The Passion is in the Process

As my goal marathon draws near, I've become increasingly aware of how I've changed since I set the goal of running an Olympic Trials Qualifying time.  When I started tapering, I was quite sad to think about my training cycle winding down.  I have always loved training, but I also loved it leading to goal races and performances.  In 2019, I've really loved training simply for itself.  I love the every day process, the easy miles, the early mornings, the challenging workouts, the doubles, the routines, the outdoors, the lifestyle, and the amazing people running has brought into my life.  These things are primary; races are now a distant second.

During race week, several people have said renditions of:  "the work is done, the marathon is the celebration", "racing is the best part", "racing is the reward for all your hard training."  I may not be able to fully explain it, but I think to myself, "No, the training was the best part!"  The marathon is a single day, a few hours.  The training has enhanced my life for years.  No matter what I run or don't run in Indy, I am so blessed because the joy is in the journey!  While I've always felt that way to some degree, for this marathon it's much bigger.  I am going to give my race day goals everything I have on November 9, but nothing can compare to what I've already gained.

I put together some training stats to reflect back on during my taper.  After taking 2 recovery weeks following Grandma's Marathon, I ran 8 weeks of mileage between 70-85, and 8 weeks between 88-96.  My weekly (Monday through Sunday) mileage totals starting July 8 were:

1. 70.9 (Sweatfest)
2. 81.1
3. 70.9
4. 84.5
5. 87.2
6. 96
7. 88.1
8. 70.2 (Brookhaven 5K)
9. 75.2 (Plaza 10K)
10. 92.5
11. 92.6
12. 75.5 (Indy Women's Half)
13. 88 (Panther Run 5K)
14. 91.7
15. 92.1
16. 80.4
17. 60.2
18. race week

For long runs, I had 7 runs of 20+, 3 "double" long runs (counting 12+ as long Saturday/Sunday), and 8.25 workout or race combination long runs.  My long runs, starting on July 13:

1. 16.5 (with Sweatfest)
2. 15.2
3. 15.2
4. 17.1
5. 18.1
6. 20.3
7. 20.3 (4-3-2-1 mile workout)
8. 12.4 Saturday (with Brookhaven 5K) and 15.2 Sunday
9. 17.1 (with Plaza 10K)
10. 22.4 (2 x 6 mile at 6:10 workout)
11. 20.1 (4-3-2-1 mile workout) Saturday and 12.3 Sunday
12. 20.7 Saturday (with Indy Women's half) and 14.1 Sunday
13. 16
14. 24.5 (10 x 1:00 pick ups, which I counted as 0.25 of a workout, hah)
15. 22.4
16. 16.8 (10 miles at 6:02)
17. 12
18. marathon

My most confidence-boosting workouts were on October 5, 8, 15 (this one was my season-best, I think), and 26; September 3, 14, 24; and August 15, 20, and 24. 

• October workouts in this post
• September workouts in this post
• August workouts in this post
• July workouts in this post

I haven't compared this directly to what I've done in the past, but I know it's more volume than I've done before and I've done many new workouts along the way.  I have felt stronger along the way, vs. several past cycles where I felt like I was just maintaining.  I ran very few easy runs alone; I nearly always had awesome company.  I have so many great memories from this training cycle that I really don't want it to end!  What you do every day matters more than what you do once in awhile.  :-)

I recently read this quote from Oprah, and it really exemplifies how I feel about my running right now.  "Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more.  If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough."

I may never have more, but I certainly have more than enough.  While this is true even if I never run another step, it's even more true after this healthy marathon build God has given me.  I'm ready to do my best and let Him do the rest on Saturday, but I am so thankful for the process and for how running has improved my life.

Anatomy of a 100 Mile Week

I ran my first ever 100 mile week!  Ironically, it wasn't exactly planned.  My coach schedules my mileage Monday through Sunday, which is how I prefer it (Strava also tracks weekly mileage that way), so it was only by luck, or maybe fatigue, that it happened on a Sunday through Saturday week.  You'll have to read the rest for the full explanation!  You'll also notice that the little extra 0.1-0.3 I have on almost every run was an important part of accidentally hitting this milestone.

