Chadwick Flyer 5k

I decided to run a close-to-home 5k in lieu of running 12 miles with a fast finish on April 20. I thought the race would be small and therefore possible to win without running all-out, I suspected the course would be pretty hilly, and I doubted it would be the right distance, making not killing myself ideal for many reasons.

When we drove into Chadwick I confirmed there was definitely no way the race would be able to run that wasn't hilly - in fact, there was only way we even could run from the high school. After getting my bib number I went out to run the course to warm up. The course was out and back with a few turns along the route, and they had it well-marked so it was easy for me to follow, but they did not have the turnaround set up yet so I didn't know if it would be one of those 3 mile 5ks or one of those 3.5 mile 5ks.

I lined up at the start around a lot of teenagers. My race plan was to try to run with the leading female until the turn around or 2 miles, depending on her pace and how I felt, then try to go. I was hoping I wouldn't have to run too hard, but I was also prepared to go all-out if I had to.

I was quickly reminded that my plan wasn't a good one when racing high schoolers, because three went out way faster than I was able or willing to. I ran my first half mile at what felt like my max effort for a 5k, which was the fastest I was willing to go. I passed two girls running together to move into second female position at about the half mile. I then set my sights on the leader, who I gradually pulled in over the next half mile. By then I'd backed off to more of a threshold effort because she was slowing and I had plenty of time. I would have passed her shortly after the mile if I'd maintained threshold effort, but I decided I would stay behind her until halfway. That meant I got over a half mile of easier running.

Then at the turn-around I lapped my watch and passed with authority. In hindsight I wished I'd also lapped my watch the first time I eased off, because the only pace I have for my first mile is for the entire mile, but I guarantee I ran the first 0.5 quite a bit faster than the second 0.5 trying to ensure I could be in contention and race all out if needed.

After a surge when I passed, I settled back into about threshold effort for the remainder of the race. I ended up winning by 50 seconds, so I could have run easier but I never looked back after passing. I really enjoyed this race because it was workout pain and not race pain. I love 90% but 100% sure hurts - maybe I am getting wimpy on that! My official time was 20:23 and my Garmin read 3.19/6:24 pace.

So the workout ended up being: 0.5ish at 5k pace mostly uphill, 0.5 at threshold (mile 1 all together was 6:23, but like I said I'm sure the beginning was a lot faster than the end), 0.60 float recovery (6:43), 1.6 threshold (6:20 for 1, 6:19 for 0.59).

I ran the course plus a bit again for a cool down because it was really the only place a person could run in the town! Then they had a little awards ceremony and I collected my winnings then had Jon drive me by the S Rose street sign I'd spotted on the course on the way home.

Though my heart rate was threshold/half marathon-ish, my body was much more beat up from this than I expected! I think that was in part because I didn't eat a meal for several hours after the race (I did have a protein bar soon after), but also hills are always the last strength I get back when returning to full strength. I think I'm mostly back from the flu, with hills being the exception! Luckily I won't be racing anything hilly for awhile, I don't think.

Official results are here.

My Strava activity is here.

My middle name is Rose & email
address starts with srose

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

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

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

St. Louis Frostbite Series 20k

The short:

My husband needed to go to St. Louis this week, and I told him that if there was a race there on Saturday I'd go with him. I found the St. Louis Track Club Frostbite Series 20k and registered for $20 the day before. The race was a lot bigger than I expected (over 900 runners between the 20k and 5k!) and a little longer than I expected, but I also felt better than I expected to! There was snow on the ground in Forest Park, helping the race live up to its name, but it was really nice out for the morning of January 6 in Missouri, at 33* with virtually no wind.

I ended up running 1:25:32, which was 6:43 pace for 12.73 miles per my Garmin (Strava said my 20k was 1:23:36). I ran the first half of the race at 6:46 pace and the second half at 6:40 pace, finishing with 6:37, 6:31, 6:30 so I think I got about all I could have out of myself on the day. I ended up placing 4th overall female, after running in 3rd for about half the race and getting passed with less than a half mile to go, so that left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth - but I was still mostly pleased because I gauged my effort well and ran way under 7:00 pace, plus Premium Strava said to subtract 4-5 seconds for grade-adjusted pace!).

