Riverside 5000

I've wanted to run the Riverside 5000 in Tulsa for years, which is ironic since I don't like 5ks or racing in hot weather! I was registered for the race last year, but it cancelled a couple of weeks before race day due to COVID. I went back and forth on running it this year because all of my local running buddies bailed on the trip and I was feeling pretty tired the week of the race, but decided to sign up two days before the event. My friend Liz was kind enough to let me crash at her house, which helped solidify my decision to go.

Though this was not my first time running a race in a ~100 mile week (that honor goes to the Run with The Wind 25k), it was my first time racing a 5k with this many miles on my legs. Although I know mileage slows you down, I workout with a lot of miles on my legs all of the time, so I rationalized that it wouldn't matter much and hoped to beat my heat advisory time trial time from 3 weeks before. The time trial was during a cut back week of 70 miles, but I hoped I'd gained fitness since then and expected I was capable of 18:15-18:30 in summer conditions. The race had prize money for the top 5 overall and top 3 masters, so my main goals were to get in the top 5 and win masters. For hot races I tend to prefer place goals, as realistic heat-graded times are never that motivating to attain!

When I warm up for short races I do a few minutes at tempo effort, and when I saw my tempo effort was getting me 6:39 pace pre-race, I was a little concerned - but I've had every combination of good/bad warmup/race, so I mostly brushed it off and lined up on the starting line with ice in my sports bra and shorts, trying to stay cool. It was around 78* with a 65* dew point, which is not great but I don't think we could have expected any better. 90* with 75* dew point would have been far worse!

I checked out the other women around me on the starting line and after the gun kept my eye out to see where I was at. Three women went out pretty quick, then when things sorted out I was in 4th. The course was out and back twice, meaning 3 hairpin turns but also meaning you could see where you were at every quarter of the race. At the first turn, I didn't have much lead on the 5th and 6th women, so I knew I was going to need to stay on it to meet my top 5 goal. The woman in 5th looked like she was likely in masters, so I was motivated to widen my gap on her.

The most common comment on this photo when I
shared it on social media was about the gas price

Like usual, I ran by effort and didn't look at my watch. I felt like I was pushing well and running hard, and if I'd had to guess I'd have said 5:50 pace. I am really glad I didn't look at my watch because I'd have been pretty disappointed to see 5:50 effort was getting me 6:10ish pace!

At the halfway turn around, I had a bigger lead on 5th but still not a lot - and I was working hard! I focused on the men ahead of me and trying to pick them off, and I successfully did for multiple men (I think 6). The course was marked each kilometer, so I also focused on pushing during the 3rd and 4th kilometers, since that was where I fell off in the time trial. I noticed that one of the lead women had fallen off the others and seemed to be slowing dramatically, so then I started telling myself to go get her.

Final stretch

At the final hair pin turn, I felt comfortable with my lead over the 5th woman, and tried to push as much as I could, with a small hope that I could catch 3rd. I closed the gap between us but she was still at least 15 seconds ahead of me. When I first saw the clock, it started in an 18, but then I saw that advance to 19 and was pretty disappointed. I ended up crossing in 19:19, but they didn't do chip time so my gun time is my official at 19:25. Results are here.

Awards

I think if Liz hadn't been at the race with me, I'd have wallowed about my time on my cool down, but instead we chatted the whole way and I stayed in a positive mood. We ran a little over 4 miles, then I picked up my winnings. I was pleased with my placings, so I had mixed feelings about this race, but I moved on really quickly from it and enjoyed the rest of my weekend - including a 20 miler the next day. It wasn't what I thought I was capable of time-wise, but it wasn't for lack of trying! I know the mileage slowed me down some, and of course the heat did too, but everything else was pretty ideal so I don't know why I wasn't better.

Not to be dramatic, but I've been wondering lately if my PR days are behind me. I'm currently training well, learning more, and giving running just as much as I ever have, but I'm not running exceptionally. Whatever the case with my performance, I'll continue to train and race because I love it - cheers to enjoying the process! - though I don't love the thought of slowing down. I am fully appreciating the masters division though!