Sunday 10/6/19:
AM run:  10.14 miles easy effort
PM run:  3.30 miles easy effort
Extras:  glute yoga
Notes: I was scheduled to run 8 and 5 milers, but it's a long story. I almost didn't do the second run because it was optional since I'd run a longer morning session, and the weather was cool and down-pouring most of the day, but when it stopped raining around 6 p.m. I went out to finish the mileage, and I'm sure glad I did!

Monday 10/7/19:
AM run:  9.21 miles easy effort
Extras:  core workout

Tuesday 10/8/19:
AM run:  3.19 miles warm up, 10 x 1K with 1:00 recoveries on the road (7.26 miles total), 2.16 miles cool down.  My 1K times were 3:33-3:39, or 5:43-5:54 pace. My goal pace range was 5:50-5:55/no faster, so I was in it or a tad under, but 5:50 pace sure feels different at 45 degrees than at 70!
PM run:  4.21 miles easy HR < 132
Extras:  post-run yoga

Wednesday 10/9/19:
AM run:  10.30 miles easy effort
PM run:  4.20 miles easy HR < 132
Extras:  full body strength workout

Thursday 10/10/19:
AM run:  12.25 miles easy effort
Extras:  yoga for tight hamstrings

Friday 10/11/19:
AM run:  8.14 miles easy HR < 132
Extras:  Core workout, hip opening yoga
Notes:  My stomach was really unhappy on this run, plus we got rained on in 40 degrees, and I came very close to stopping early, at 7 miles when my friend Abby finished her run.  If I learned anything from this week it's that every bit counts!

Saturday 10/12/19:
AM run:  24.50 miles easy effort except for 10 x 1:00 pick-ups to marathon pace at the beginnings of miles 12-21
PM run: 1.12 miles easy
Extras:  post-run yoga
Notes:  On my 24 miler (turned 24.5 due to route miscalculations!), I felt strong but not fast, and a few hours after I decided to look at my rolling 7-day mileage to see how many miles I had on my legs.  When I saw it was at 98.9, I texted my coach a screenshot and asked if I could do a 1.1 mile shake out, and she said to go for it!  My only regret is that I want to say I did 100 miles in a week with only 3 doubles, but technically the 1.1 miler made 4 (although I could have easily tacked 1.1 miles onto any other run this week, except for Friday's, hah).  Surprisingly I felt fine on the 1.1, and then started thinking I should go 1.7 to make Saturday into a full marathon, but the appeal of the perfect round 100 won out.

It would only be possible to leave this mileage alone if you'd
done lots of 100 mile weeks before!

I was scheduled to possibly have 100 October 14-20 (a Monday though Saturday week), but my coach wanted to see how I handled my October 15 workout before deciding for sure, so now we can truly go by how I feel instead of striving to hit a number - arriving at the starting line in Indy on November 9 healthy is faaaaaarrr more important.  Update:  My October 15 workout was probably the best workout of my life, so I now need to write a post about it!

24

I was very excited to hit this milestone, although it didn't feel any different than the 90-some mile weeks I've done (basically just like this 96 mile week).  I used to think that I could only run a max of 40-50 miles a week without getting injured, but let this be proof that if you gradually increase mileage and have coaching guidance, you can do a lot more than you think!  I've been going up by about 5 miles per week per training cycle, so about 10 miles per year.  It took me 5 years to go from 50 to 100, but I did it with fewer injuries during those 5 years (two) than I sustained during any other 5 year period of my adult life.

Kipchoge says that no human is limited, and although I think I have some limits, I like pushing them.  I was pumped that I finished my first 100 mile week on the same day he ran a 1:59 marathon!  Mind-blowing.

Sweet 17: Panther Run 5K

I finally ran a 5K time starting in 17!

Everyone won & PRed!

This local race was a last-minute addition to my schedule.  Back in July, I noted all of the races I was interested in on my training calendar and told my coach to choose which ones she thought were the best fit for my biggest season goal, the Indy Monumental Marathon (this truly shows how much I trust her!).  I wrote the Panther Run 5K/10K/15K on there as a fun local event that's not competitive but has a little prize money, but she passed it up initially since I likely wouldn't have anyone to run with.  After the warm, humid weather at the Indy Women's Half the week before put me at 0 for 3 for decent weather races this season, she threw out the possibility of me racing the 5K at Panther if the weather was decent and if I recovered well from the Indy.  Both happened, so Panther happened!

