Jenks 5k

A few years ago I had 3 students in class all from the same blended family. I've since become friends with their mom and chat with her from time to time. Their older brother is on the cross country team and the team puts on a half marathon and 5k each year as a fundraiser. By the time I heard the date I had already signed up for an evening 5k at the Wicked Wine Run. I knew the Wine Run was more for fun and I wouldn't be trying to run fast but I still figured it wasn't the best idea to double up with a half marathon and 5k in one day. She then reminded me there was also a 5k on race day and I got really excited for that. It was right after the Twilight Thriller where I had a disappointing race that left me wishing I would have a shot at a fast 5k this season before the half marathon. It seemed perfect to support the cross country team, see my previous students, and get a shot at a sub-20 5k. I knew the course was most likely extremely flat and it did not disappoint. Race morning came and I was excited and a bit nervous. My speed work on Tuesday after the 15k had been rough and it's always nice to have a strong speed workout going into a 5k as a confidence boost. I was pretty sure I could run sub-20 but I also wanted it so bad I knew I'd be disappointed if I didn't hit it. My goal was to go out in 6:25 and just try my hardest to maintain pace. I figured if I bombed, I bombed, at least I gave it my all!

My awesome cheering crew for the morning!

I did my mile warm up and then ended up stretching in the bathroom so my muscles would stay warm as I stretched. It was low 50's and I didn't want to stretch outside and risk my muscles getting cold and pulling too much as I stretched. I was still feeling a little tight in my legs but overall pretty good and excited to give the race hell. As I headed toward the front of the race no one seemed interested in being right on the line. I typically hang back a little bit from the line because I'm usually at least 10 runners back. Since no one was going up on the line I went ahead and stepped up there next to a couple men. We took off at the start and I was immediately 5th overall with one woman ahead of me. I looked down at my watch and saw I was running 5:50 pace but told myself not to panic and slow down. If this felt like the race pace it wouldn't make sense to drastically slow down and possibly lose a bunch of time when my Garmin may not be totally accurate. I was glad I didn't let the pace on my Garmin dictate how I ran as it was showing 6:30 pace shortly after that. Going into a turn at about the half mile mark I heard my friend, Roo's, voice. She is a coach for the girls' cross country team but just had a baby in August so I wasn't expecting to see her. I looked up and yelled her name as I excitedly waved to her. She got so excited and yelled out that I was kicking butt. At that point I had passed the woman ahead of me and was running along with one man a bit ahead and two guys directly in front of me. I passed the two guys right before the mile mark which I went through in 6:14.

I was really excited I was already 11 seconds under pace and I was feeling great. There were a couple of really tiny hills on the course and the rest of it was crazy flat. I had been worried about getting lost on the course because looking at all the past race results, the first few runners were really spread out and I was afraid I wouldn't be able to see anyone near me and the course map only showed the half marathon course. Lucky for me there was a lead vehicle that drove along a little bit in front of us the entire race. I pulled up next to the man in front at about the 1.5 mile mark and he went with me initially but then slowly fell off pace. We turned onto a section of the course that overlapped with the half marathon and made sure to stay over to the left as they were running on the right. We went out and back on that road and then my watch beeped for the 2nd mile in 6:19. I was starting to feel tired but also felt like I could maintain the pace and was getting really excited as I was 17 seconds under my goal pace so I was pretty confident I would be under 20 minutes. The whole last mile I kept telling myself how fast I ran the last mile would determine how much under 20 minutes I was able to finish. Before I knew it we were turning onto the road where the track was. I knew we would turn onto the track and run a lap to the finish line. I was so excited as I approached my previous students Luke, Adelaine, and Norah standing with their mom, Danielle. I smiled really big for them before turning onto the track.

Something I had forgotten from running the half marathon a few years ago was what a strange transition it was for my legs moving from the hard pavement on the road to the soft track. The minute I entered the track I could hear Roo cheering for me like crazy. My legs felt weird on the soft track but I told myself it was the last quarter repeat during a speed workout and I really needed to give it hell. During the entire lap Roo was going nuts cheering and I could hear lots of other spectators cheering me on. I pushed it all the way in and smiled as I turned the corner to the straight away and saw 19:40 on the clock and an overall finisher tape stretched across the finish line. I powered all the way through to the finish line for an official finishing time of 19:55. I ran the last 0.18 miles of the course in 5:38 pace which is killer for me! I was actually surprised I had run it that fast as I felt like I couldn't get my legs going that last section on the track. My watch showed I had run a personal best 5k in 19:29! That was exciting to see. Last year at the Jingle Bell 5k I ran a 20:56 but my Garmin showed a 20:26 5k personal best for the race. Then a few weeks later at the Race Into the New Year I ran a 20:29 on the course which was certified and 3.14 miles long. So I feel like it is possible I could run around a 19:30 for a 5k on a course that is a little closer to 3.1 rather than almost 3.2 miles. I was just really glad that I had killed my goal of 6:25 miles as it took a faster pace than that to get under 20 on this course!

 

I love that you can see Roo cheering in the background of this picture with her hands in the air.

The banner I got to run through at the finish line.

6:16 pace is something I definitely didn't expect to see!

Say what?!!?