Heat Advisory 5k, Miles from Mentor Time Trial Edition

Over the years, I've learned that my first 5k of the season usually falls short of expectations. I've often been unhappy with my first 5k, then went on to run a faster pace in a 10k a couple of weeks later. When I've raced two 5ks, the second has generally gone significantly better than the first. I'm not the only one who feels this way, so I decided to organize a 5k time trial for my running buddies on July 23 before we tackle a 5k race in August. I figured it would be a good rust buster, plus we like to do weird things like run 3.1 miles really hard around a cemetery at 6 a.m. during a heat advisory!

Pre-run pic

I estimated that I could run about 18:35, basing my guess on thinking I could run a smidge under 6:00 pace (6:00 pace is 18:39). The course we selected is a flat square that is approximately 1 mile that we do workouts on. It has no traffic because it's the road around the perimeter of a cemetery, which also seemed fitting since 5ks are kind of like death, right? Our plan was to run 3 laps plus however much farther was needed to hit 3.11. I programmed my watch to take 1k splits so it would beep when I hit 5k and I wouldn't need to look at it.

Starting line

We had 7 participants: Colin, Austin, Rebecca, Casey, David, Amy, and me. Christian (coming back from injury) and Elise (pregnant) were our race officials, and Austin's mom also spectated. Our starting line was a crack in the pavement that we also use for starting workouts! Really it all felt just like a workout, but I tried to amp myself up to run hard, after my 1600 m time trial debacle the previous week [the short: I ran it like a mile repeat, not like a time trial or race - then had a great 5 x 800 m workout afterward]. I was pretty discouraged from that 1600 m, mostly because I didn't push myself or make it hurt; I finished feeling like I could do it again x 4 after a 2-3 minute jog. I did learn that I have no idea how to race a mile! I hoped to run a solid 5k time, but mostly I wanted to work hard and finish knowing that I gave it my best on the day. While 5ks aren't my forte, I think I mostly know how to race one.

From the start, Colin was in front as expected, followed closely by Austin and then Rebecca. Casey was on Rebecca's heels and I stayed relatively close behind her. I didn't want to take the fly and die approach, and running with either of them at that point felt like it was a little too much, so I let them go and did my own thing. I saw Casey pass Rebecca around the mile mark, and I could tell I was gaining. I passed Rebecca around the halfway point and set my sights on Casey, but she looked really strong and I felt about average, not bad but not great.

Starting the third mile I was really working but I tried to keep the pedal on the gas. Casey had a GI emergency and stepped behind a tree briefly, at which point I passed her. I've run plenty of workouts with her when this has occurred and was well-aware that she'd jump right back in and likely run faster than she had been, so I kept telling myself not to let up because "she's coming!". I was able to maintain the lead through the end but only by a few seconds, and of course her moving time was less than mine. I told her she should count her moving time as her time trial time, but she told me I should take the female win, so I accepted that even though I never thought of this as a race. My time was 18:32.

Rebecca came in shortly after us followed by David and Amy, and we all ran several more miles (10 on the day for me). Elise set up a sprinkler in her yard, about a mile from the course, and gave us popsicles on our cool down.

Cool down

#jumpingjuly - kind of

I ended up appreciating knowing my 1k splits because they showed me where I need to push more, which to no one's surprise is the 3rd and 4th kilometers (see below). I am not sure how it took me 2 seconds to stop my watch after it beeped 5k, but with it set up this way I can see that on the time and subtract it accordingly. It's just a Garmin time anyway - we considered doing this on the track to have a perfect 5k, but ended up voting and road won by 1 vote.

Splits

I'm planning to race a certified 5k next month, and it's likely it will also be in a heat advisory, so this was good preparation! I ran this one better than I've run most first 5ks of a season, I think because I bombed my 1600 m the week before - similarly in summer 2020 I bombed a 2 mile time trial then had a great 5k time trial. So my lesson moving forward is: schedule a meaningless time trial for my first short race of a season! That seems very reasonable, and lucky for me I have a group of similarly crazy people who are always willing to do things like this.

