirts for everyone and some free sports nutrition products.

On stage at the Brooks house

Photo station at the Brooks house

Citius Mag live show behind us

Saturday, February 3:

• Abby, Jessica, and I got up early and ran 10 miles.
• We headed to the Trials course! Due to road blockades, we ended up walking a lot further than expected to get to our planned spot, but luckily we'd allotted plenty of time. Because of this, we also walked past the athlete warm up area and saw all of the competitors jogging up close. We also ran into my friend Melissa who was similarly trying to navigate around the road closures.
• We found a good spectating spot not long before the start. We were able to see the race 5 times from our location.
• Kristen, a friend who used to live in Springfield, found us and spectated with us.
• Seeing the race unfold in front of us was awesome! We also had the live stream on Peacock going on Christian's phone so we were able to track what was happening when we couldn't see the runners. Everyone cheered so hard our throats were sore.
• There are too many stories of the day for me to do them justice here! Some of my favorites were: Dakota Lindwurm, one of the happiest runners ever, making the team; training partners Conner Mantz and Clayton Young working together to go 1-2 (I have mixed feelings about Clayton handing the win to his friend though); 4th place Jess McClain being absolutely ecstatic about her race (often 4th is upset); CJ Albertson charging hard for a close 5th; seeing my rabbit and Dreamweaver teammates out there; and 7 months pregnant Meagan Kirchin getting the biggest cheers. My biggest heartbreak was Sara Hall not making the team; I believe she wanted it more than everyone and probably worked the hardest too. She did set the US masters marathon record, but I doubt that was a great consolation.
• We had lunch at a restaurant that I don't remember the name of, after trying to get in at another nearby restaurant. Unsurprisingly, the area was packed. It worked out though, because we sat right next to CJ Albertson's family, then about halfway through the meal CJ himself came in. We eavesdropped on him telling his family his race story. He only missed the team by 10 seconds!
• We went by the Brooks house again, which was still partying and giving out free drinks.
• We next went to a Nike Dreamweaver after-party, with more free food and drinks.
• Then we tried to go to a Hoka party but it was mostly over.
• We had Jeremiah's Italian Ice for "dinner", then went to Publix to buy real food but no one was hungry. After two nights of not eating real dinner we decided we were done with that!

Matching cheer shirts

Women's lead pack

Top two men 0.25 from the finish

High class Italian ice

CJ Albertson is a fan of me too

Sunday, February 4:

• Sarah and I got up early and ran 8 miles.
• Jessica, Sarah, Christian, and I spent the entire day at Universal Islands of Adventure! Abby had to fly out early and Holly met up with others to do free activities. We were at the park from when they opened at 9:00 a.m. to about 5:30 p.m. (they closed at 6:00) and got to ride everything we wanted to except the Velocicoaster, which closed when we were in line. The Harry Potter coaster and Hulk coaster were our favorites.
• We had real dinner at The Hall on the Yard food hall. 

Universal Islands of Adventure

Monday, February 5:

• Jessica and I ran at 4:20 a.m. before our return flight. Some people asked why we didn't just run when we got home, but we both thought that would be harder, plus I had to teach MSU class at noon. I was definitely ready to nap right after class!

I couldn't have gone to the 2020 Trials to watch, because I was too heartbroken over not qualifying - but I still saw the big party in Atlanta and wished I was there. The standard dropping to 2:37 for 2024 made it very easy for me to fangirl this one, because qualifying was never in my realm of possibility. It was the ultimate running fan experience and we all want to go back in 2028!

Holly & I at a host hotel