Gorilla Grind 5k

After running 21:01 at Run the Rails, I really wanted to run another 5k to break 21 minutes. I happened to see the Gorilla Grind was on a weekend we would be in town visiting my parents. I mentioned it to my mom and she immediately signed us up. I was a bit hesitant to go for it at that race because it tends to not be as competitive and it's so much harder to run fast when you are running alone. Then they posted the race course and I realized it would be a much harder course to run fast on because there were so many turns and there were a few small hills. The Run the Rails 5k was an out and back course so it only had one turn which makes it very fast. It was also very flat with 23 feet of elevation gain for the whole race! The Gorilla Grind was also very flat, but had 79 feet of elevation gain, so more than the Run the Rails! I ran this race back in 2018 and they haven't changed the course so I looked it up on Strava and saw the course measured 3.17 per my watch and I ran 6:38 average pace and barely broke 21 minutes. That gave me a nice dose of reality to not get my heart too set on sub-21 as it may not be in the cards for me on race day. I went into the race hopeful that I could run under 21 minutes, but realistic that it may not happen.

It ended up being 39 degrees for the race start which felt especially cold since I had been running in 90 degree weather all the way up until a couple days before the race when it cooled off to the 70's. I packed shorts and capri tights and decided on the capri tights since I am not used to the cold yet. I wore a long sleeved tech shirt under my race tank along with a headband and gloves. I ended up not getting too hot. I wore my gloves until about halfway through the race and didn't get all that sweaty. I got up at 6am for the 7am race start so I could do yoga and drink some coffee before the race. I ran my warm up to the race. I ended up doing 2 miles with a mile to the start and then added another mile to get in some strides. I felt okay on my warm up, but not great. I told myself to just run what felt right and not worry too much about time during the race. I met up with mom before the race start to get my bib and then stopped with Elise to help her with her shoes before heading to the race start. When I got to the starting line, I looked around and didn't see anyone fast. I thought, I might be able to win this race outright. I hoped not because I really wanted to have someone to run with. I heard a guy next to me tell his friend he was hoping to run 6:45-6:50 pace so I was hopeful I'd have him to run with. They shot the cannon and we were off. There was a young boy who took out way out in front, then a man was next, and then me. The guy who said he was going for 6:45-6:50 pace took off behind me and I never saw him during the race. I felt comfortable and was slowly reeling in the 2 guys ahead of me. I passed them both a bit before the mile mark and was leading the race. I went through the first mile in 6:44 and knew unless I had a pretty decent negative split, I was not going to finish in under 21 minutes. 

It was still a little dark at the race start!

Once I had the lead, I focused on holding onto pace and not slowing down. I felt really strong and wasn't hurting. I was disappointed to go through the 2nd mile in 6:51. I was 5 seconds over pace and knew, to make that up, I needed a 6:39 last mile without even calculating the amount I'd need to be under to make up for the extra distance I would run. I thought I might have it in me because I felt so comfortable and focused on pushing the pace down as much as I could. I felt a bit discouraged when I looked down and saw I was averaging 6:51 pace still. I had looked at the course map but expected to be able to follow other runners so I didn't pay attention to which roads we would turn on. Thankfully, they had volunteers at every turn to tell you which way to go. I noticed the volunteers would tell me to turn and then it would be a decent gap before they told the guy behind me to turn. I knew I had a decent lead, but kept telling myself he was gaining on me so I needed to push to stay in front. I made it to an out and back section with about a half mile to go and told myself it was go time. I felt like I was really pushing the pace, but each time I looked at my watch, my pace stayed around 6:50. I felt really comfortable and wasn't hurting, but I just couldn't find another gear and couldn't for the life of me drop back under 6:50.

 

I came to the turn toward the finish and there wasn't anyone there telling me to turn, I was pretty sure I needed to turn back toward the gym so I turned anyway. It turned out to be right and then I had one last turn onto the trail to the finish. I had a hard time getting a finishing kick in with 2 turns in the last portion of the race after the 3rd mile mark. I was also a little afraid to sprint the finish if I had turned in error and needed to run back and add distance to the race. I went through my 3rd mile in 6:52 and my finishing kick was 6:48 pace. I felt like I could have run longer at that pace, but I just couldn't go any faster. It felt more like 10k pace with how comfortable I was. I was a bit bummed to see my average heart rate for the race was 154 bpm while my heart rate at Run the Rails was 164. I know it was cooler, but I also felt like I just wasn't able to push as hard for some reason. I'm sure running the whole race from the mile mark on alone didn't help. At Run the Rails I had people to chase the whole race. 