Elise & Estes

Bill Snyder Highway Half

Have you ever run 12 miles into gale force winds? Because I now have!

Only a slight exaggeration. 😉

Miles from Mentor colors work well at K-State

This may be my shortest race recap in history - it's been a busy time and I don't have much to report on this one. Based on the women on the starting line and my non-peak state, I knew that winning masters was likely going to be the best I could come away with, and after mile 1 I felt my choices were to run all out and get 5th OAF and win masters, or to take it easier and potentially help a friend break 1:30, while still getting 5th OAF and winning masters. I chose the latter, also based on the 25 mph headwind and my residual fatigue from my sickly Boston.

Sarah (purple) and me (green & black rabbit) - she
came close to her PR even in that wind!

I was definitely trying to draft

Towards the end

Running 1:30:40 was harder than I expected, but having a significant headwind on a point-to-point course probably accounts for that! I love this race but even if I'd have run all-out I think I'd have come away with my slowest time on it (I was expecting 1:25ish without the wind). 

Finish in the stadium

My main reason for doing this race was a to take a little racecation, and I greatly enjoyed it with my friends Sarah and Sean - also kind of a going away party for Sean before he moves to St. Louis. My parents ending up meeting us in Manhattan, and there were a lot of memories and laughs for the weekend.

Awards with Coach Bill Snyder

Post-race with teammates

I raced in my rabbit gear but put on the
MfM singlet for post-race pics

I want to get back to where I'm confident I can compete when I'm on a starting line, instead of resigning to being unable to keep up with the other women who show up, but this wasn't the day for that. 

Results are here - I'm listed at 2nd masters but the OAF was also first masters so I got to move up.

K-State Insect Zoo

K-State Botanical Gardens

Manhattan Running Co.

Boston: The Aftermath

Boston wrecked me, body and mind. I didn't get as sick after the race as I did after Houston 2020, but the difference was that when I ran Houston sick I was at the very beginning of the illness (became sick the day before the race) whereas with this one I was in the middle of it. I keep coming back to beating myself up about running so much worse this time being sick than I did in Houston, especially because I wasn't wheezing this time and I was in Houston, but I think it was just timing. In Houston I hadn't lost my strength yet and this time I had. I took 5 days off running post-marathon, tying my PR for days off that I set after Houston. On day 6 I woke up itching to run so I did - though slowly. Right now I feel like it's going to take me forever to feel normal again, but that is probably dramatic and I am vowing to be patient.

I had a great training cycle and I know the fitness will help me in the future, though currently I feel too weak to believe it. I am thankful that I had two solid [but not perfect] races this season with my 50k and 20k, plus five for-fun training races that were really enjoyable. I wish I could celebrate my performance in Boston, but I can still celebrate the training cycle. Pre-race someone said something like, "You don't have to wait to celebrate your race; celebrate the successful training that brought you here!" That is hard for someone who is performance-oriented to swallow but I really did love the training, every crap weather bit of it!

It's also hard to swallow the end of my sub-3 streak; I hadn't run over 3 hours since I broke it for the first time in 2016. I am sure no one but me cares that I've run 14 (and counting, hopefully!) sub-3s instead of 14 consecutive sub-3s, but it saddens me. However, the streak was not worth a Boston DNF to me so I don't regret that part. [Although this solved my dilemma on whether or not to count my 50k marathon splits as sub-3s, with Frisco being sub-3 but Prairie Spirit being 3:00. I can say they both go into the count without changing the streak, meaning that the streak actually ended at Prairie Spirit and that Frisco counts into the 14 total!

It's going to take awhile for me to come back from this, but I really do love running every day, so I will focus on that privilege. During the race I heard the song "The Dance" playing, which is an odd song to be playing at a race, but it really resonated with me. I could have missed the pain of a sickly much-slower-than-goal marathon, but then I'd had to miss the thrills of the training cycle and the racecation memories that will last forever.

