Running Down the Dream: 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.