Danielle was standing at the finish line to congratulate me and gave me a hug. Roo came rushing over and Luke and Adelaine also came over. It was awesome to have so many friends at the race, especially since I'm used to running races with my entire family and was doing this one solo. As I headed over for water I got stopped by people who were just so excited a female had finished first overall. One guy even showed me some cool pictures he had taken and offered to text them to me. Those are the pictures I have of me finishing the race. I stood talking to Luke and Adelaine for quite a while and then jokingly asked them who wanted to run my cool down with me. Luke said, "Let me go ask my mom." Then I ended up with quite the cool down crew, running it with Luke, Norah, and their older brother, Josh. It was so much fun to talk to them as we ran and they were so pumped about my race they were all talking about how many laps they were able to run at the jog-a-thon. That may have been my favorite part of the morning. The race had full sized candy bars so I made sure to grab one of them and enjoyed it later in the day. I got a plaque for finishing first female and a mug with gloves in it for winning my age group. The best reward from the race was running a sub-20 5k for the first time since graduating college. It was an awesome feeling to bust out a time like that after all these years and everything I've put my body through baby-wise. It was a feeling that lifted me up all day long and quite honestly still has me quite excited!

Aquarium Run 10k

After running the Sweetheart Run 10k I really wanted to run another 10k to break 43 minutes. My goal race for the spring has been a 5k we run in honor of one of Jeremy's high school classmates who died in a hiking accident. The race is very near and dear to our hearts and when I'm not pregnant or just coming back from having a baby I plan my spring around running my fastest at that race. I decided to run a 10k at the Aquarium Run a few weeks before the Get Busy Livin 5k and shoot for a sub-43 performance. I kept most my speed workouts geared more toward a 5k and my training has been for the 5k, but I knew all of that would also transfer over to a faster 10k. I just haven't been running long runs with my longest run topping out at 6 miles. The Friday before the race I started looking at past years' results to get an idea of how many people I would be running with. I was shocked to see that my 43:11 from the Sweetheart run would have put my in the top 5 overall (meaning male and female combined) all of the previous years and would leave me running pretty much alone. I'm glad I looked at results and was prepared for that mentally. I made sure to really look at the course map to ensure I knew where I was going. I ran the 10k in 2013 and remembered it was not marked particularly well and there weren't very many people out on the course directing us where to go. I wasn't worried about the way out because we would have half-marathoners running with us and I knew there would be sub-1:30 half-marathoners to run with. It was the return trip I was worried about because the course was not an out and back. Friday night Jeremy and my parents came over for dinner and I was telling them my concerns about getting lost on the course. When I laid Carter down for bed he asked me if we were going to a race in the morning. When I told him we were, he said, "Don't worry mommy, you will be okay. I'll be there and I'll cheer for you." It melted my heart. He is the sweetest!

Elise and Carter ready to spectate the race.

We arrived at the aquarium a little later than we had planned and I needed to use the restroom again so my warm up got cut short. I ran a 0.6 mile warm up rather than my typical mile warm up. It turned out I could've done a full mile because the race started about 5 minutes late. We took off and I was feeling pretty good, cruising along. My plan was to go out around 6:50-6:55 pace for the first half of the race and attempt to negative split. The course is extremely flat with the only downside being it is typically very windy which slows down the times. We lucked out with very mild wind the day of the race. I went through the first mile in 6:45 which was a touch faster than I was hoping for so I decided to dial it down during the second mile and immediately slowed my pace. Apparently I slowed down too much because I went through mile 2 in 6:59. Then I freaked out a little bit that mile 2 was so slow and I was going to have a tough time coming back from it like my 5th mile during the Sweetheart Run. At this point in the race I had caught up to a guy ahead of me and we were running side by side. We had a great pace going and were running along stride for stride. We crossed a bridge to the other side of the river and were running down a street that is also part of the Route 66 Marathon course and I had a flashback to my first marathon. I told myself no matter how much the last 3 miles of the race hurt, it would never compare to the last 3 miles of a marathon. I started to gain my confidence back and knew no matter what I could rock that last 5k. I went through mile 3 in 6:47. I was pleased with where my overall pace was at this point and I was also happy to be half-way done.

The race start of the 10k/half-marathon taken from the aquarium website, you can't see me but I like the picture.

I could see the casino in the distance and knew our turn around was right before we reached the casino. My watch beeped for mile 4 which I had run in 6:51. As I approached the turn around I was hoping to see the pack of runners ahead of me turn around for the 10k, but none of them did. Then as I started to turn off for the 10k, the guy I was running with said, "Have a good race!" and continued on with the half-marathon. I was on the return trip with just 2 miles to go but I couldn't see anyone even in the far distance. I really strained my eyes looking ahead of me and there was no one to be seen. Unless someone passed me from behind it was looking to be a lonely trek those last couple miles when it would have been nice to have someone to chase after. I kept repeating 43 over and over in my head and pushing as hard as I could, knowing I was on pace to break 43 and I wanted to keep with it. I was tired and starting to hurt but I wasn't giving up. I hit mile 5 right before I turned back onto the bridge to head to the aquarium. I had kept mile 5 steady at 6:52. As I was crossing the bridge I was wondering where I would head once I got across the bridge and didn't see anyone at the end of the bridge directing runners which way to go. As I got close to the end of the bridge I could see the 10k runners ahead of me heading back on the road toward the aquarium so I knew that's where I would go. As I turned onto the road back to the aquarium I was having to weave in and out of 5k runners and 1 mile fun run participants who were finishing their races. It was a bit of a jumbled mess and made it hard to kick as much as I would have liked for the last mile, but I still ran my last mile as one of my fastest in 6:46 and ran the last 0.24 miles in 6:15 pace! As I neared the finish line I saw they had a bubble machine at the finish so bubbles were blowing across the finish line which was fun and helped me push just a bit harder. Then I heard my dad cheering for me and when I glanced at the finishing clock, I saw the time was just ticking over to 42:30. I had crushed my goal of breaking 43 minutes and was pumped!

A picture of me finishing that dad took.