It was 59 degrees race morning, and it's amazing how cool 59 feels when you've been running everything in 70+!  When deciding whether or not to race the 5K earlier in the week, I'd talked to my friend Mike who was running it, and he said he thought he could run the first 2 miles with me at my goal pace, 5:40.  I knew I'd need someone with me to really push it, so I was happy to connect with him.  A friend I ran with at Pitt State, Daniel, was also running the 5K, and my training partners Abby and Rebecca were running the 15K and 10K, respectively - plus I saw hundreds of other familiar faces and enjoyed the hometown race feel!

I thought of this race more as a workout - as if my coach had put 3.1 miles at 5:40 pace on my training schedule.  In the past I've gotten really scared of paces that fast (after it, that is pretty much my sprint!), but I just decided I'd run it until I couldn't run it anymore, and hopefully I'd be close to the finish line at that point.  I also knew that even if I blew up at halfway or 2 miles I could most likely still win the race, so it was an easy gamble to take.

I was caught on film during my warm up

Kids sprinting out faster than 5:40 pace

From the gun, several kids and teens got out fast, but by about a half mile in Daniel had a lead on the field and Mike and I were together in 2-3 overall.  We hit the mile in 5:39 (per Garmin - Strava had me a little faster), and I felt the best I ever have after running a mile that fast.  I have been racing without looking at my watch recently, but I don't have a good grasp on 5K feel (beyond: hard), and as I mentioned I attacked this more like I approach a workout, so I looked at my splits during this race.  Mike was letting me set the pace, and by halfway I'd gapped him and was running alone.  I could see Daniel ahead of me, but he was too far up to help.  I told myself to stay on the gas, and hit my second mile in 5:41 (again per Garmin, with Strava at 5:40).

Towards the beginning of mile 3 - focus

I have a really hard time negative splitting 5Ks, and although I felt strong and like I was moving well during mile 3, when I looked down my pace was 5:47.  I told myself to get it back down to 5:40, but I also knew that as long as I stayed around there I was going to PR and break 18.  We turned onto the last long stretch of the course on Benton Street to come face-to-face with the 5K walk, which was going out in the opposite direction we were coming in.  I suspected I was going to be really close on breaking 18 since the course had measured long on my Garmin in the past, so I kept hugging the tangent and just hoping that the walkers would move over for me.  It was shocking how unaware most people were!  I later asked Daniel if he went through them or around, and he said he and the lead cyclist went around, so I was the first rude person going through (Mike said he went through after me though!).  But no regrets!  It probably slowed me down a bit, but I think the hardest part of that final mile was not having anyone to run with; I always run better with someone pushing me.

The finishing clock started with the 15K race, then they started the 10K when it was at 10:00 and the 5K when it was at 20:00, so when I saw it ticking 37:4X I knew I was going to make it!  My finishing kick was non-existent, but I suppose 5:40 really is about as fast as these marathon legs will turn over.  I stopped my Garmin at 17:54 shortly after the line.  I was the second overall person behind Daniel, who ran 16:59ish.  He said he was either just under or just over 17:00, but I'm giving him 16:59...the reason we don't know for sure is because there was an error with the results, with some times being +13-15 seconds off watch times.  Of course this would happen to me when I finally break 18 (mine is officially listed at 18:06 - insert crying face here)!  But, I have my Garmin and Strava data, and I am trying not to be upset about it.  The main thing is that I don't know what my official PR should be, since I stopped my Garmin just after I finished.  17:52?  Strava gave me 17:42!  I will probably use this as an excuse to run another 5K soon to try to make this conundrum irrelevant with a faster time.

Garmin data

Strava data (my HR monitor didn't work correctly during the
race, which is why it says "this was easier than your usual
effort"...it sure was not!)