“There are two ways to get enough. One is to continue to accumulate more and more. The other is to desire less.” - G.K. Chesterton

Boston: Touristy Things, Other Escapades, & Travel

After the Monday race, Amy and I had two more days to be tourists! I worked at the rabbit pop up on Tuesday morning, which was really good timing because it was raining. Amy dragged Colin to two Lululemon stores, and they came by rabbit while I was there. rabbit had some insane deals on their last day being open and I bought 14 shirts to give to my running group.

rabbit pop up on Newbury

Colin headed to the airport after we all ate lunch at Which Wich (which I love but we no longer have in Springfield), and Amy and I headed to the Freedom Trail. It passes nearly all of the major historic sites in Boston, so we got to see it and shake out our legs with over 7 miles of walking. The downside was that it was cold and sporadically rainy. We had to tuck in under awnings and into coffee shops a few times, and by the time we finished seeing the U.S. Constitution we were pretty much frozen and done. We had dinner at Joe's on the Waterfront, missed going to Mike's Pasteries, and took the subway back to our hotel (my first subway experience, not recommended).

Freedom Trail

Boston Common

Paul Revere

We walked through 3 historic cemetaries

The North End, as seen on TV

Old North Church

U.S. Constitution

Scary subway

Back in our room, I cut off the top part of the sign to take home with scissors from the front desk of the hotel. On Wednesday we enjoyed touring Newbury Street, including the Tracksmith Track House. We looked into doing a trolley tour but we'd already seen nearly every site on it during our other touring trips. I also looked at going to the Boston Tea Party Museum but it was closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. We went to Marathon Sports and Eataly before heading to our 4:50 p.m. flight. Travel home went much smoother than travel to Boston, and we actually got to eat dinner in the Chicago airport instead of running through it. We were both exhausted on the final day of trip, but I didn't want to it end!

Beautiful church on Newbury

Marathon Sports

Signs like this were everywhere

Things I left Boston with that I didn't bring:
the large sign, 14 rabbit shirts, 16 Maurten gels, a
pair of Vaporflys, marathon shirt/medal/bag/elite pass

My biggest athletic feat of the trip
was closing this suitcase

Although the race itself was very much not what I wanted, the trip as a whole was amazing. I'm thankful that I felt well enough to enjoy every other aspect (if I'd have felt like I did on the Tuesday and Wednesday before we left, I'd have had to lay in my hotel room the entire trip). I felt free of responsibilities and laughed more than I have in a long time. We made countless inside jokes, and I have memories that will last a lifetime. Hopefully the disappointment of the race will fade and I will pointedly remember the rest of the racecation fondly. I am already dreaming of my next!

Nugget enjoying Boston smells

The story concludes here.

Boston: Professional Post-Race Area

After I crossed the line, I walked on my jello-like legs through the chute. Before I made it very far, I was pulled into the VIP area. I hadn't received my finisher's medal yet, so when I was diverted all I could manage was, "Do I get a medal?" haha! I had not nearly killed myself to finish my worst marathon in years to walk away without a Boston medal. They had me continue walking to a medal and space blanket area, then grab a bag of food and head into the pro area we'd started the day in.

Someone gave me my bag after I walked in, and I reunited with Jen, who had also had a rough day (3:08) and was sitting on the floor. I am currently in a clinical study for a performance glucose monitor, so I had a glucose monitor on my arm and one of the medics started asking me about my blood sugar levels and telling me I needed to eat right away. I tried to explain that I wasn't diabetic but he never seemed to believe me. I also connected with Nick, who was in the room with Mary who he currently coaches, and the medic kept yelling at him to make me eat my sandwich. The medic then wouldn't let me leave the room to change so I had to go behind this half partition thing to get into dry clothes. Later he went on to give me and Jen lectures about how you should drop out if you're having such a bad day and find another marathon to nail [facepalm].

