3 race reports in one: the ugly, the good, and the very good

It's been a busy few weeks for me: a half marathon one weekend, a 5k the next, and a 10k the next.  I've got a weekend "off" then I have a sprint tri, a half, and then my first obstacle race, then about a month of nothing planned.  I knew this would be a busy stretch and it has been.  I've enjoyed it but with the temps rising I'm looking forward to a bit of a break.

Heels and Hills Half
2 weeks ago I did the Heels and Hills half marathon. It's a women-focused race on the Campion Trail, where I do all my long runs, so I was looking forward to the chance to race on my home turf.  For a number of reasons though, it wasn't a great race for me.

For starters, it was hot.  I knew going in that the heat might slow me down, but I still went in with hopes of reaching that elusive 1:50 finish.  Also, as would be become painfully clear as the day progressed, I was not really mentally prepared for this race.  This was partly because of an event outside my control-Kevin had knee surgery to reconstruct a torn ACL just a few days earlier, and taking care of both him and Daniel took its toll, even with my mom there to help.  But it was also my own fault-I hadn't really taken the time to think about and anticipate this race, lulled to complacency by having done so many other races and knowing this course so well.  I would pay for that as the day unfolded.

Backing up a bit, it was nice to have a short, familiar drive to the race start area in downtown Las Colinas, a mere 2 miles away.  But once I got there I found a long line for the port-a-potties.  Really, you thought 15 potties was enough for several hundred women?  The line took so long, in fact, that I missed the start of the race and by the time I got to the start line the 3:00 pace group was headed out.  Not wanting to get stuck behind slower runners I did a fast first mile to catch myself up to the 1:55 group.  I can't think that fast start did me many favors as the day went on.  Right from the start, I had deviated from my plan.  Further complicating things was that I was having issues getting my Garmin started as I rushed from the start line.  I knew my time was a few minutes off because of that but couldn't know how far off I was.  I just guessed 4 minutes to be conservative and added those moments as I looked at my elapsed time.

The day quickly turned warm and try as I might, I realized I couldn't hold my goal pace.  The 2:00 pace group overtook me and I struggled to get back in front of them.  And I found it hard to focus on anything besides how hot it was.  This was where the lack of mental prep hurt.  Without something else to focus on, I spent too much time focusing on discomfort, and just like being on a treadmill staring at the numbers, thinking about the heat just made the run feel hotter and longer.

Long story short, I finished in 2:04 and change, well off my goal pace and PR, but not terrible considering the heat.  But, I believe with better mental focus and a smarter start I could have managed a sub-2:00 time.  I'll get the chance to test that theory out in a few weeks: the Wounded Warrior Half is on the same course.  Between now and then I'll also invest in a Fuel Belt.  My 10 oz handheld flask works great for short races and cooler temp halfs, but I was having to stop at every single water station to refill, which sort of defeats the purpose of a handheld.  So, we'll see if a better hydration strategy and better prep result in a better hot half.

Run Like A Mother 5k
A few months ago I was searching active.com for races to do and came across this race.  A women-only race on Mother's Day morning?  What's not to like about that?  I'm sure most moms looked at Mother's Day as a chance to sleep in and be pampered, but there were 217 of us for whom it was a great day to race with our families there to cheer us on.

When I made my schedule for the late spring months I planned around trying to peak for this race.  I had done well enough in 5ks before when they were training races that I decided to throw in more speedwork and see how fast I could be if I focused on the shorter distance.  I felt pretty good going into the day and set a target of 23 minutes.

I took my spot in the first few rows and got off to a pretty fast start.  As we pulled away from the start line and approached the trail I saw just two women in front of me.  I passed both within the first mile, and realized I couldn't see any other racers in front of me.  It seemed surprising that I might be in the lead-I'm fast enough to compete for age group awards, but there are definitely faster runners, and usually you can count on there being at least one or two speed demons who can knock out a sub-20 5k.  But, without knowing if I was in the lead or not, I stuck to my plan of going as hard and fast as I could manage.

After the halfway point turnaround I could tell there was another runner right behind me.  She never made a move to pass but I could hear her behind me and see her shadow.  A racer with more experience frontrunning might have run through a bag of tactics to either lose her or wear her out...having never faced this issue before I wasn't sure what I should do, so I decided to just go as fast as I could and try to finish strong.  I had a feeling that she'd pass me at the very end.  Even expecting it though, I still couldn't prevent it.  With about a tenth of a mile to go I saw her sprint ahead.  I sped to a sprint myself to try to catch her but ended up finishing in 23:01, a second and change behind her and my goal. 

Oh well, I thought, I still got second.  Then Kevin told me that the winner had finished a few minutes ahead of us (she shot right out to the front in the first hundred yards, and I never saw her again), so I had actually finished third.