From Strava

This should be a negative split course, but
the elevation isn't as dramatic as it looks (I
didn't really notice it at all)

After the race, I was supposed to take about 10 minutes then start a 30 minute progression run.  I took 16 minutes, but that was because both Daniel and Mike were willing to run it with me (which I was quite thankful for!) and were getting a drink, etc.  I started at 8:00 pace and dropped 15 seconds off the pace each half mile in order to finish at 6:00 (actually I finished at 5:53).  I was pleasantly surprised with how strong I felt doing it!  I could NOT have managed anything close to this after the Brookhaven 5K - I barely made my 6 mile cool down at 8:15+ pace that day.  I then ran 5 more miles easy for 16 on the day (Daniel did those with me too, and we still walked into the awards ceremony on the tail end of the 5K awards).

Rebecca won overall female in the 10K and Abby won overall female in the 15K, so it was a podium sweep for my running group (yes, we did plan to go for that)!  We enjoyed the very lengthy awards ceremony/give-away extravaganza (I won a $120 Pilates gift certificate and a $25 gift card to Eat Fit Go!), then had an amazing brunch. 

Celebrate good times

Winnings

It's funny that I did so much research to find the "perfect" 5K to run this season and landed on the fastest course in Oklahoma at Brookhaven.  That course was pancake flat, had few turns, and had deep competition.  I even had a lighter training week going into that race, but I did not have a good race there, even taking the weather into the consideration.  I trained straight through this race (88 mile week), was a week off of racing Indy Women's Half, didn't commit and sign up until Thursday evening (the last preregistration opportunity), ran most of the race alone, and the course is mediocre (more turns and elevation than ideal, but not bad).  I suppose that I run best when I am least concerned about it!

I'm thankful to be part of such an amazing local running community, and I'm thankful that my coach thought this race was a good idea - perhaps the most shocking part is that I did not even ask to add it!  I was disappointed with my performance at the Brookhaven 5K, but I was content with leaving that as my best 5K of the season.  One of the many things that God taught me through my last injury was to be content regardless of my running performance.

Philippians 4:13 ("I can do all things through him who gives me strength") is often used by athletes to credit God for performances, which is fantastic but not the whole story.  In context, Philippians 10:13 reads:  "I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me.  Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it.  I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.  I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do all this through him who gives me strength."  The theme?  Being content in any situation.  God gives us strength to be content because of Him.

bRUNch

My face here is proof the 5K is painful from the third step
(unless you are under the age of 18)

How bad the 5K hurts during the third mile, hahahahahaha!

Indy Women's Half: All the feels plus a PR!

The Short:

I decided that running the Indy Women's Half for the third year in a row would be a beneficial fitness check and practice trip to Indianapolis six weeks prior to my goal race there, the Indy Monumental Marathon.  Since the race morning weather left a lot to be desired (a humid 74 degrees), my goals for the race were to compete the best I could in the field and hopefully hit marathon goal pace.  I am not sure anyone was more shocked than I was when I finished 3rd overall in a new half PR of 1:20:29.  Although I'm still dying to add a sub-80 to my resume, I was pumped to PR on a day I was sure I wouldn't!

My official results are here, the race leaderboard is here, and my Strava activity is here.  I can be seen in the 2019 preview video here (footage from 2018 race).

Podium

Stats

The Long:

My race in Indy last year did not go as planned; I started it slightly injured and finished it very injured, then was very unhappy about taking 10 weeks off running.  On the other hand, my 2017 race there went well and was where I ran my previous half PR of 1:20:50.   The event is well-done, the course is flat and fast, in 2017 and 2018 the temperature was around 50 degrees, and I was excited to return in 2019...until I wasn't.  During the week leading up to the race, I became fearful about getting injured, only because I had at that point in my training last year.  Everything felt fine, but I couldn't shake it.  I was never worried about my race performance because I was just worried I would get hurt, which was odd because I am not superstitious or anything of that nature!  I kept reminding myself that I'd started Indy already hurt last year, and this year I was going in feeling strong.

Summer has really been hanging on this year, and although we got a couple of cool mornings during the week leading up to the race, the race morning forecast kept getting warmer as race day grew closer.  When it was a couple of days out and looking like it would be 69 degrees with 100% humidity, my coach and I discussed a pace plan.  She said she thought my training indicated I was in shape to run a 1:18 (6:00ish pace), but that the weather would slow me down by 15-20 seconds/mile.  We decided that anything under goal marathon pace (6:17) would be a win.  While I was disappointed that Mother Nature wasn't cooperating, this really took the pressure to hit any certain splits off.  I didn't really taper for the race; although my weekly mileage was lighter than usual at 75, it was because I had Wednesday completely off.  One week before I did a significant 20 mile workout, followed by days of 12, 9, 15, 0, 10, and 7 leading up to race day.

