China Grove 5k HUGE PR!

Goal:
Win and run fast (sub 17:10)

Actual:
3.3 miles warmup
5k in 16:36(!!!!!!!!) in 5:18, 5:23, 5:23, :33, 1st place Female, 5th Overall, $250, Results
Course Record
Road PR by 25 seconds (formerly 17:01)
Just 7 Seconds off my college track PR (16:29)
3.5 miles total for ~10 miles

If you've never been to the China Grove 5k, it is an event you must do.  Unlike most Charlotte "night" races, which aren't truly in the dark, China Grove hosts a race that is quite literally in the dark of the night at 9PM.  The post-race food is definitely something to boast about as they never run out of Pizza Hut pizza, watermelon, bananas and unlimited bottles of water.  I'm pretty sure that the allure of this race also comes from the fact that the course is flat and fast, featuring a nice out and back course that has a few small inclines that won't really affect your time.  It also helps that Vac and Dash puts this race on because I'm pretty sure all of their races are just badass.

At this race, every year it is typical for summer storms dwell in the distance, with lightning cascading harmlessly across the sky, far away in the distance.  This year was no different, except the storms were even closer and more of an imminent threat.  To give you an idea of just how close that lightning was, as David and I were warming up, we seemed to be running straight into a lightning storm.  One bolt of lightning appeared above us, which resulted in the natural response from me to simultaneously jump, scream, and grab onto David's arm in a panic.  I knew at that moment that if there was lightning during the race, that I would not be able to prevent this panicked response from occurring even while I raced!

Fortunately, the lightning and rain only kept on for about thirty minutes, forcing only a fifteen minute delay on the 9PM start of the race.  We hung out in a very expansive and fancy Fire Station during the wait.  I sat around and did some dynamic stretching until they announced that the race was indeed still on.  Thank god for that message because I really felt ready for the race at that point and knew it was going to be a special night.  By the time we made it to the start line, there was only a light drizzle, which actually felt quite refreshing on the skin.  The race director didn't make us wait too long and after one false start, the bull horn finally went off to signal the (real) start of the race.

I got off the line without any incidents and settled into a nice, relaxed rhythm.  I wasn't wearing a Garmin and really just wanted to run a smart race using my own pacing powers and competitive spirit.  After the first 800m, the competition had already thinned out considerably, but I was able to keep picking off several guys.  By the time I came through the mile in 5:18, there were really only 4 other guys for me to pass before making it to David Willis, so I focused on them to catch.  After the mile, I passed two of my four targets, and continued rolling on what felt like a great pace.  By the turnaround point, I had caught the last two guys and we ran together until just past the 2 mile point (10:40), in which there was a slight downhill that I really tried to push hard on to break my goal.  I really knew that I had enough time to break 17, but I wanted to make the most of every single change in terrain that could help me be even faster.  With just under a half mile to go, I was able to make a move on both of the guys and hold them off through the finish line.  They really helped push me to break 16:40, so I was really grateful for their company!  As I crossed the finish line, I did something that I rarely do, by lifting up my arms in celebration.  I was celebrating the time even more so than the victory because this is something that I have been chasing for over two years.  It was nice to finally see all my hard work pay off with a huge PR.

I'm definitely thrilled with this race and it shows that I'm doing something right with my training right now as I don't really have a coach. I hope it translates to a good half in just two weeks!!!!!  I feel like I need to run another 5k to validate that I'm truly a sub-17:00 5k girl now.

The race start.  I'm in the middle with a purple top

The race start - I'm in the middle, to the left of the line

Finished - 16:36

Two Records were Broken - Fam in 14:19 and mine in 16:36
David was close to a PR in 16:06!

NC 10k Championships Fail

Goal #1:  Win
Goal #2:  Win $500
Goal #3:  10k Race in Low 35

Actual:
3 mile warmup
10k race in 36:49 (552, 543, 559, 538, 621, 713), 3rd place, $150
2.5 mile cool down for 11+ miles total

I hadn't run a bad race in 2013 up until today.  I made up for that euphoric high I'd been on with a slew of positive race experiences over the past couple of months.  I think that the heavy racing schedule from April finally caught up with me and affected my performance today.  On the warmup I knew that today was going to be rough based on how my legs felt.  Unfortunately, my legs didn't lie and I struggled to maintain my goal Half Marathon pace in half the distance.