I found my dad who was spectating this race with the kids due to a sinus infection and possibly a cold on top of that and Thomas was with him. Thomas had annihilated his time from the St. Patrick's Day 5k less than a month ago, running 21:49. With the 5k starting 20 minutes after the 10k and half marathon, I was excited at the thought that if Thomas ran just under 23 minutes, we could finish at the same time. But he ran quite a bit faster than that! He placed 11th out of 387 overall and 2nd out of 17 in his age group. We got to watch Ty finish in 27:56 which put him 5th out of 17 in his age group and 59th overall. My time of 42:30 put me 7th out of 195 overall, 2nd out of 126 women, and 1st out of 30 in my age group. When I looked at the results, it turned out the person closest in front of me beat me by almost 3 minutes and the person closest behind me ran almost 3 minutes slower than me. I was even farther spaced out than I had imagined during the race! I ran a mile cool down and got such a bad side stitch at one point that I got light headed and had to walk to catch my breath. I thought, that's how you know you ran really hard, you can barely run a cool down! Once I returned I found everyone else inside eating the finisher's food and Ty got in line to pick mine up for me so I could change out of my sweaty clothes. Dad took Carter into the aquarium while I helped Ty load the stroller and Elise up so he could take her home for a nap and get started on our bathroom remodel. Then I went into the aquarium with Thomas to meet dad and we walked around a bit before picking up Thomas' and my awards and then heading home. Although the race is a bit on the smaller side, I have always really enjoyed it. It's a bit surprising to me that it isn't more popular considering the great post-race food (breakfast burritos from a local Mexican restaurant) and free entry into the aquarium after the race.

A picture of Ty finishing that my dad took.

Thomas with the kids after his race.

Carter walking through the aquarium after the race.

I was once again so glad Jeremy got me to push out of my 5k/half marathon comfort zone and try out a 10k. I love the challenge of the 10k. It is such a different beast than my normal races. You have more pacing involved than in a 5k where I basically go out hard, run the middle hard, and finish hard. It's also faster than a half marathon where you can go out slow the first couple miles and have plenty of miles to make up the time. With a 10k being 6 miles you have to pace yourself from starting out too fast and burning up, but you also go long enough that those last couple miles are hard and your legs burn. I'd have to say I'm a bit hooked on the distance right now. I also love that I can train for and run a decent 10k without actually doing any long runs which is great with trying to time runs around the kids' schedules! During my cool down I was already thinking about running the 10k this summer at the summer race series we normally run and I usually run the 5k. My first 3 miles in this race added up to 20:31 and miles 4-6 were 20:29. I was pleased with myself that even though my mile splits were a bit up and down, my overall pacing was pretty even and I ran a negative split which was awesome! I looked back at the Sweetheart run and I had also run my first 3 miles in 20:31 but miles 4-6 were a crap shoot with that super slow 5th mile. I'd like to keep chipping away at my 10k time and really enjoy the chance to run PRs that are now so difficult to hit in the 5k!

Sweetheart Run 2016

Jeremy Update:

Jeremy made it through his busy day tired but in good spirits. We facetimed him before Carter went to bed so he could say good night. He smiled, laughed, and enjoyed talking with Carter. He and my parents were given clearance to travel to different floors of the hospital without a nurse present so they now have yellow wristbands. The next step will be green wristbands which means they will be able to travel outside without a nurse present. At Jeremy's previous facility he had been walking around with a walker some. They took an x-ray of his leg today and it is not healing properly so he is not to be walking with his walker unless PT is present. If his leg doesn't heal correctly many things could happen and one would be amputation of the leg. His doctor is going to hang x-rays of Jeremy's leg in the room to remind him why he is not to be walking with the walker at this time. Thankfully he's been able to eat more. His nurse charted for him to get his medicine before breakfast comes so he is able to eat more at breakfast as he tried to eat breakfast this morning and just couldn't. He continues to make small steps forward in recovery each day. Now on to my post about the Sweetheart Run...

My mom signed us all up for the Sweetheart Run months in advance, long before Jeremy's accident. Jeremy wanted to do the 10k and I didn't want him to run it alone so I decided to do the 10k too. My mom signed us up as a team, The Sweet Sibs, and I was so excited to rock it out with Jeremy! Unfortunately, that didn't happen on race day, but I am so glad Jeremy inspired me to run a 10k. Other than one I ran due to convenience after Carter was born I don't think I'd run one in about 6 years. I tend to stay with my safe distances, 5ks and half marathons. I really enjoyed the 10k and am looking forward to another one to improve my time! Plus with so few under my belt it is easy to run PRs! The 5k started at 7:45 and the 10k was at 8:30 because there is the option to do a "doubler" and run both events which I am considering for next year's race. The forecast predicted the temperature would be in the low 20's so we decided not to wake the kids up and I'd get them ready and bring them out before my race to decrease the amount of time they were in the cold. If they woke up in time, we'd all go together but I felt it would be too cold for the kids to be there the whole time. As mom and Ty were getting ready to leave for the 5k, Carter woke up and Elise woke up shortly thereafter.

Elise bundled up to spectate.

I wanted to leave the house by 7:45 so I could watch Ty finish the race and so I'd have time to find a place to park in case there were road closures plus I wanted to get a warm-up in. I had Ty drop a pin on his phone and text it to me so I could find the parking lot they were in which was a fabulous idea. It worked out perfectly. There were some mishaps heading out the door so the kids and I didn't leave until 8:00 which made me nervous as I only had 30 minutes to make it to the race, park, and get a warm-up in. Amazingly enough I opened Ty's pin, chose to direct to the pin, and had no trouble with road closures at all! I got the kids bundled up, I had even remembered to grab special Valentine's Day hats for them, and we headed out for a warm up to the race finish to find Ty. As we were running out, Ty came walking toward us to get a change of clothes out of the car. I followed him back to the car, dropped the stroller off with him, and ran my warm-up to the start. The lines for porta potties were really long so I found somewhere else to go and then headed to the race start with 2 minutes to spare. I started talking to a woman beside me who was running the doubler and then noticed a woman standing right at the start line who I know runs 1:27 half marathons and is super speedy. I figured she would easily win the race unless she was running the doubler.