My dad and I drove to Indy from my home in Missouri, leaving early Friday morning.  We went to the race expo, explored the area a bit, and found our Bed and Breakfast by about 5:30 p.m.  For awhile I thought I'd be going to the race by myself, so I wanted accommodations that I could easily run to the starting area from, but my thriftiness couldn't handle a $300 downtown hotel, and the BnB was only 1.1 miles from the start, in almost a straight shot (i.e., it would be very difficult to get lost!).  We had several rooms, space to sleep 4, and free parking, and were pleased with the BnB (except they were very strict on breakfast times).

Expo fun

I was honored to be featured as one of the "Five Women to Watch" for the third year.  When I picked up my race booklet and read about the other four women, I didn't feel like I belonged in the feature though.  I thought it was unlikely I'd be able to beat any of the other 4, and there are always a few fast women who are not featured, so I predicted I'd be racing for 5-8th place.  Related note: I've gotten to know Sarah Bishop a bit through social media and she is an amazing athlete!  It was fun to chat with her before and after this race.

Look at those 4 ladies' credentials!

When I woke up race morning and checked my weather app, it was even worse than I'd expected:  74 degrees.  I was mentally ready for a warm one, and during my 3 mile warm up I decided I wasn't going to look at my watch during the race.  I'd had a sub-par long run workout the Saturday before in similar weather, and that day I couldn't get my pace down to 6:15 for the life of me, so I just didn't want to see splits in the 6:20s and get upset.  I'd made peace with no chance of a 1:18, and I also felt that as long as I started and finished healthy I was in a great spot (what a difference a year makes!)!

As the race started and everyone settled into pace, I found myself in a pack of about 10 women.  There were two women out in front of us, although I suspected one of them was in the 5K (she was, and the other was Pasca Myers, a top contender).  The other 3 women to watch were in the pack, in additional to several other women I recognized from previous years races.  There is a lot of power in running in a pack, so I thought it was an ideal situation!

The pace felt right effort-wise, and as the miles clipped away the pack dwindled.  I settled in right behind two women in blue tanks, one of whom I recognized as Sarah Pease, a pro runner for Oiselle who I thought would win the race.  By mile 6 all of the others had fallen off the pack and it was us three.  The woman who wasn't Sarah (I'll call her the girl in the hat) was pushing the pace.  I felt strong but not ready to pick it up, so I let her pull away and then it was me and Sarah.  Since she is from Indy, many people were cheering for her so I just lied to myself that all the "Go Sara(h)"s were for me, haha!  I also kept thinking, "How is this happening?!" in regards to running with her; she has quite the impressive resume and just competed in the U.S. Champs 10,000 m.  I follow her on Instagram and she is a runner I really admire.

Trailing the second female (Sarah Pease is behind her)

I felt strong, but from the hair pin turn just after mile 6 I knew there were a whole slew of women not far behind, so it wasn't just Sarah I was competing with.  I also had the second place woman in the hat in my sights, so I was pushing towards her.  When we went up an incline between miles 9 and 10, I pulled slightly ahead of Sarah and thought, "Well, this is it!", although I still felt like I was in some alternative universe running with/ahead of her.  The second place woman had a good lead on me, but I had over a 5K to cut into it the best I could, and I wanted to try, so that really kept me pushing.

Focus

Fatigue

The race felt hard but also controlled the whole way.  I felt like I could maintain my effort through the end, and the closer I got to the finish line the more confident I was about a third place finish (by around mile 12 I knew it was unlikely I was going to catch second).  I smiled through the final mile and kicked it in, seeing the finishing clock in the 1:20s and knowing I'd somehow managed a PR, and hearing the announcer call my name and my dad cheering his heart out!  My dad's video of my finish is here and is heartwarming.

PR in sights

I had to stop my watch at the line to capture the PR -
I also had no plans to buy the photos!