I even positioned myself perfectly by tucking in on the first mile and staying relaxed.  I stuck with the second place girl through mile 2, where we struggled with directions on the course as volunteers were lacking at the turns.  After the 2nd mile, the eventual winner pulled away from me (ironically in the very same spot that last year's winner ALSO pulled away from me at).  At that very point, I questioned why I even do this race because it seems that every year I always feel absolutely terrible and that the heat and the hills just rip me apart.

All you need to know is my legs felt heavy and tired, I got beat by the same girl that I beat just one month ago at the USATF 8k Champs (a very tough competitor) and I fell out of contention for the win after the second mile.  It wasn't my day, so I'm moving on as I know it's not a true indicator of where my fitness lies and is merely a small bump in the road on the way.  And, hey, at least I got to meet an awesome new runner on the scene (Stevie) and was able to spend some quality time with Thomas and Michelle!  On that note, I need to go celebrate the birth of Thomas at the pool, and I know such celebrations will not disappoint!

Week in Review

70 Miles
4 mile tempo in 5:55 + 4x400m
5 Miler Race in 28:44, 2nd place, $400
13.5 mile long run for Boston
7 runs

This week marked my third week out of four in which I headed out of town for a race with prize money.  I did not taper for this race and hit my highest mileage for 2013 with 70 miles.  For that reason, I had a fairly easy workout on tap for Wednesday, which I ended up doing alone.  By race day, the effects of the workout still hadn't cleared my system or my legs were tired from 3 consecutive weeks around 70 miles.

I got out of my car in Columbia, SC for the Women's Heart and Sole 5 Miler with high expectations to win.  It was my fourth year in a row running here and each year seemed to get better.  In 2010, I got third behind stiff competition (Janet Bawcom), in 2011 I held hands across the finish line with Meagan, and in 2012, I ran my fastest time on that course by over 45 seconds.  Hoping to best my time from last year, I came expecting to win and to push myself alone on the course.  I was so wrong!

On my warmup, I scoped out my competition and found basically no one.  However, on the start line, literally like 3 minutes before the race, the same chick that raced with me for half a mile at the Burrito Dash popped out of nowhere.  Off to the side stood her trusty coach and I knew it was going to be a good competition.  At this point, I hadn't discounted myself out yet.  After the gun went off, Joan (Burrito girl) and I took off for the $500 win.  By 1 mile, after we went through in 5:40, I knew that I was going to be out of the game.  On the downhill in mile 2, Joan took off and literally left me in the dust even though I ran a 5:20.  The hilly third mile began as I watched her gap even more distance between us.  While she probably split a 5:40, I split a 5:56.  At this point in the race, I basically just gave up. I knew that she was going to win handily and I also knew that there was no competition anywhere near me, so I settled.  I hate that I did it, but I did.  I gave in to a mental weakness and let her go and didn't try nearly as hard to catch her.  My splits are a little slower than last year, when I ran basically the same time but completely solo.  The key takeaway with this comparison is that I was able to motivate myself to go faster in those final 2 miles alone last year better than I could this year because I was "losing."  In the end, I crossed the finish line in 28:44, just 1 second off last year's time.  Fortunately I still came away with $400, which was great.  In the end, I know that I can beat Joan, but I just didn't have the heart to go for it this time around.

Sunday was highlighted with the Run for Boston at McMullen.  It was great to see 200+ runners come out in the rain to support Nicole and Michael Gross as they recover from this tragedy.  We enjoyed some soggy miles, great company and delicious homemade food for a couple hours in the early morning hours and I wouldn't have changed it for anything else.