Ty with the kids during my race.

My plan for the first few miles was to run 6:55 pace or so. I was having a hard time reigning it in the first mile. I'd look down and see I was running 6:20 pace so I would slow down and then later my Garmin would say I was running 7:00 minute pace so I decided to stop worrying too much about my pace and try to run off feel. That was a little bit hard because I'm so used to running 5ks and I was afraid I would run my 5k pace on accident, but I did a great job pacing with my first mile in 6:55. There were 2 women ahead of me, neither of them was the woman I had expected to win so I figured she must be running the doubler. By the mile mark I had passed both the women ahead of me and only had a few men a ways ahead of me. Somewhere in the first mile we were running out as some of the 5k run/walkers and walkers were heading toward the finish. One of my favorite moments during the race was running by my mom as she was walking toward the finish. I hadn't been expecting to see her and got so excited to hear her voice! Mile 2 was a bit of a faster mile, but there were a lot of downhills. I should have made a mental note about that for the way back, but I was too worried about keeping an eye out for the guys running a ways ahead of me because I was worried I would lose track of them when they turned and get lost. I went through mile 2 in 6:46. I hit that mile mark right at the bottom of a very large hill. Then we turned and ran on a long, flat, straight road for a while before going up a smaller hill and turning onto a bridge. The turn around was at the end of the bridge and I watched as the people ahead of me ran back by. I noted there were no women ahead of me and I was running 6th place overall. At the turn around the woman directing us was very sweet and told me I was the 2nd overall female. I chuckled because I had seen a man with a ponytail ahead of me and knew she had mistaken him for a woman. Mile 3 was 6:50. I was right on pace to hit my goal of breaking 43 minutes, I figured I needed to run 6:53 pace or under and I was totally rocking that!

A picture mom took of me running by as she walked to the finish.

On the return trip as we headed down the long straight road the people still heading out on the course were cheering for me, and saying "Woo hoo, top women!" so I knew the woman I had expected to win the race was running along right behind me. I figured it was only a matter of time before she passed me. I went through mile 4 in 6:45 with her running behind me as a little extra motivation. I didn't have to worry too much about watching the men ahead of me as I could tell where to turn by the 10k runners still heading out on the course. I was also starting to close the gap between me and one of the men ahead of me so I could see him much better. As we entered into mile 5 the woman behind me passed me right as we went up a very steep and long hill. Up until that point I had felt like I was really cruising and could hit 6:45 pace for days, but going up that hill I realized how hard I had actually been working as my thighs began to burn. We crested the hill and proceeded to run up a slight incline for the remainder of the mile. I'm not even kidding, it took over half a mile for my thighs to stop burning. I was focusing on the woman ahead of me and trying not to let her get too big of a lead on me. I was hurting and working so hard and my mantra for tough runs came into my head and I kept saying over and over, Jeremy's not giving up, you can't give up!

When my watch beeped for my 5th mile split I was discouraged to see what a terrible mile it had been at 7:15. I knew I had lost 20 seconds just in that mile and I would need to run my last mile in 6:30 pace to make that time back up. I knew that was impossible as my fastest 5k was at 6:32 pace and my thighs were still burning a little bit, but I refused to give up. I kept pushing as hard as I could up all the small, little hills in the 6th mile. The hills were unrelenting and I was frustrated I hadn't noticed we were running downhill during the first half of the race so I would have been mentally prepared for what was to come in the second half. I had just been too focused on not getting lost. I was proud that I got mile 6 back down into my goal pace range in 6:52 and I was holding onto the gap between me and the woman in first place. I wasn't getting any closer to her, but she wasn't pulling away from me either. I looked over and saw Ty, my mom, Carter, and Elise cheering for me. My favorite moment of the race was running by while hearing Carter yell "Go, Mommy!" and seeing him smile excitedly when I waved and yelled back at him.

My sweet cheer squad giving me motivation that last little bit.

 

Coming up to the finish line I was kicking as hard as I could as I watched the clock tick over from 42 to 43 minutes. I knew I had just missed my goal, but it wasn't due to a lack of effort or a bad race. As I crossed the finish line I knew I had given that race every ounce of effort I had in me. I was disappointed in my 5th mile, but knew had it not been such a challenging course I would have run that mile much faster. My official finishing time was 43:11 so even with a 7:15 mile thrown into the mix I beat my 43:17 time from my tempo run a few weeks earlier which I had run on a completely flat course. I covered the 6.28 mile course in an average of 6:53 pace which was my goal pace going into the race so I was happy with that! Had it not been for that 7:15 mile I would have broken 43 minutes easily. Now I'm fired up to run a 10k on a flatter course so I can break 43. There's a race we normally run in early April which is really flat and the times are fast as long as it isn't too windy, so I'm planning to run a 10k there. 

 

The post race party serves pancakes so we stopped off to eat some pancakes and then headed home as it was Elise's naptime and we were all so cold. Overall it was a very enjoyable race and I was proud of how hard I ran. I was sore for days afterward which always makes me feel good about the effort I put in! I finished 7th out of 603 total finishers, 2nd out of 423 female finishers and it turned out the woman who won was not in the doubler she just ran the 10k, and 1st out of 48 in my age group. Not too shabby at all. Ty also had a good race, finishing the 5k in 27:26 which is a great time for him. He has had some hiccups in his training and has cut down from running 5 days a week to 3 days a week so he can focus more on lifting so he was pleased to see he could still run a decent time. He placed 12th out of 35 in his age group and 115th out of 883 finishers. Mom walked the 5k in 53:49. That put her 29th out of 36 in her age group and 818th out of 883 total finishers.