Drenched in sweat & happiness

Since this month I had two performances I was happy with in humid 70+ degrees, I suppose I have to stop saying that I never run anything worthwhile in this weather; although I do believe I would have run significantly faster in cool weather, I held my own in this one.  I have come to the conclusion that my performance in warm humid weather is less predictable.  Some days it bothers me more than others, and I'm not sure what the difference is.

Top 3

And although I sure still want to add a sub-80 half to my running resume, the confidence-boost I got from this race was just as good as if I'd have run a 1:18-1:19 in cool temperatures.  Four weeks prior to running 2:47:14 at CIM, I ran a half marathon in 1:23:53 in temps in the 70s, so I was mentally prepared to be completely calm with a 1:22 half.  Really, as long as I walked away from this race uninjured I was counting it as a huge success after last year, no matter what my time was.  Now I just have to hope that fall arrives before the Indy Monumental Marathon on November 9!  Either way, I'll be there fighting...

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." - 2 Timothy 4:7

Awards ceremony

Top 10

Top 20

Oh the irony that they gave us scarves!

There's something about the Plaza 10K!

The short:
Mother Nature didn't want the Plaza 10K runners to have it easy this year, so she gave us 71 degrees with thunderstorms in the area and a dew point of 68.  Historically I haven't raced well in these conditions, so I lined up ready to give it my all and to be thankful for whatever that was, without any specific time or pace expectations.  I ran by effort and ignored my watch, and although I had an idea where I was at since the race had a course clock at the 5K mark, I was thrilled to see the finishing clock in the 36s as I came down the final stretch.  My official time of 36:52 is 18 seconds off my PR, which I ran in 56 degrees on the same course last year, but it almost felt like a PR because it was much faster than I thought I would run in the weather we had.  It is by far the best I've raced anything in temperatures over 70, and it felt so good after a disappointing 5K in similar conditions the previous weekend.

My official results are here, and my Strava activity of the race can be seen here.

I remembered not to stop my watch for once!

On my drive to the race, Psalm 23 popped into my head

The long:
I had a hard time getting pumped up for this race because of the forecast.  I was still feeling discouraged from the Brookhaven 5K, and the weather conditions were shaping up to be nearly identical for this race.  I thought my fitness was there, but I didn't feel good about showing it in crap weather - plus optimism and denial hadn't worked the previous weekend!

I was at this race solo, so this was my race day pic!

However, as always I got excited when I got in the race environment and began warming up.  This race is very competitive, so as usual one of my goals was to place as high as I could.  My other goals were to get the best out of myself that day, and to not be afraid to hurt.

The race started and I settled into the effort level that felt maintainable for 6.2 miles.  Several women went out ahead of me, and I began setting my eyes on the ponytail closest to me and working towards it.  I latched onto men here and there to help pull me up to the next ponytail.  I passed Chander, who I ran most of Grandma's Marathon with, shortly after the mile mark and encouraged her to work her way up with me.  The familiar course was comforting, although I caught myself thinking, "I remember how much cooler it was last year" a few times.

Mid-race focus

I was nearing a woman and feeling strong when we passed the 5K clock in 18:24.  I wasn't sure whether to laugh or to breathe a sign of relief, since the pace felt hard but it also felt do-able, whereas the previous week I'd been nearly dead after racing a flatter 5K in 18:23.  That gave me a nice boost and I accelerated past that women, encouraging her to work with me to catch the two ponytails ahead of us.

A couple of my male pace buddies around mile 4

After that point I worked with a couple of men for the second half of the race.  The effort was hard but I kept telling myself just to stay with them; they would get me in the 36s.  Although I didn't have a time goal when I started the race, I sure had one after I saw my 5K course split, and that was to run something starting with a 36!  I knew that wouldn't be an easy task, because the final 2 miles of this course have a lot of uphill and I've always positive split on it.  Also, my coach told me that humidity affects us most in the second half of a race, which seems like a good explanation for why I positive split everything in the summer even though in general I consider myself a good negative splitter...

I started to hurt really bad with 1.5 miles to go, but I was gaining slightly on a ponytail about 30 seconds ahead and wouldn't let myself give up, just in case!  Running near the men helped a lot, but as they sprinted in the final 0.2 I didn't have much left to give - by that point I also knew that I wasn't going to move up or get caught in my female position.  As I came down the final stretch, I saw that I was going to make it in the 36s and broke out in a smile!