Results are here, my details here.

My activity on Strava is here.

The long:

I wasn't sure how I'd feel for the race having raced the Chilly 5k five days prior, not adjusting my training to account for racing since it wasn't pre-planned, and doing no training focused on long-race prep since October (although you could possibly count the Jack is Back 30k as one). I'd debated on whether to run my hill workout on Wednesday or Thursday that week, and ended up doing it Wednesday so I was glad for that at least! I looked up results of the races in the series that had already taken place when I registered, and from those I figured it was doubtful I could win overall female, which made it easier to not care if I didn't feel good and needed to make it into a moderate long run.

We left our house at 4:15 a.m. on race morning. I brought breakfast and planned to eat around 5:00, but ended up falling asleep until 7:20, which is quite late for me! The race started at 8:20, so being only 30 minutes out from my warm up I didn't want to eat anything. I had a couple of gels so figured I'd use one during my warm up and one during the race.

Jon dropped me off at the race and I picked up my number, used the bathroom, and started my warm up. The Frostbite series is a 5-race series, with a short and long race each time. I found the 5k start on my warm up but had to ask a few people where the 20k started. I found it with about 10 minutes to spare, so continued my warm up jog, took a gel, and stashed my throw away shirt (which I got back after the race, so wasn't throw away this time). I only had time for 1.6 miles of jogging and 2 strides, but I figured I'd just ease into the race and be fine. During my warm up I saw many, many fast-looking women and it seemed like a larger percentage of people were warming up than usual, which made me feel like the race was going to be competitive.

The grassy areas of the park were snow-covered, but the roads were just wet. The temps had been warm enough that the snow didn't last on the roads, but they were a little sloppy and the bridges were slick the first time we crossed them (they seemed to melt after that, I imagine from cars and runners going over them). The temperature was 33* and I ran in a my uniform very thin long sleeve shorts, shorts, and gloves. I ended up being both cold and hot during the race, and wished I'd worn a tank top and capris instead - though if I'd worn that I might have wished I'd worn long sleeves and shorts!

The race consisted of two laps of the course, with each lap including two out-and-backs. The first out was only about a mile, then we went around a round about. It was easy to see what place I was in, which was 4th female. There were also what seemed like 50 women right behind me. The second out and back was longer and much hillier, and had a hair-pin turn. Again, I was in 4th female with what seemed like 50 women close behind. At that point I was going back and forth between "I'm going to catch the two in front of me" [it seemed #1 was a lost cause because she was so far out, which made sense once I realized who she was] and "50 women are going to pass me!". But I was also focusing on and reeling in men one by one.

I was gaining on woman 3, so that kept me going from about miles 4-6. I passed her a little before halfway, and got excited that I was in 3rd! The course was a bit of a cluster from about 5-8, because we were running through slower 5k runners, the faster 5k runners were leaving the parking lot right off the course (the roads weren't closed to traffic), volunteers were waving 5kers to turn, and then when I was coming back lots of other 20kers were going out. I was relieved to get through that part. I was going to take my gel at halfway but forgot about it and didn't, so this wasn't my best fueled race.

I started feeling really great on the second tour of the course, and kept picking off the men in front of me. I saw fewer women close to me on that turn around the round about, and started feeling confident that I could go with anyone who tried to pass me.

Mile 10 included a long uphill, a gain of 82 ft per Garmin (on the first lap it was during mile 4-5). It wasn't steep but just long. I knew it was coming since we'd run the course once, and I kept reminding myself that I'd get to go back down it. I also told myself that it was to my advantage because it would take some of others' speed, plus I've been doing hill work. I caught and passed a man on it, which helped keep me going. As I approached and went around the hair-pin turn, I learned that there was no way I could catch the women in front of me, but one woman behind me was dangerously close and also running with a man she seemed to know. Though I was tired, I also felt strong and like I'd be able to push the end. The man who I'd passed going uphill passed me back when the course flattened out, and I went with him. It was hard to stay with him but I kept telling myself it was easier with someone else and I needed to stay with him to stay ahead of the woman.