Nick was the first person I said more than a sentence to, and I ended up bursting into tears while talking to him. I've had marathons that I thought were bad before, but nothing compared to this one! It made laugh at 2015 Sara ("You thought 3:01 was terrible when you were aiming for 2:59?!"), 2020 Sara (2:58 with bronchitis), and really at the Sara who ran 2:46-2:47 thinking it was terrible - and sometimes you do just have to laugh so you don't cry! I know it was because my body was wrecked and weak from being sick, but it's still quite heartbreaking, especially on this stage (although if it would have been a local race I would have DNSed).

There were a few pros left in the room, including Steph Bruce getting a massage. Since Jen was also getting one, I had a short one before we walked back to our hotel together. The masseuse tried to get me to see their podiatrist if I had blisters, and when I declined she tried to pull my socks off to check but couldn't manage to remove the compression socks (I had on pants at this time too). The medical staff were pushy! They didn't have Ibuprofen either, so I had to grab some at Walgreens since I'd forgotten to pack it.

Jen and I met Colin back at our hotel, and celebrated his 2:48 PR! I definitely need to keep running the same goal races as athletes I coach, because it gives me something to be proud of if my own race is crap. Jen was flying out that evening, so she rushed to shower and pack up. Amy eventually returned from her post-race Unicorn Club area and we celebrated her 10th consecutive Boston and 3:32 finish - she was hoping to slide under 3:30 but was overall happy. Then I pretty much just laid in bed while chatting and answering messages until we decided to go buy some wine before heading to dinner at Atlantic Fish! 

I wore my pro athlete lanyard around
instead of my medal and jacket

We got lost and walked what felt like miles to find the restaurant, then service took forever but we enjoyed ourselves. We then had some wine, told a lot of stories, Colin headed back to his hotel, and Amy tried to go to sleep while I was still wide awake. I typically struggle with sleeping after marathons, and wine seems to help (post-marathon is the only time I drink anything alcoholic) but I think I was just so wrecked from this one that nothing really helped. I managed about 2 hours worth of sleep but chalked it up to better than zero!

Wine & spirits

The story continues here.

Boston: Race Details

I knew the start of the race would be televised, which was exciting! My parents took a video of the start while watching the broadcast, and their excitement is the best - watch here. I was off the back of the pack with one other woman very quickly, but you can't really tell from the first couple of minutes of TV footage.

Here you can tell I'm at the back!

I hadn't been thinking much about actually running a marathon through all of the pro excitement, and when I did consider it pre-race, my thoughts were not positive ones. Jen and I had planned to run together starting around 6:30 pace and aiming to drop into the 6:20s after the first 4 miles. We both thought we could run 2:47-2:49 and knew it would be really helpful to work together, but with being sick I told her I'd go out with her at the slowest she was willing to go out. She ended up blazing her first mile to be with the group, but then backed off and I caught up before mile 2. The other woman I was with pulled ahead of us and we took on the headwind side-by-side.

Normally I am good at racing by feel, but even my 8:17 pace warm up mile had felt hard on April 18, so I didn't know what to do. I told Jen I'd stay with her as long as I could so neither of us would be alone. The thing about running in a women's only pro field is that many women who aren't in the very front pack end up running much of the race solo; in races without separate starts there are usually men around all of the top women.

Jen felt much better than I did and really engaged the crowds that lined the course as we passed. She kept asking, "Are we almost there?", "Are we catching them?", etc. and laughing. I ran with a smile plastered on my face but didn't have any extra energy. There were crowds everywhere on the course and it felt like were were the only people in the race once we lost sight of the main pack. I didn't look at my watch, but we averaged about 6:40 for the first 9 miles. I felt terrible, but like I said, even 8:00+ had felt terrible for the week before the race so I wasn't at all surprised to feel puny racing.

All smiles

The main field started at 9:00, 15 minutes after us. I'd figured that the top men would start catching us before the half on a good day, and I of course was not having a good day. They caught us around the 15k bottle station, and at that point I lost Jen. I'd just been hanging onto her for the beginning miles, and I probably relaxed once the others caught me knowing I wouldn't be in no man's land if I backed off. The men's field was pretty thin initially, but became thicker as the race drew on and I always had a lot of people around me. It was a relief to be camouflaged in the masses as the race went on.