Mom and Carter eating pancakes while I ran my race.

 

 

Wearing my medal with Ty's heart magnet placed inside it.

I was getting pancakes and Carter wanted some more!

Race Into the New Year

Jeremy Update:

This morning was very busy for Jeremy. They took him for a CT scan and then placed a new PICC line. His ICP during that time period got up into the 40's for the first time in days, but after that it fell back to 12 and remained in the 10-17 range for most of the day with a few spikes up to 20. His CT scan showed the hematoma on the left side of his brain has gotten a little smaller, from 14 to 10 mm. Which was good news. No changes on his CT scan other than that. He is tolerating his feeding tube so they have increased the amount of food he is getting. Although he did have a few spikes today, it still felt like a fairly stable day. I wrote a post about the Race Into the New Year the day before Jeremy's accident. It's weird going back and reading it now, knowing it was most likely his first and last race of 2016. I'm glad I had already written about the race because just thinking about it now makes me emotional. On to my race recap...  

Of all the 5k races we run I'd say my top two favorites in terms of atmosphere and post-race party would have to be the Run to the Lights at Silver Dollar City with all the Christmas lights up and the Race Into the New Year. The atmosphere for the Race Into the New Year is like a giant party. There are people who show up and have obviously been drinking. There are people dressed in costumes. Everyone is excited and chatty before the race, some even dancing. There isn't that serious, let's race hard type of feeling at the start. I love that about it even though if I show up for a race, I'm there to run my fastest. So I always have that race mentality, it's just a more relaxed one for races like that. The race starts at 11:45 so you are literally running from one year into the next. At midnight they shoot off fireworks and instead of a water stop they have champagne. They give out blinky light rings, hats, beads, and noise makers before the race. It's just so much fun.

Oma and Opa found the sweetest New Year outfit for Elise!

Each year we run the race, as my bedtime approaches and we're still at home I start to wish just a little bit I could go to bed. As I lace up my running shoes while yawning I wonder how well I will actually be able to run. Then I check the temperature and see it's nearly freezing with the sun down and a decent amount of wind, because it's Oklahoma and when is there not wind, and I lose a bit more excitement for the race. This year was no different. I was starting to lose interest in running and then my mom reminded me about my light up shoelaces she bought me for Christmas. As I tied them around my shoelaces and turned them on, I got really excited to run. I was reminded of how much fun this race is every year and I kept picturing watching the fireworks reflect off the river while running toward the finish and I regained my excitement. I was out for a postpartum PR. I wanted to run faster than my 20:56 which I had run in two races with the last race being a bit on the longer side. My goal was to run a more consistent race, with my miles being around 6:35 or under. I knew I could do it and I was determined.

All of us with our race shirts and awards.

When we arrived at the race I took off for a warm up. I checked the flags to see which direction the wind was blowing and took off into the wind to get a feel for it. I was surprised that I hardly noticed the wind with how much the flags were flapping around. Normally for a warm-up if I'm under 9 minute pace I know it's going to be a good race. I ran my mile warm up in under 8 minute pace. I felt great and I was pleased to know the wind wouldn't be much of a factor and we even got to finish with it at our backs. After my warm-up I picked up a blinky ring and a noise maker and found Jeremy. We lined up for the race start and the atmosphere was bubbling with excitement. I heard someone behind me tell their friend, "See you next year," which I thought was funny so I turned and said the same to dad and Jeremy. We took off and I was surprised how many times I got cut off and was even almost knocked down at one point. It was the worst race start I've ever experienced. With my 6:19 first mile at the Jingle Bell my biggest concern was that I would start off too fast again so I checked my watch and it was a good thing because I was running 5:55 pace when I looked so I reigned it in big time. We went out about a half mile before going up onto a bridge to cross to the other side of the river. As we descended the bridge there was a patch of ice that we had to slow down on because we turned a corner at the same time and the guy in front of me almost fell down.

Jeremy, me, and dad before the race.

By the time we got to the bridge I had worked my way up to 2nd overall female and I could see the 1st female not far ahead of me. It was super dark on the other side of the river even with the lamp posts on so I really couldn't see my watch very well and didn't check it much at all. I had hit a nice tempo and was going with it. I went through the first mile in 6:37 which was a little bit slower than what I had planned, but I wasn't concerned because I was feeling great and knew I could pick up the pace. My plan for the 2nd mile was to maintain and pick up the pace if possible. I felt really strong and started pushing the pace. I caught up to the 1st female at around the half-way point and she started to go with me at first and then fell behind. There were a couple of guys within a reasonable distance ahead of me so I focused on catching them. I was pleased to see I went through the 2nd mile in 6:36 and had been able to not only maintain my pace, but pick it up a little bit. We went up the largest hill in the race and turned onto a bridge to head back to the finish which was in the same place as the start (the race is a counterclockwise loop). I remembered in the past watching the fireworks go off as I crossed the bridge and having such a great view of them reflecting in the river so I was watching for them as I crossed the bridge. I was running enough faster than the last time I ran this race that they didn't go off until I had crossed the bridge and was on the other side of the river heading back to the finish. That turned out being an even better place to be during the fireworks because I was running toward them and they were going off directly in front of me. It was awesome!

An awesome picture mom took of the fireworks as she walked.

