When I found out I had bone spurs back in July, my main goal was to be healthy and ready to train for Boston this winter. My secondary, big dream goal, was to be able to race the Tulsa Run and earn my 7th 60/70 mug. I wasn't able to work my way back up to a 30 mile week until the end of August and my base for July and August was very low mileage as we worked on getting the inflammation and pain under control. I had 10 weeks to train once my pain was under control which seems like a lot, but with the limited base going into it, it wasn't much. I spent a lot of that time just working up to a 40 mile week. Once I got into training I had to do a back off week every other week because everything would get really inflamed and painful after a week of 35-40 miles. I knew from the get go that trail running made for less pain and seemed to agree more with my injury. After a week with amped up pain, I realized that my limit was 2 runs on pavement a week so I was running speedwork and long runs on pavement and all other runs were on trails, even strides much of the time. Once I found that magic formula, I was able to put in 40 miles 2 weeks in a row! Going forward I plan to try to add more pavement runs into my weekly mileage to see if my bone spurs handle it. I successfully ran 3 pavement runs in a week going into my taper, so there is hope! I knew I wasn't in as good of shape this year as I was last year for the Tulsa Run because my weekly mileage had been so minimal. I thought with more speed work under my belt (10 weeks of speedwork this year vs. 5 weeks last year, even though I started super small with 6x400 repeats and only added one rep per week) and a taper, I might be able to beat my time of 1:08:28 from last year. Last year I was really nervous about the race and was unsure about whether I'd be able to get my mug. This year I was super confident and VERY excited for the race.
Thomas decided he wanted to come visit for the race. I felt like based on his runs, he and I were in very similar shape for the first time in a very long time. I suggested we run together. My plan was to go out at 7:30 for the first 5k for sure and possibly the first 10k, depending on how I was feeling. Thomas said that was too fast for him and he was planning to start out at 8:15 pace. I couldn't afford to go out over 7:30 pace so we planned to run separate races. I looked back at last year's race post and decided to get up at 6:30 and leave the house at 7:15 again like last year. I did yoga and ate a light breakfast and then we were off. We had a cold front come through for the race so the temperature was projected at 48 degrees at the start with a chance of rain. By race morning the chance of rain had decreased so I decided to dress like it wasn't going to rain. I wore shorts, my race singlet, gloves, and a headband. It didn't feel all that chilly when we walked outside. Then when we got downtown we realized how windy it was. I looked it up after the race and the wind was gusting 20 mph.
Carter and Elise were signed up for the 2k so I ran the 2k with Elise as a warm up before my race. I wore my sweats for that race. Last year I ran with Elise and then had to wait for Ty to finish with Carter so I could pass her off with him and head to the start of the 15k. The 2k starts at 8 and the 15k is 8:30. Ty decided to spectate so I could pass Elise off with him and then head to the race start before Carter finished. Carter was fine with that and I figured he'd probably have some Zarrow friends to run with. Elise ran the 1.5 mile race in 15:17 which was 10:21 pace. She walked a lot more than she normally does. She started the race wearing her coat and then took it off and I ran holding it for a while and then I stuffed it in my sweatshirt pocket. I made sure not to cross the start or finish line with Elise so it wouldn't pick up my bib. I'm not sure it would have mattered since the 2k wasn't timed, but I wanted to play it safe. I met Elise at the end of the chute and we walked to Ty. The 2k has the same finish as the 15k and I was bummed to realize we were going to finish the 15k not just uphill, but also into the wind! I planned to stop off at the porta potties but the lines were super long, so I headed back to find Thomas. The start chute was already super packed. I got Thomas and we made it into the chute by sneaking through a crack in the fence right by the 1:10 pacers which was perfect! The wheelchair start went off as we were getting into the chute and then it was a short wait before the start.
Elise at the start.
Carter at the start.
Me and Elise at around the halfway point.
Carter around the halfway point.
Elise at the finish.
Carter at the finish.