I knew my race wasn't going to be what I'd dreamed of, but I just tried to keep a smile on my face and enjoy the experience. I looked at my watch for the first time at the half marathon point, coming through in 1:29:53, and that's when I knew my sub-3:00 streak was going to die that day. I knew that was a risk starting this race and just hoped that I could still slide under, but with how depleted I felt at the half I knew I would positive split. It was disheartening to feel so weak, especially after some really stellar recent workouts, but I decided I would finish with whatever I had. It's really hard to have a pro bib on your chest and be fading hard, though (I suppose it's never not hard to be fading hard in a marathon, but this was worse for my pride!).

I watched the crowds pass me, looking for people I knew. The first man I knew passed around mile 15, then I was watchful for the top women of the main field to come. During the final 8 miles of the race, several people I knew passed me and were all very encouraging but it was hard for me to have nothing to give. I usually feel so strong when running, and to feel so weak during a goal race was a gut punch.

Around mile 17 we hit the Newton hills. With as slow as I was running, they didn't really matter. I didn't think any of the hills were very steep, and there was quite a bit of ground to recover between each one. I think it's just the length of them and where they fall in the race that is hard on people. I actually thought the course could be really fast if I felt good, because it has a lot of downhill. As I neared Heartbreak hill, I suddenly had to use the bathroom really badly, which isn't an issue I have in marathons. I blame being sick for that too! The first porta-potty I saw was halfway up Heartbreak, so I tucked into it to prevent disaster. Then I was back out and onto the final 5 miles of the course that are net downhill.

I'd envisioned flying down those hills, but on race day my only objective was to make it in! By then my pace had somewhat evened out with those who were dying around me and I was passing some people that the hills really got to. I enjoyed it all as much as I could, but I'd been ready to be done since about mile 9! The final stretch seemed to last forever, but I made it in and without walking, which was my one small victory of the day. I felt really betrayed by my body, but also relieved that I didn't have to drop, which would have been worse than a 3:13:01 by my name. I fought with all I had to finish that race, and although I'm embarrassed I didn't have more, I can truly say that I did not give up.

Finally when people ask, "Have you run Boston?" I can answer in the affirmative, and I will probably add "as part of the women's professional field." I may conveniently forget my time and place, though!

The story continues here.

Boston: Race Morning Warm Up & Walk to the Start

The pro field had a short area of road to warm up on in addition to the church parking lot. Everyone ran back and forth on that ~200 m long stretch of road. I joined in and my run linked with many of theirs on Strava! It was great to see the best in the world running 8:00-9:00 pace, and due to the back and forth nature of the short road, I got to see everyone who was out there. Many people then did drills and strides in the parking lot. I felt weak on my warm up, which didn't inspire confidence, but I've had ugh warm ups before fantastic races before so I didn't give up yet.

The men's pro start was at 9:37 a.m., so I got to see the men's field gathering by the door, dropping their bags, and heading out before it was our turn. I changed into my race shoes, and my left felt like it had something wrong with the insole. I didn't think I had time to take it off, but I noticed most others weren't ready, so I did and found 4 safety pins inside! I was really glad I took the time to check and didn't race on those to add to my problems.

The walk out

The women's pro start was at 9:45 a.m. and we were taken out about 10 minutes before the gun. I ended up walking out right in front of Nell Rojas, who went on to place top American woman in the race. We were able to do a few strides and to take it all in. The crowds were cheering and it was amazing to be a part of that star-studded field. The past winners and Olympic gold medalists were announced, but announcements were kept to a minimum - listing the accomplishments of everyone in that field would have taken all day. We lined up where ever we wanted, which surprised me; I expected to be assigned spots. I got in the back on one side, but it was only 2-3 deep and I was behind some of the top Kenyans, getting me on TV! 

Picture of the television coverage from a friend

I basically just stood there with a huge smile on my face the entire time. Several people told me my two buns hairstyle made it easy to spot me, so I was glad I went with that one!

The story continues here.