With about a half mile to go I was pushing and giving it everything I had. I kept telling myself to beat 6:36 and make the last mile my fastest. I could feel in my legs how hard I was pushing and knew I wasn't going to be able to go much faster. My third mile split was 6:27. I took off sprinting as fast as I could and as I turned the corner to the finish I saw a banner across the finish line that read "First Overall Female Finisher". It was the coolest thing. I've won races before but never ones with actual banner tapes across the finish line. I think the fanciest "tape" I've ever broken was a piece of string. I couldn't help but smile and feel even more pleased with the huge postpartum PR I was able to accomplish. I was 1st female out of 236 and 7th out of 405 total finishers. My official finishing time was 20:29! That put me at an average of 6:32 per mile for the 3.14 mile course. Between the fireworks, my light up shoelaces, and getting to run through the tape at the finish I was pumped up like no other. I watched dad finish and then ran back toward mom blowing my noisemaker and cheering for runners as I went. I made it to the bridge and realized it was too congested for me to cross without being in the way so I stood cheering for everyone until I started shivering so much my jaw hurt. Then I headed back to change into dry clothes before going back out to walk to the finish with mom. It was so much fun getting to share with her and my dad about how I got to run through the tape at the finish. It really was just the coolest thing.  

We made it back just in time for awards. As the top female finisher I received a giant champagne glass filled with blue confetti, a Happy New Year's tiara, a medal, and a gift certificate for $75.  Jeremy and dad also received medals, each finishing 2nd in their age groups. Ty stayed home with our sleeping babies. Well, one sleeping baby and the other "screaming in his face" since Elise woke up right as we were leaving and didn't go back to sleep until 12:30. Thomas went to a party with friends so he opted out of the race. I felt bad for Ty when I found out how his night went, but it worked out pretty well for me that Elise was running on a lack of sleep as she slept through the night and then slept in until 9:30 the following morning. That really helped me out since I didn't get to bed until 2 am and I'm just not built to stay up that late anymore! Running from one year to the next is my favorite way to kick off a new year and I'm excited for what 2016 has to bring!

With my award for first female after the race.

Jeremy, me, and dad with our awards after the race.

Jingle Bell 5k

Saturday morning before Carter's 3rd birthday party we ran the Jingle Bell 5k. My goal going into the race was to better my postpartum PR of 20:56 by running under 6:45 pace. I felt if I had a good race I could run 20:45 or even better! Friday evening we went to dinner at a Mexican restaurant as a treat for Ty who had been hankering for Mexican and who had a really busy and exhausting week at work filled with working the Saturday before, going in at 7 am every morning, and traveling on Wednesday with a 6 am flight out and a return flight that left at 9 pm for a total of 20 hours awake! The Mexican was delicious but I paid for it the next morning with trip after trip to the restroom and feeling like I could throw up. I was a bit worried about how my stomach would feel during the race. I ran my mile warm up feeling much better and snuck in one last restroom trip at the porta potties before lining up with Jeremy, dad, and Thomas.

As we took off at the race start I was feeling really strong. My last few races I didn't look at my pace during the miles, just looked at my mile splits when my watch beeped. That had been working out great. I was running paces I otherwise wouldn't have thought I was capable of. So I went with that race tactic again. I was running with Jeremy for the first mile which made me a bit nervous but I know he tends to go out slower and pick up the pace in the last 2 miles so I figured he was just taking it a bit easy the first mile. When my watch beeped and I saw I had run the first mile in 6:19 I knew it really had been too fast. I was bummed it had been that fast because it felt great. I knew 6:27 pace was a 20:00 minute 5k from when I was working to break 20 during my freshman year in college. I knew I was in great shape and was ready to bust out a faster time, but I also knew a sub-20 was not in me quite yet. I told myself to hold it together the 2nd mile.

I was shocked with how fast my first mile was that I wasn't getting passed by other runners as I slowed down. I was still maintaining my position and even passing more runners. When we hit the turn around point of the out and back course I had worked my way up to 4th female. The girl in 3rd wasn't very far ahead of me and I made it my goal to catch her. I went through mile 2 in 6:45. Although I had slowed down considerably from my first mile I was still within my original pace range which was 6:45 or under. As I started the 3rd mile I could feel it in my legs that I had run my first mile too fast. They were tired and heavy and each hill we ran up became increasingly more difficult. I caught up to and passed the girl in front of me with about half a mile to go and from then on out focused on staying ahead of her. My goal was to not let anyone pass me. I pushed hard and kept telling myself not to give up. Mile 3 was 6:41 which was only one second slower than my last mile during my previous PR so I was pleased with that. I pushed as hard as I could toward the finish line. When I first turned the corner toward the finish I could see the clock said 20:30. As I was crossing I knew I had been just under 21 minutes. With my splits I knew I should have been well under my previous postpartum best of 20:56 but my official finishing time was exactly 20:56 oddly enough. When I checked my Garmin I saw the course had been a bit long at 3.19. 

My Garmin told me I had a new 5k record of 20:26. I was pretty pumped that on a long course I still equaled my previously fastest time and that I ran the equivalent of a 20:26 5k, although I won't count it as my new PR since it wasn't an official time. I'll be gunning for a time like that at our next race, the Race Into the New Year. I was pleased with my time and how well I held it together after a too fast first mile and that I didn't give up or allow myself to be mentally defeated during the race. I am a little disappointed that the race was long so I don't have the satisfaction of having run a new PR. It feels a bit like a sham that I ran a 20:26 since it isn't an official time. But that just means I need to make it an official time in my next race! My time of 20:56 for 3.19 miles put me at an average pace of 6:34 per mile. My goal at our next race will be to run more consistent miles and hit them around 6:35 or under. I finished 3rd out of 330 total women which I felt very good about. I also came in 18th overall out of 565 total runners. That put me 1st out of 45 in my age group.