I was able to stay right behind or beside him, and as we passed the 12 mile mark I started feeling confident I wasn't going to get caught. But then I heard footsteps and a man talking behind us, and it was clear the man was coaching the woman to go by me. I mentally prepared myself to fight for position, but when she passed me she was hammering it and I couldn't hang. I felt strong and finished strong relative to my other splits, but unfortunately I didn't have what she had. As we made the final turn one of the volunteers said something like, "2nd and 3rd woman, who wants it more??" and I guess I was really hurting at that point because I thought "she does." (also he must have missed a woman because we were actually 3rd and 4th).

The guy in gray was the one I ran with for the final
 few miles, woman in green had just passed us here

After it was clear I wasn't going to get her, I didn't hammer quite as hard as I should have for the final bit, but it was also on a curvy sidewalk that made it very difficult to run fast. Jon got back just in time to see me run by on her tail then he ran to the finish. He tried to take pictures in the rush that didn't come out great, but at least they show the snow on the ground!

Finish

I stopped my watch to see it showed me as averaging 6:43 pace, which I was happy with! I wasn't sure I'd be under 7:00, and don't look at my watch during races so had no idea what I was going to end  up with. All of my miles were under 7:00, even the 82 ft hill. The course read 12.73 on my watch. I don't think I've ever had a certified half read more than 13.25, and rarely have they read more than 13.15-13.20 unless they have a ton of turns. With this one being two out and backs I'd buy 12.50 or a smidge more for a 20k but not 12.73 (most others on Strava had 12.65+ too)! Plus they have a certified half that follows almost the same course and it is barely longer than what we ran for the 20k. Strava said my 20k was 1:23:36, and of course Strava isn't perfect either but had it been certified I'd probably have run 1:24-something. With non-certified races you get what you get and everyone in the race gets it, but everyone in that race should get credit for faster paces than the results show...especially me, hahaha!

I decided that I was first place masters female; the overall female was also in masters, but since she got overall I took her out of the very unofficial masters standings. I admit I am using a double-standard here, because when I have won both overall and masters I thought I deserved both, but this is my blog so I can do what I want, right? The race did not have masters, but I have to take my victories where I can find them. I am getting better about being happy with running well for me "right now" instead of being upset about running slower than I used to, which is probably the biggest victory of my 2024 races! I also wish Springfield had a cheap multi-race winter series like this; I'd love to do all 5 races but driving to St. Louis that many times in a winter seems excessive.

Elevation gain per mile, in feet, with my splits:

1. 3 - 6:39
2. 16 - 6:47
3. 36 - 6:52
4. 69 - 6:48
5. 49 - 6:48
6. 23 - 6:43
7. 23 - 6:42
8. 16 - 6:33
9. 30 - 6:47
10. 82 - 6:57
11. 33 - 6:37
12. 30 - 6:31
13. (final 0.73) 20 - a little faster than 6:30, I stopped my watch 3 seconds after I finished

Chilly 5k

The short:

I jumped into a New Years Day 5k and it was a great way to kick off the year! I was unsure what to expect time-wise but I aimed to compete, and came away with the overall female win in 19:20. I got to run through a finishing banner, got a few great photos, was interviewed post-race, and had a fun day with friends, so 2024 can really only go downhill from here. ;-)

Results are here, my personal results are here.

A Joplin Globe photo of me from the race is here, and an article that I am quoted in and pictured in is here.

I love a breaking the tape action shot!

The long:

A friend told me about the Chilly 5k in Joplin a couple of months ago, and I wrote it in my training calendar for reference but didn't really think I'd run it. The week before the race, a very tentative girls' day in Pittsburg started becoming more definitive, and I decided if the girls' day happened it only made sense to run the race on my drive to Pitt, since I'd be driving by Joplin anyway. 