One of the 1:10 pacers was one of my friends and he told me their plan was to run 7:30 pace for the whole race. I planned to run with them for the first 5k and then go from there. The race took off and I was so focused on the pacers, I lost track of Thomas and just assumed he was behind me since he planned to go out in 8:15 pace. The pace felt a little fast so I pulled back and ran what felt right. I went through the first mile in 7:15 so I'm glad I backed off when it felt fast. The first mile has a lot of downhill so it goes out fast, but I needed to run my own race. I was nice and warmed up from running the 2k in sweats, but about a mile into the race my legs started feeling really cold. During the 2nd mile as we turned on to Riverside, it started raining, and rained for the next 5 miles. My legs were so cold! I ran mile 2 in 7:27 and mile 3 in 7:28. I looked at my watch as I ran by the 5k sign on the course and saw my split was 23:09. My goal was to run 23, 46, 69 but I ultimately hoped to run my last 5k faster so I could beat my time from last year.
I always look serious in pictures taken early in races, haha!
My initial plan was to pick it up for the 2nd 5k of the race if I was feeling it, but that wasn't happening. I went through mile 4 in 7:28 and then at the halfway point I ate a Gu. I felt like I got a bit of a surge of energy after the Gu. Mile 5 was 7:30 and mile 6 was 7:14. I looked at my watch as I crossed the 10k sign in the race and I was at 46:00. I got excited thinking if I could run the last 5k of the race in under 22 minutes, I could break 1:08. Mile 7 has more downhill than the other miles and that combined with my excitement to be in the last 5k made for a fast mile! I could see I was gaining on the 1:10 pacers. My friend looked back, saw me, and started encouraging me to catch up with them. I think he thought I was struggling and wanted to help me catch up with them and get in under 1:10. I heard him say something to the other pacer about helping me and he fell back with me. It didn't take him long to realize I wasn't struggling. I told him I was going balls to the wall for the last 5k. I flew past the pace group and came up on my friend April who was running with Ainsley's Angels. Mile 7 was 6:55! I started thinking about what pace I actually needed to run to finish the last 5k in under 22:00. I knew that was a little bit crazy to shoot for since I raced a 5k in 21:40 back in September, so running that fast for a 5k at the end of a 15k was likely a bit unrealistic.
I took my gloves off and tucked them in my shorts. I really thought they'd fall out and I'd lose them, but they were still there when I finished, they'd just fallen down into the built in underwear.
Around mile 8 going through Woodward Park I caught up to and passed my friend Alicia's husband, Joey. It was fun to see him. I ran mile 8 in 7:10. I still felt really strong during the last mile and I was passing a lot of runners! I focused on passing as many women as I could. I looked up and was shocked to see Thomas running ahead of me. The whole time I assumed he was behind me, but he had been running ahead of me the whole race! I laughed when I read the back of his shirt which said "Running with my Peeps" because it was an Easter shirt. I caught up to him going up a hill and we ran side by side for a while. I felt like I was having a stronger last mile than last year, but the last mile was into the wind, so my split doesn't reflect how hard I was running. Even running into 20 mph winds while going uphill, my last mile was 7:28. I am very proud of that! My finishing kick was 7:24 pace. I could see the clock was already at 1:08 as I neared the finish line, but I already knew my last 5k wasn't on pace for sub-1:08. My finishing time was 1:08:35, just 7 seconds slower than last year! I was so tired and out of it, I wasn't really sure where Thomas was. He came up from in front of me so I thought he outkicked me at the end and I didn't see him. It turned out he finished 5 seconds behind me. I was bummed later when I saw people post pictures with a photo op in the finishing chute that Thomas and I didn't get a picture together. We picked up our goodies in the finishing chute and then I stopped off at the awards tent to pick up my 60/70 mug. It turned out they were mailing them instead of letting you pick them up. They checked my bib number and said I was 23rd female and 7th in my age group so I didn't get an award and we headed out. When we got home I looked at the awards and I had actually finished 13th female and 2nd of 191 in my age group. I was 119th of 2,310 overall. Thomas finished right behind me in 120th overall. He was 107th male and 22nd of 148 in his age group. The results show his 5ks were 22:39, 22:41, and 23:18.
Behind Joey around Woodward Park.
Running uphill with Thomas at the end of the race.
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