Jeremy finished the race 11th overall and 2nd in his age group with a time of 19:39. Dad was 43rd overall and 3rd in his age group coming in at 23:26. Thomas ran the race in 25:10 which placed him 62nd overall and 4th in his age group. Ty finished the race in 29:49, good for 164th place overall and 9th in his age group. Mom ran/walked the mile fun run with Carter and Elise. Carter was quite pleased because my mom dressed Bobbie in an elf costume and he got to hold her leash. The fun run started 15 minutes after the 5k. So I finished the 5k and watched dad, Thomas, and Ty finish before heading out onto the course to walk and run back to the finish with mom and Carter. It is so funny to watch Carter because he doesn't like to run on the street. Even though the roads are closed to cars, he prefers to run on the sidewalk. I've noticed the only races he's actually run on the course have been ones we did on a trail. I think being on the road makes him nervous.

Carter and Elise ready for the fun run.

 

Me running in the fun run with Carter and Bobbie.

 

 

 

Jeremy, dad, and me with our age group awards.

Route 66 Half Marathon

All week leading up to the race Ty and I were both checking the weather predictions for the weekend hoping the temperatures would warm up. No such luck. Sunday morning when we left the house for the race it was 31 degrees and felt like 25 degrees with the wind chill. I was dressed in tights which meant I would be running my first half marathon in tights. I guess I've always lucked out in that I've never run a half marathon in below 35 degree temps. I wavered back and forth but finally decided shorts would be too darn cold. I have a thinner pair of tights and went with them paired with a spandex top, a long sleeved tech shirt, gloves, and a headband. Since Ty would be using the belt I normally take my Gu in, I had tried out different short options on long runs so I wouldn't encounter the chaffing I received during the Prairie Fire run from wearing my Gu in my sports bra. All that preparation was for naught, but what can you do. It made me a bit nervous the temperature was so cold since the coldest I've run in so far this fall was last week at the Run to the Lights 5k when it was 43 degrees.

We got a bit later start heading to the race than we had hoped. We circled around for a while looking for parking and eventfully parked in a parking garage. We were in a hurry to get to the start as we only had 10 minutes until the gun would be fired. Once they fired the gun we would not be allowed to enter our corral, corral A, we would be redirected to corral D. As we stepped out of the parking garage we were greeted with a freezing blast of wind. Thomas said, "Why did none of the people we saw walking to the start look like they were freezing?!" I was shivering and my teeth were chattering. We made our way into the corral and dad and Thomas waited in the back for Jeremy who had headed back to the car to put his sweatpants away. I weaved my way toward the front and lined up behind the 1:45 pace group. With how cold it was I had lost some of the excitement for running the race. My goal going into the race was to break 1:40 but as I walked out into the freezing temperatures I slowly began to abandon hope. I had told my dad that morning I'd be a lot more excited about the race if it were 15 degrees warmer. As I stood in the corral, listening to the announcer talk about it being the 10th year I started getting really excited. We cheered on the wheelchair competitors as they started 2 minutes before us and then it was the countdown to the race. As they shot the starting gun, confetti rained down and it was awesome. I was so pumped up and was excited to reach the start line so I could take off. 

The race wasn't too congested where I started and I was able to swing out to the left in order to pass runners. My plan had been to run the first mile around 7:40-7:50 pace. With how cold it was I knew it would take a while for my legs to warm up and I didn't want to be discouraged about my pace so I left my watch covered up by my shirt. As we approached the first mile marker there was a race clock and I saw it ticking down to 7:00 minutes. I became alarmed and saw my mile split pop up as 7:02 on my watch. I felt really comfortable and figured my 2nd mile would slow down to at least 7:30 pace. I left my watch covered because I wanted to run off feel. My 2nd mile was 7:19. I decided I was either going to have an amazing race or I was going to burn out and run 9:00 pace for the second half of the race. I assumed I'd run around 7:20 pace for the rest of the time but went through mile 3 in 7:10. I felt comfortable and have had a lot of success running tempo runs while only looking at my watch for mile splits rather than checking my pace during miles, so I decided to keep rolling with it. Since I'm still nursing Elise I made sure to take water at every water stop. During the first water stop I grabbed a cup which was filled all the way to the top so the water splashed out onto my tights and all over my gloves. I was ready to take my gloves off anyway so I just pulled them off and tucked then in the band of my tights. The community support in the neighborhoods was amazing. There were so many people out in their yards cheering us on, playing loud music, and offering free beer and treats. The spectators really make the race amazing.

The miles were really just flying by. It helped that there were water stops every 2 miles. It broke the race up really well. I enjoyed all the signs along the course. The art museum we ran by had signs saying "You are a masterpiece" and "Members run 50% faster". I saw Jeremy ahead of me around mile 4 and talked to him for a little bit as I pulled up beside him before he took off. Miles 4-6 were 7:20, 7:16, and 7:08. I was still only looking at my mile splits and not checking my pace in between miles. I felt great and was really excited because I knew I was on pace to run faster than my postpartum PR from when Carter was 11 months old which was 7:21 pace. I was cruising along and enjoying the race so much I forgot to eat my Gu until I saw them passing out free ones at the 7 mile water stop. At that point I went ahead and ate my Gu which was a different consistency than I'm used to because it was so cold. I had zipped it in a side pocket of my tights. Before the race I was able to slowly eat a bar which gave me around 200 calories going into the race and I didn't even feel hungry like I normally do. I usually really look forward to eating my Gu and get a huge pick me up after doing so. 

During mile 8 we headed out onto Riverside where Ty and I run a lot. It was fun to run on such a familiar road. We headed up a decent sized hill and I was feeling so good I hardly noticed it. Miles 7-9 were 7:10, 7:22, and 7:15. Somewhere in these miles I saw a man dressed as Waldo from "Where's Waldo" with a sign that said "You found me," which I found highly entertaining since we always read those books with my mom as a kid. Mile 10 greeted us with some of the biggest hills in the race. A couple were tough enough that my thighs were starting to burn as we crested the top. That was my slowest mile of the race in 7:38 which I was pleased was only 4 seconds over my goal pace despite all the difficult hills! Going into the last 3 miles I kept telling myself just a 5k to go. I was starting to get tired and the race had thinned out. I had caught all the runners close to me and was running a decent distance back from the closest runners to me. I went through mile 11 in 7:16 and started to catch up to a female runner ahead of me. 