On the one hand, it was disappointing to come so close to my goal finish time and a 2nd place finish.  But on the other hand, 216 other women ran this race, and I finished ahead of 214 of them!  It feels like one that got away, but I'm still happy with a 3rd overall finish.  And I earned myself a new PR by over a minute. I'm still convinced I can get faster, but I'm happy with my 23 minute time. First and foremost I race against myself, but in hotter temps PRs get harder to come by so I use pole position as another measure.

I'm also happy with the nice award bag I won which included, among other things, a $100 gift certificate to a local store which sells designer clothes.  That means my first pair of designer jeans are in my future.

Triumph Over Pain 10k
This past Saturday I did my first 10k since January after claiming a free race entry from Active.com Advantage (note: the Advantage membership pays for itself).  The race was in the Craig Ranch area of McKinney, a northeastern suburb of Dallas.  I showed up hoping to break 50 minutes, or better yet, 48 minutes, but given the 9:45am start time in late May, I knew that was unlikely.  So, I hoped to at least beat my 52:20 PR.

The 10k race started at the same time and the first half used the same course as a 5k.  I lined up right in the front row, intending to stay in the lead.  As we started I noted how many women passed me.  Within the first mile 2 or 3 women passed me, but I didn't know if they were doing the 5k or 10k.  I finished the first mile around 7:50, but couldn't get below 8:30 the rest of the way.  Still, I had no one close behind, and just a handful ahead of me, so I decided to hold a strong but maintainable pace for the middle miles with the intention to speed up in the final mile.

As I passed the 5k finish line I could only see a few guys way ahead of me, but couldn't see any women ahead and just one within a minute of me.  I figured I was either the lead woman or the leader was so far out I'd never catch her, so I resolved to hold whatever position I had.  I looked back periodically to see if the woman closest behind was gaining on me but she never closed the gap.

As I closed in on the final turn I found the energy for a decent kick to finish strong at 53 minutes and change.  I hadn't met any of my time goals but I felt fairly certain I had at least placed in my age group.  So, I was quite pleased when the results were posted and I saw that I was not only the 7th overall finisher, but the 1st female finisher!  Not only did I outrun all the other women, but I "chicked" most of the guys too.  And while I wish I had PR'd, I'm happy that despite it being twice as hot as January, it only took me an extra minute and a half to finish.  I feel confident a much faster 10k would be possible in cooler temps but I'll have to wait awhile to find out.  I think it could be a competitive distance for me though.

One swag bag and one trophy later, I have to say the last 3 weeks went pretty well.

A trio of 5ks

Today I ran the Rock 'n' Roll Dallas Half Marathon (writeup forthcoming).  My last major race was the Austin Half Marathon.  In the 5 weeks between those 2 distance races, I did 3 5ks: the DCFA Form Follows Fitness 5k, the LALA Esparanza 5k, and the Dash Down Greenville 5k.

DCFA Form Follows Fitness 5k
This was in downtown Dallas the Saturday after Austin.  Kevin, Daniel and I did this race together as a family, so the focus was on fun, not speed.  I was a week removed from Austin and pushing D in the stroller, but poor Kevin's shoes didn't fit well (turned out, as I suspected, they were the wrong width), so I was not the one slowing our party down.  Even given the ill-fitting shoes though, Kevin had a solid outing in his first foot race and we finished in 31 minutes and change.  It was a fun morning.  Usually I go to my races solo and only meet my boys at the end, or at home later, so it was fun to share the experience with them.  And Daniel's running career is off to a much earlier than mine or Kevin's: a good 32 years earlier.  It's fun to think that someday we'll do races together...and then, someday, we'll start races together, then he'll lope ahead of me and be waiting at the finish to cheer me on.

LALA Esparanza 5k
This race was on the same morning as another race that featured the newly-opened Margaret Hunt Hill bridge near downtown Dallas.  The chance to be one of the first pedestrians to step foot on the new bridge was tempting, but I ultimately opted for Esparanza instead even though it was a further drive.  I liked the fact that the race was put on by a church and that all the proceeds went toward a charity in Mexico that helps the disadvantaged, and that finishers would receive a ceramic finisher medal handmade by one of the people the group-a nice way to make the charity personal.  So, that morning I headed northeast to Plano.  The day was nice, as good a weather as any race I've run.  I started strong and felt good throughout the race, even though I forgot my handheld water bottle and had to stop for water halfway through, and finished with a PR of 24:10.  Most races do their ave divisions in 5-year increments but this one did 10-year increments.  I knew awards were only 3-deep in each division, so with such a large division I didn't expect to place, but I was pleased to discover I had finished 3rd out of 85 women in my division.  I got a nice trophy for my efforts, which joins my Cupid's Chase trophy.  Overall this was as well-organized a short race as I've done, and the family carnival afterwards was fun for Kevin and Daniel.