Now on to next week, where I'll focus on my prep for the USA Half Marathon Champs

Moe's Burrito Dash 5k

Goal:
Win Prize Money

Actual:
3.1 mile warmup
5k race in 19:04 with Burrito, 2nd place, $1000
3 mile cool down

PM:  6 miles with Laurie for ~14 miles total

Last year, I found this gem of a race, the Moe's Burrito Dash, with a very deep prize purse, but with a slight catch: you had to eat a burrito in the middle of the race.  Last year, only one other competitive woman showed up and it was a relatively easy win.  It helped that the race was short, that the burrito station was at mile 2, and that the burrito was about the size of a taco.  This year, the course was exactly 5 kilometers, the burrito station was at 1.5 miles, and the burrito was bigger.  To further complicate matters, there were six women with me in the burrito station.

Despite all of that, it was a blast because of two things: (1) Garrett and I got to take a mini road trip with Laurie down to the race, one of my favorite people in Charlotte and (2) Laurie, Pezz and I finally all toed a start line in the same race together!  Ironically, I had told Pezz about this race a couple weeks ago, questioning her decision to do the Tar Heel Ten Miler, which was further away and featured a smaller prize purse.  On Thursday, she texted me asking permission for her to run it. Pezz is so nice that I'm pretty sure if I had said NO WAY, she would have actually not run it.  Of course, I told her that I do not own the Burrito Dash and that she should definitely do it.  Knowing that both Pezz and Laurie have PRs that are minutes faster than mine, I didn't want to discount either of them before the race because I had done a decent job of eating my burrito last year.  Well, not this time around....

After a nice warmup with Laurie and Pezz, we all toed the line and waited for the signal.  Pezz effectively false started, but it didn't matter as we all followed a couple seconds later.  Pezz shot off to the front and another tiny girl went with her, but then fell back to where Laurie and I were.  After 1000m, Pezz was about 15m ahead of me and I was in second. I knew that Laurie, the tiny girl and a couple others were close, but I kept chugging through.  I didn't catch my splits, but I guess I went through the first mile in 5:15.  We got the burrito stand, and Pezz had taken about 2 bites.  After 10 seconds, Laurie, the tiny girl and two former college runners entered.  We were all stacked against each other and eating a burrito.  I couldn't breathe without snot shooting out of my nose, and I kept glancing at Pezz and Laurie to see where they were at.  At one point, I almost threw it all up but managed to keep it down.  Out of nowhere, Laurie downed her burrito and took off right before Pezz yelled "welcome to moe's" and I was left to follow in their dust about 10 seconds behind.  Another girl was right with me and I broke her after 400m.  Around 2.25, I caught up to Laurie (finally), told her GREAT BURRITO EATING and she told me to GET PEZZ.  I told her that another girl was close behind me and powered ahead.

At the finish, I crossed the line about 8 seconds back from Pezz and threw up as soon as I crossed.  The next girl, Christina Supino, a former Dartmouth runner, was close behind and then Laurie.  I was bummed that Laurie, Pezz, and I did not take the top three spots, but Laurie had just gotten an iron drip, so she was still recovering from that.  Fortunately, she is a great sport and was totally supportive of us and patiently waited for us to get our awards.  She did come away with 50 Moe's Bucks, but since they were only valid Columbia, she gave it to Christina, who lives there.

Overall, this year's experience wasn't nearly as positive as last year since I threw up and had a much more difficult time eating the burrito, but I had a lot of fun with some of Charlotte's fastest women!

NC USATF 8K Champs

Goal:
Run strategically to win

Actual:
3 mile warmup with Marley
8k Race in 28:40 w/ splits of (5:32, 5:42, 5:47, 5:45, 5:49)
1st place, $1000
2.3 miles warmup for 10.3 total

Garrett and I headed to Greensboro on Friday afternoon for my first road race in Greensboro ever.  I've basically run in all the other major cities of North Carolina, but for some odd reason Greensboro never came onto my radar for other races.  The Gate City 8k event director is trying to create North Carolina's premier race here in the heart of the Gate City, and they did not fail to impress.  The race provided all the elites several perks besides just a deep prize purse:  Garrett and I shared a king size room on the 23rd floor of the Sheraton.  We attended a dinner banquet at the Sedgefield Country Club, where the ACC was founded.  They cooked us made-to-order spaghetti with all the vegetables and sauces you could imagine. The best part was the three-tiered dessert table with an assortment of sweets including, but not limited to:  chocolate chip cookie bars, cheesecake, key lime pie, boston creme pie, pecan pie and more cookies. Finally, they gave us picture books from a famous NC water color artist for awards.