I haven't done any time-based workouts since before the Bass Pro Marathon, but I have been running consistently and doing hill workouts so figured it would be fine enough. I also figured that no one is 5k sharp on January 1! My primary goal was to place as high as I could, going for the overall female win if it was within reason, and not worry about my time.

The race is point-to-point, from downtown Joplin to the YMCA on the south side of town. I parked at the Y and ran to the start plus a little more to warm up. It was simple to do, but the downside was that I didn't have a car at the start to toss clothes into. I dressed between what I would wear for an easy run and a race in the conditions (air temp 30*, wind chill 22*) in a thin long sleeve, gloves, an ear warmer, and tights. I was a little cold on my warm up and a little hot during the race as expected.

The race was decent-sized at around 300 participants. I wasn't sure who my competition would be, but as I was warming up I saw another woman warming up and thought, "She looks fast!" As I got closer I saw it was my friend Liz, who is fast! After I got my race number I connected with my friends Natalie and John, and stashed my phone in their car. I'd warmed up with it in a pocket because I was paranoid about getting lost on my warm up and missing the start, which ended up being a very unfounded fear. 

The start that I was not ready for

I lined up near the front, not far from John, Liz, and a woman who I know from Joplin, Christy. After the National Anthem and a prayer, we were off! It seemed like many men and boys went out fast, but I zeroed in on women and noted I was in 3rd behind a teenager and Christy. I settled into 5k effort and found myself right next to John. The first two women weren't too far out, and staying steady I reeled them in and passed them both around the mile.

Around that time a young man (from the results I know he was 23) settled in just behind me. Passing for the lead and having him on my shoulder was good motivation to push, and the second mile had several hills so it wasn't easy. After a bit he came up and ran beside me. Going up a hill shortly before the 2 mile mark, he pulled away slightly, but after the hill I closed the gap. When we hit mile 2 I pushed harder and gapped him, then extended my lead to 15 seconds by the finish.

This course was interesting because it was a net uphill for the first 2 miles. I thought mile 1 was pretty gentle, but I could tell it in my pace and by the elevation chart. Mile 2 seemed harder with more hills, though still nothing extreme for a Missouri runner. Then mile 3 had almost all down, which was fun! I felt like I ran in a way that mile 3 would be my fastest mile, but the downhill made it even faster. It felt really good to push and I felt strong coming towards the finish. I definitely felt better in this race than I have been feeling doing short hill reps in training!

About a quarter mile out from the finish, the lead bike came back for me after leading the top male in. As he rode me closer to the finish he waved his arms up and down, I assume to signal the finish line that the first female was coming in. I heard the announcer say something to that effect and saw the finish line volunteers put up a finishing banner. I love getting to break a tape! I gave a huge smile and the announcer said, "Keep that smile right through the finish line!" He was also announcing where the clock was at as I came down the final stretch, and when I heard 19:10 I was pleasantly surprised; I wasn't completely sure I could run under 20:00 but I was going to be way under!

Final bit

I had a huge smile on my face as I came in, and saw a photographer snapping photos in the finish chute, indicating that I was surprisingly coherent. I ran through the finishing tape, which was supposed to break at a Velcro attachment but did not. I then ended up tripping over the banner that didn't break, and narrowly avoided falling down. I was hoping I'd get finishing photos of that part, but they were either too nice to take them or too nice to post them. My official time was 19:20. I thought there were a ton of men in front of me but it turns out there were only 4.

Not my best photo but a big smile

I turned around to see where my competition and friends were. The second and third women came in at 19:43 and 19:48 (Christy), then John came though, then Liz, then Jacob - all pretty quickly after I finished. As I started walking out of the chute, a reporter from the Joplin Globe asked if he could ask me some questions, so I of course obliged. I think my runners high was clear from one of my quotes here, "It's great, a great way to start the year...I highly recommend it for everybody."