As we headed into the last 2 miles we were running on part of the Jingle Bell 5k course. With a mile and a half to go the marathoners turned to the right and we continued on straight. I was so thankful that I was so near the finish rather than almost half way done! I went through mile 12 in 7:20 and my goal was to get my last mile back under 7:20. I remembered from the elevation chart on the bottom of the course map there would be a couple doozies of hills during that last mile. I caught up to a woman running ahead of me and as I passed her she cheered me on. I kept trying to push the pace as much as I could. From what I had seen for my elapsed time at mile 11 I knew if I ran my last 2 miles really strong I could break into 1:35. I hit mile 13 in 7:14 and took off in high gear toward the finish. I heard them announce Jeremy finishing as I turned toward the finish with about a quarter mile or so to go. Then they announced my name as I crossed the line and saw I had just squeaked in under 1:36 for my gun time. I stopped my watch and saw I had run 13.19 miles, good for an average of 7:15 pace and a finishing time of 1:35:43. I was pumped with my time and was proud of how I ran. I walked through the chute, receiving my medal, water, and Gatorade. I saw Jeremy ahead of me and caught up to him where they were taking finisher photos with your medal. We walked through the chute together and then when I turned around I didn't see him so I headed out to watch dad, Thomas, and Ty finish by myself. I had turned down the wraps they were passing out at the finish because I was so hot but regretted it as I stood in the shade shivering in my sweaty sports bra and spandex shirt watching for everyone else to finish.

I watched dad and Thomas come running up together. Thomas took off sprinting and dad maintained pace. I couldn't see the finishing clock very well but I could tell they were under 2 hours. The finish area was blocked off extremely well so I didn't have much choice but to stand in the shade which was really cold. After dad and Thomas finished I knew I had about 10 minutes until Ty came by so I walked down around one blocked off area and back up so I could stand in the sun to watch Ty finish. This positioned me right in front of the 13 mile mark and there was a clock next to the 13 mile marker so I could tell what the elapsed time was. I saw Ty turn the corner toward me and filled with excitement, yelling and cheering for him. Then I looked at the clock and saw he was around 2:06 with just a tenth of a mile to go and jumped up and down with excitement. He said he couldn't hear me since he was using his headphones but he saw me jump and that spurred him forward as he thought to himself he might as well shave off a few more seconds. It was the first time I had ever seen him kick it in at the end of a race!

This is how packed the finish area was!

The race was organized differently than in previous years when we ran. They had a long finish chute completely blocked off. They gave you a finisher's medal, water, and Gatorade initially. Then you walked a bit further and they had the finisher's food. So it took quite a while to get out of the chute and once you were out you could not go back in. That was a bit of a bummer because I wasn't hungry right after the race but knew I would be later so I picked up the spaghetti they were passing out. By the time I was ready to eat it, it was super cold! Ty finished right in the thick of the race so the chute was really congested. I knew the only way to ensure I would make it back to the car was to find Ty. So even though I wanted to watch for some friends to finish, I headed to the exit of the chute to wait for Ty. Otherwise I had no idea how I would find him. We stopped off at the results table to get print outs of our finish time and splits. Then as we headed out to find everyone else we lucked out, running into dad and Thomas. Ty and Thomas claimed their beer tickets as dad and I went to find some covers to wrap around us as we were both freezing but had chosen not to take them where they were offered because we were still so hot from finishing the race. Big mistake on my part with how long I was standing around sweaty. We found Jeremy and by that time I was seeing spots and getting a migraine. I think it was due to being cold and sweaty for so long. My body was all hunched up, making my muscles tight.

The race course was different this year in that you started and finished in different places. Ty thought ahead and had us park closer to the finish and walk to the race start. The only problem was that since we were running late no one thought to check to see what street we had parked on or drop a pin on a phone so we could find our way back. We left the finish area around 11:00 thinking we'd be able to find it. After walking what seemed like circles up and down hills around downtown, googling parking garages, and asking for help from pedestrians, Thomas finally came up with the idea of using an app on Ty's phone to locate his phone which was in the car. Finally at noon after over 27,000 steps including the race and searching for the car, we were headed back to the house. When we made it home I took a shower and then napped for about an hour. When I woke up my head was feeling much better!

Finally returning home!

One of the nice things about such a big race is that the race results are posted so quickly. It was nice to get on that afternoon to see our times and how we had placed. Jeremy finished in 1:34:17 which put him 10th out of 290 in his age group and 61st out of 7,347 total runners! I ran 1:35:43. I was 3rd out of 565 in my age group, the 12th female finisher, and 78th overall! I was so proud of my time, beating my fastest half-marathon from after Carter was born! When Carter was 11 months old I ran 1:36:51 which was a 7:21 average mile pace. I ran 6 seconds per mile faster 8 months after Elise was born! Thomas finished next in 1:57:00, good for 76th out of 248 in his age group and 896th overall. Dad was right behind him in 1:57:12, 32nd out of 175 in his age group and 910th overall. Ty ran a new PR, finishing in 2:08:03, besting his time of 2:10:24 by over 2 minutes! He was 116th in his age group and 1,749th overall. He maintained a 9:47 per mile pace average even with stopping to drink free beer being passed out by spectators! We all had a great time and I am looking forward to possibly running another half marathon in the spring! Thanks to my mom who stayed home with the kids so Ty and I could both run! It was awesome to both PR and know the kids were warm at home with their Oma!

Thank you mom!