I remembered to not stop my watch right at the
line in hopes of getting good finishing photos!

The woman who won my age group was from Flagstaff, AZ

Post-race, I ran an 8 mile cool down with great company, which has become tradition for this Sunday race that always coincides with marathon training (probably because I am always marathon training, bahaha!)!  I felt pretty good on the slow cool down until we climbed a massive steep hill in the final mile, in search of Sharon's car...

The race took about 8 photos of us finishing our cool down, hah!

The more I reflected on my race, the better I felt about it.  The woman who won the race last year in 34:36 ran 35:24 this time for second place, and she is in top shape preparing for the Twin Cities Marathon.  Another fast female who ran 35:09 last year finished in 36:09 this year.  I finished in front of a women I've never beat before, who ran 36:10 last year and 37:27 this time.  Thinking about it that way, I felt that being 18 seconds slower than my 2018 time was perhaps equivalent to a 30-40 second PR, and this was sure a better checkpoint than my race the weekend before!

Pretty happy with these grade-adjusted paces except for mile 6 and the final 0.24 -
those show I didn't have much left to give!

I wish mile 4 was instead mile 6

I wrote about my Plaza 2018 race here and my Plaza 2017 race here.  Clearly I need to keep running this race every year, because I have never come away thinking it could have gone any better.  I'm thankful I returned for the Plaza 10K magic in 2019.

Psalm 23:1:  The Lord is my Shepard, I shall not want...  23:6:  Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

My course 5K splits were 18:24 and 18:27!

Post-race brunch company

Hahaha!

Brookhaven 5K: Fitness & optimism don't always = PR, & disappointed doesn't mean upset

For the first time in years, I was very excited to race a 5K!  The Brookhaven Run in Norman, Oklahoma seemed to be my best chance around for a fast one:  it was a flat course, it was very competitive, and I'd been running faster speed workouts this summer than I'd done since high school.  I thought this would be my chance to have a real 5K PR in the 17s (versus having run in the 17s only as part of a 10K, unofficially).  My main objective for the race was to run something starting with a 17, but my coach thought I was in shape to run under 17:30, which became my A goal.  I also wanted to get in there and compete in the competitive women's field.

Pushing it

My week leading up to the race was far from ideal; it was one of the most stressful work weeks I've ever had, and I lost a lot of sleep due to an event that occurred on Monday that snowballed into issues every subsequent day.  Travel to the race also wasn't ideal; we arrived at our hotel to find out they had no water and didn't know when it would be back on, so we found a different hotel.  My parents were joining us for the race and weekend get away, and their RV brakes went out when they parked at packet pick up.  With these snafus I didn't eat dinner the night before the race until about 9:00 p.m., after becoming quite hangry (advice: don't try to call hotels.com to make sure you don't get charged for a reservation when extremely hungry!), and I also didn't eat enough at that point.  At times I'm pretty good at denying all problems and continuing to be optimistic about a race no matter what, so I chose blissful ignorance and decided I could still PR on Saturday morning..."because it's only a 5K."

When I woke up at 5:45 a.m. on Saturday to see the dew point of 70 degrees and temperature of 71 degrees, I continued to choose optimism.  Although historically I really suffer when the dew point is 70+, I decided that since it was "only a 5K", I'd be fine.

When we arrived at the race site, we found my parent's broken down RV in the finish chute (I am not kidding, but at least it was near the food and drinks instead of impeding the course).  I found the elite athlete check-in, and as I was getting my number I heard a man saying "This is Sarah Kiptoo, your overall female winner and soon-to-be Oklahoma state record holder" to one of the race organizers as an introduction.  That was a pretty bold statement, but I think it was pretty easy to assume she would win overall female, and there was a very nice financial incentive for anyone who broke the record, so I am sure that is why she came to the race (she is a professional who I believe trains in New Mexico).  I got a peak at the list of the elite female field, which was pretty intimidating, but I hoped it would pull me to a fast time!