Joplin Globe article

My mention

John was planning to run back to the start to get his car prior to the awards, and I'd told him I'd run back with him when I stashed my phone in his car, because I wanted about 10 miles for the day. We ran the course backwards along with Liz for about a mile, and cheered for those we knew who were running. We ran 3.5 more miles total at my request, then hopped in his car and hightailed it back to the awards. I ended up just missing my overall award, but Natalie picked it up for me and later they called me back on the podium.

The podium was a nice touch!

My run on Strava matched with a couple of people who have premium Strava, one of whom was only 14 seconds behind me, so I was able to figure out my grade-adjusted paces for the race. My actual splits were 6:19, 6:27, 5:55 (5:25 final 0.12) - grade adjusted was 6:12, 6:22, 6:06. I felt like I got out well, eased up a little during mile 2, then hammered the final mile, so this makes sense to me. It's also faster than I expected to run, so I was happy about that.

I think 2024 is going to be my year of running races like this where I can compete for the win, because this race felt really right and I want to do it again!

Cute unique award

Post-race girls' afternoon!

The other Joplin Globe mention

2023 Running Recap

Quick stats:

• Miles run: 3619.7
• Teams/Support: rabbitELITE, UCAN, Nike, Miles from Mentor
• Races run: 11
• Races won (OA female): 5
• Races won (masters female): 10
• PRs: 30k, by default, though I have run much faster 30ks during numerous marathons
• Records:
  
• Missouri state road racing record for 30k for females age 43
• Kansas state #2 female 50k of all time (behind my 2022 50k record)
• Highlights:
• My amazing running group continued to grow!
• I was accepted onto my third rabbitELITE team.
• I was "promoted" to Team UCAN Inspire.

Longer Impressions:

I nearly didn't write a running recap for the year, which is why this is being published later than Dec. 31. On one hand I feel like I didn't necessarily get much performance-wise out of the miles I put in this year, but on the other hand it's all relative and I enjoyed running just as much or more than ever! The day-to-day is my favorite part; I genuinely love getting up early every morning and running in all seasons and circumstances.

I enjoyed running many races on a whim and racing (for places vs. focusing on times). I enjoyed aiming for masters wins in nearly all of the races I ran (the only exception being Chicago). I never really understood the masters category, even when I was 39-40, but now it's one of the best things ever in running! Going for overall female wins is still nice, but not having to compete with 20-30 year olds in a division is also nice.

I ran 3 marathons and a 50k, which is quite a bit of long racing for a year. My spring marathon was a training run for my 50k, then I hoped to run sub-3 in a fall marathon and believe I was there fitness-wise, but I ended up with the beginnings of COVID for Chicago and was feeling weak post-COVID at Bass Pro, so in the end I got two 3:07s instead. Another lowlight of my year was a weird imbalance issue that resulted in pretty low mileage in April and May.

I love my training group and it has continued to grow this year. We have 5:30 a.m. runs with 10-15 people often. I coach many of my training buddies free of charge, and I love seeing my friends excited about running and running fast! I hope I can help others through running since it's given me so much. The sport continues to be a cornerstone in my life, and I am thankful for every run!

Race Recaps:

• 2/18/23 - Run with the Wind 25k
• 2/25/23 - Running from Yeti Marathon
• 3/25/23 - Prairie Spirit 50k 
• 4/8/23 - Easter Sun Run 10k and 2 mile 
• 7/4/23 - Firecracker 5000
• 7/16/23 - Summer Sizzler 15k
• 8/12/23 - Riverside 5000
• 10/8/23 - Chicago Marathon
• 11/5/23 - Bass Pro Marathon
• 12/16/23 - Jack is Back 30k

Monthly Recaps:

• January
• February
• March
• April
• May
• June
• July
• August
• September
• October
• November
• December

Previous Yearly Recaps:

• 2022
• 2021
• 2020
• 2019
• 2018
• 2017
• 2016 
• 2015