I watched 2nd and 3rd place finish, I ended up winning by 22 seconds, and then started my cool down out to run in with Elise. She was running with Pippin and I got to her a little while before he stopped to poop so she lucked out that I was there to pick it up and carry it for her. After she finished, I ran out to mom and walked in to the finish with her. Once she was finished, we went inside to warm up for a bit and then they started awards. I was 1st out of 74 overall, 1st out of 49 women, and 1st in my age group with a time of 21:35. My Garmin had my average pace as 6:49 so although I didn't run the time I was hoping for, I was still pleased with my average pace and I know I put in the effort, it just wasn't there on this day. Dad finished in 29:40 which put him 12th overall, 5th out of 25 men, and 1st in his age group. Elise finished in 36:09 which put her 39th overall, 27th female, and 5th out of 11 in her age group. Mom walked the race with Jaxson in 58:22 which put her 73rd overall and 4th in her age group. She thought she got last place and enjoyed telling people I was first and she was last, but the results have someone finishing after her.

Wordless Wednesday

 

Cheese pull on a mozzarella stick from Chili's.

Tesla met our friend's dog.

Boootanical Garden

Carter is very excited about his Halloween costume.

I had a sub for Elise's meet and when I came back one of my students had made a bed for my stuffed animal.

State Fair

Elise's last cross country meet in Coweta.

Elise's First Cross Country Season

I was so excited when Elise told us she wanted to join the cross country team when she started middle school. I enjoyed watching her practices over the summer and when we arrived at her first meet, the atmosphere was exactly what I remembered. She spent her first season figuring out how to pace and race as well as forging new friendships with her teammates. I joked she watched me run too many marathons because she would run along smiling and waving at all her friends and family who were spectating. She was a joy to watch and I'm excited to see how she progresses with running over the years. She said her running goals for the future are to run a sub-7:00 mile and to run a 5k without walking. Those are both realistic goals I think she can achieve reasonably soon. She said she doesn't want to take any time off running after her cross country season is over and just start training for a 5k. She has her eyes set on running the Gorilla Grind 5k (which is next weekend) without walking and, if not at that one, the Turkey Trot 5k.

8/27- The Mohawk Park Race was originally scheduled to be 1.5 miles, but due to extreme heat, they adjusted it to a one mile course. It was 97* with a feels like temperature over 100* for the race. She finished in 7:53 and was 142nd out of 182 runners.

9/17- The O'Brien Park Race was also a feels like temperature over 100* and it was 1.5 miles. Elise finished 103rd out of 145 overall with a time of 14:31.

9/22- The Bishop Kelly Race was her first 2 mile race. It was 86* for the race with a warmer feels like temperature, but seemed so cool compared to the other races! Elise finished in 19:17 and was 152nd out of 201 overall.

9/24- The 2nd O'Brien Park Race was a meet hosted by a different team than the last race here. It was neat to have the girls run the same course again a week later and see how much faster they'd gotten in just one week. It was cooler for this race than the one at this course a week before with a temperature at the start of 88*. They had just raced a couple days before (at Bishop Kelly) and it was their first 2 mile race at that meet, so I figured they may be a bit tired for this race. It was 1.5 miles like the last time they ran here. Elise took almost a full minute off her time, finishing in 13:35! She was 102nd out of 156 girls.

10/2- The Claremore Race was another 2 mile race. It was much cooler for this one at 68* at the start. It was also at 11:00am which helped! The other races were all around 4:00 or 5:00pm. Elise turned the last corner of the race and asked me if she was halfway yet. I told her she was almost done and pointed at the finish line. She said, "Oh no, I have way too much energy left," and took off sprinting! She still managed a 2 mile PR in 18:55, finishing 223rd out of 307 runners.

10/6- The Coweta Race was the last meet of the season and finished with a 2 mile race. Girls started at 9:30 and had great weather with a starting temp of 61*! The race narrowed really quickly and Elise got boxed in and had trouble moving around. By halfway she seemed to have worked her way up and was looking good. When I saw her again with about half a mile to go, she wasn't smiling anymore. She worked hard and finished in 19:57 which put her 121st out of 153 runners. Most the girls ran a bit slower at this race because the course was the most challenging one they'd run so I didn't think much of her time being slower. Elise was on the ground by the time I got to her and seemed upset. Every other race she finished happy and ready to cheer the boys on. I wasn't sure if she was disappointed in her race, if she was sad it was the last meet, or what. When she finally got up, she was leaning into me with her face into my chest. She never really said much about what was going on. When I got her off the bus after school she said her stomach and throat were both hurting. She said before the race her stomach hurt, but she thought she was just nervous about it being her last race. I think she was maybe fighting off a little bit of something and that's why she didn't have as strong of a race, but she still ran well! We'll see how she's feeling in the morning. She may be getting sick.