With Albani & my mom pre-race

Despite suffocating in the humidity on my warm-up, I still told myself I'd be fine in the weather ("just a 5K").  I ran most of the course to warm up, did some drills and strides, and jumped in the elite corral.  The race did some detailed call-outs for some elite entrants.  In addition to Sarah Kiptoo, Brooks Beasts professional runner Hannah Fields was also in the field, plus about 5 others ladies with a lot of running credentials attached to their names.

At 8:00 a.m. (which seemed like mid-day to this 5:00 a.m. runner!), we were off!  The course was very crowded initially, and it was by far the thickest field I've ever run in during a 5K, which was mostly nice but resulted in more weaving than I'd have liked, particularly as some of the high school boys who went out very hard fell off.  The course had clocks at every 1K, and I knew to run 17:30 I would need to run 3:30 kilometers, or for 17:55 I would need 3:35.  I was solely focused on effort - at sustaining what felt maintainable for a 5K - but I knew I'd end up doing the math at every clock I saw so I wanted to be prepared.  I passed the first clock in around 3:36, which I figured was perfect to start.  I heard my watch beep so I knew when I hit the mile but didn't look at my split until after the race (it was 5:48).  My 2K was 7:12ish, so my pace was consistent.  I was hurting pretty bad at halfway, but I just kept thinking about how my coach said that it was supposed to hurt really bad from 1.5-2.5, and I kept pressing towards runners ahead of me, passing a couple of women and several men, all of whom were apparently slowing worse than me.

Final stretch

I thought my stride looked good at least!

I can't remember my 3K split, but I knew I was going to need a negative split to break 18 at that point.  My Garmin split for mile 2 was 5:48.  A man passed me around that time and I told myself to go with him, which helped me keep my turnover going to some degree.  The 4K came in 14:45, and then I knew my sub-18 had slipped away; I couldn't run the final K in 3:14 or under (I just don't have that kind of speed, nor did I have enough left in the tank).  I tried to press as hard as I could anyway, focusing on a woman in front of me and trying to catch her, but I had to hold back disappointment about not breaking 18.

Spoiler: that guy out-kicked me

I finished in 18:23 (official results are here), with a 5:15 pace final 0.15 (the course was certified but I couldn't run the tangents in the crowd - and for comparison, my Garmin read 26.20 in Grandma's Marathon!).  I was 6th overall female and I had ladies in my sights who I hadn't been close to before.  Our bib numbers were our rankings in the field, and later Albani asked me, "How did they know what order people were going to finish in??" since female bibs 1-2-3-4-5 finished in that order, and I think it was similar for the men.  I was happy about my placing and mostly happy with my race execution, but I was disappointed that my time was so far off what we thought I had in me, and that my 10K PR is still a faster pace than my official 5K PR.  I have also run pretty close to this 5K time for the final 5K in half marathons and during tempo runs.

Top 7 women

The upsides are that this is my fastest certified 5K ever (I have run 18:16-18:19 three times but none were certified courses), and this is faster than any 5K I ran in high school or college, at age 38!  My coach did a couple humidity calculators for me and said she thought the conditions added about 20 seconds/mile, or a minute to my race time, showing that I was in sub-17:30 shape (I also did the math on 5% from this humidity calculator).  Although I don't like anyone to miss their goals, I felt better that Sarah Kiptoo missed her goal by over a minute (she ran 16:31, trying for the 15:28 state record).  But, calculations and comparisons don't get you a PR or the confidence that comes with one.

My times in training tell me that my training is working, but I'd hoped to have a race to confirm it - but I am fortunate that I'll have a couple more tries before The Big One (Indy Monumental Marathon).  I also think back to October 2018 through March 2019 when I would have given almost anything to run a 5K like this, or to run a 5K at all.  I promised myself during my fall injury that I would never get so caught up in performances again, but that is admittedly easier said than done.  I want to be thankful - so I am aiming to continue with my sometimes blissfully ignorant optimism!

Plus you can't be upset if you did your best, and I did.  It took me about 25 years of running to learn that you can't bully yourself into performing or force anything on race days!

I would have been somewhat happier
if mile 3 had been 5:48.3, haha!

Any day I'm healthy enough to toe the line is one I'm thankful for, and I feel better about my training overall than I feel about this race.  I also trust that I'm where God wants me to be, so onto the next!