Here I am with Daniel and my trophy:

Dash Down Greenville 5k
I've lived in the Dallas area for more than 10 years now, and have learned that Dallas does St. Patrick's Day in a big way, specifically on Greenville Ave.  This year I learned that the St. Paddy's Day festivities also include the Dash Down Greenville 5k.  I debated whether I ought to do a 5k for speed just a week before the Rock 'n' Roll half that I had set my whole spring training schedule up to peak for, but in the end I talked myself into it.  It was the biggest 5k I've done so far: 8,000 runners, with hundreds more spectators lined up along the sides getting an early start to the festivities.  I started solid and, despite oppressive humidity, managed to finish with a PR by 4 seconds.  While I didn't medal, I did finish #8 out of 500+ women in my age group, so I was pretty happy with that.

A new branch on my blog tree

I started my original blog to keep our family and friends updated on our family life with kids, but now that I've started running I like to do post-race writeups to track my progress and keep notes.  I decided that's enough of a tangent off the original blog purpose to merit its own blog.  Occasionally the topics will overlap, often they won't.  And with that...here are a few writeups to bring myself up to speed.

I started running last fall in preparation for the White Rock Half and found I enjoyed it so much that even before I finished that race I was already looking forward to my next one.  I decided to take advantage of the training base I had already built up and the fact that Texas winter weather is actually nice for running (or at least, until today...more on that in a minute) to pack several races into this winter and spring.

Here's my schedule to date:
11/12/11 Salute American Heroes 10k--writeup here
12/04/11 White Rock Half--writeup here
12/21/11--Jingle Bell Run 5k
1/07/12 Bold in the Cold 15k
1/14/12 Snowman Shuffle 10k
1/28/12 Texas Half
2/11/12 Cupid's Chase 5k

And here are the ones I'm already registered for in the future. 
2/19/12 Austin Half
3/25/12 Dallas Rock'n'Roll Half

I'll probably add a few more 15k and shorter distance races in the next few months but no major races planned after R'n'R. We'll see what I want to do once we get to that point. I may be ready for a break or to mix in some triathlons, or I may be adding to that calendar.

Cupid's Chase 5k
Today I did the Cupid's Chase 5k at Bachman Lake in Dallas.  I had been wanting to do more 5ks to see if I can improve on my Jingle Bell Run time and I thought it would be a good training run ahead of Austin next week.  With only 3 weeks between the Texas Half and Austin, I decided to treat the interim period as primarily recovery/taper with a little speed work and a few long runs thrown in.

This run looked good on paper-a week out from Austin, close to home, mid-morning start so I didn't have to get up early, and our weather had really been pretty mild all winter.  Well today, it seems winter finally arrived in north Texas-high 20s/low 30s with a 15-20mph wind=felt super-cold outside.  This called for a change from my normal race strategy. 

I'd rather be cool than hot so for every previous race I've worn shorts and a tank top, reasoning that I'd rather start cold and spend most of the race comfortable than start warm and overheat.  In fact, the one time I wore a long sleeve layer, at Bold in the Cold, I had to shuck the top layer after just a few miles. Today however I wore tights, a tank, long sleeve top, and earmuffs. Not only was I not hot, my legs felt numb for the first mile and I spent most of the race wishing I had worn gloves too.

First my hands were really numb, so I started clenching them into tight fists to warm them up. Eventually they got reasonably warm, but in between numb and warm was the painful regaining-feeling step that feels like having bamboo shoots stabbed under the nails. Note to self: next time it's cold and windy, wear gloves! 

There was also one other mitigating factor that I think affected my speed today.  I donated blood at my office's blood drive this past Tuesday, and red blood cells carry oxygen to the muscles.  So, less red blood cells in my body=less oxygen to the muscles=heavy legs feeling.  For having not run since Saturday my legs sure felt heavy today.

All that being said...going into today my main goal was to improve on my prior 5k time of 25:19, and my reach goal was to finish at or under 24:00.  The bad news is I did neither of those things.

The good news is...I was still fast enough to place.  I was the 2nd female finisher and 5th overall finisher.  The whole race I was thinking, there aren't too many people in front of me (granted, with only 100 or so runners in the whole race, I guess there weren't too many people behind me either), so I stuck around for the awards ceremony feeling confident I had at least placed in my age group.  As the announcer started talking and said he'd start with the overall winners I thought, hurry up and get to the age group, I'm cold!  So I was quite surprised to hear my name when he announced the 2nd overall female finisher. 

And I won my first trophy!  Sure it was a small field, but only 4 people walked away with a trophy, and I was one of them.

It was great to get the hardware, and I'm satisfied with my finish given the circumstances, but I still think know there's a better 5k time in me.  I'll give it another shot soon...there are a few that look interesting in the next month or so.  In the meantime, I'll savor my first overall-placing finish.