After conversing with USATF LDR Chairs, Andrew Allden and Molly Nunn at the country club lobby, Garrett and I seated ourselves with Marley, Brock and his girlfriend, and Joel Tull, my former massage therapist from WFU.  We ate the delicious food and had too much of the delectable desserts  while the Mayor of Greensboro, an accomplished runner himself, talked to us about the event.

Race morning came and went without a hitch, with my trusty sidekick Garrett along for the ride and for general assistance.  He waited in the car while Marley and I warmed up for the race together, discussing our race plans and just catching up.  After putting on my race flats (I opted for my Nike Marathoners instead of the Flyknits so that my legs wouldn't feel so fatigued like they did two weeks ago), I headed to the start line.  I ran into John Hinton and asked him what pace he was looking for because he typically beats me at these things, but he said he wasn't in as good of shape.  Then, I spotted Bill and asked him the same thing.  He said quite frankly that he just didn't know.  Well, he did just run a 2:46 marathon a couple weeks ago!

The Mayor of Greensboro said "Ready, Set..." and then a girl sprinted off for what they would call a false start in track..and then he fired the gun, where everyone else took after the girl.  One of the elite women took off hard, and I settled in a safe distance of about 10 feet behind her.  Marley and two other girls were on my shoulder, as well as John Hinton and Bill.  The first mile was entirely downhill and after I passed the first mile mark, I made a slight move to drop my female counterparts and continued on the rest of the exceptionally hilly course, side by side with Bill.  I pushed on the first big uphill, and on the corresponding downhill, let out an audible sigh of relief, to which Bill responded, "Don't give up and Don't give in."  I grunted in response.

Bill and I continued to play cat and mouse for basically the rest of the course.  I would push on the uphill, settle on the downhills, as he pushed past me on the downhills.  The whole race I felt rather terrible and by mile 3 I just kept repeating to myself: Race hard and race fast.  Mile 3 passed by and I wished we didn't have another loop before heading back downtown.  I could already see the big buildings and wanted to take the direct route rather than the loop around a small park.  During the fourth mile, we went up yet another large, steep hill and Bill really gapped me here.  I truly thought I was going to die here, but I think my repetitive mantra inspired me to speed up and tuck in right behind him.  With less than a half mile to go, it was all uphill to the finish.  Somehow I powered past Bill even though I felt awful.  My stomach was hurting bad and I just felt tired.  I crossed the finish line a mere 2 seconds ahead of him and was so grateful for the finish.  Had Bill not been there, I definitely would have been hard pressed to run sub 29:00.

The next female racer, Ginny Cronley, wasn't too far behind in 28:56 and then 3-5 were very close together at around 30:xx.  It will be exciting to compete with Ginny at other NC USATF races as she may be inclined to participate in the Endurance Series, like I am.  What I really love about this series is that it brings out new talent that I can compete with.  Sometimes I'll lose, sometimes I'll win, but either way, I know that there will always be incentive for younger talent to come out and compete hard.

Overall, I'm pleased that I executed a race strategy that allowed me to win and bring home $1000 for the family slush fund.  I am not thrilled with my mentality during the race, which was rather negative through miles 2-4.  Hills are definitely not my strength right now, which is understandable, but I need to be tougher on those types of courses.  Looking forward to my next one!

Kinston 8000m Race

Goal:
8k race in sub 28:09 + win prize money

Actual:
3 miles warmup + race drills
8k race in 27:45 w/ course marker splits of 5:33, 5:56, 5:34, 5:22, 5:16
1st place, $500
3 miles cool down with Kris Vegh for ~11 miles total

The small field of sub-elite runners in the state of NC take care of each other and make sure that we know where the prize money races are throughout the state.  A couple years ago, Devin Swann informed me of a fast race, the Kinston 8000m, in Eastern NC that paid three deep.  My friend and former NC resident, Heather Magill, had won the Kinston 8000m three times in a row and so had Devin, so I figured that I would finally take a stab at running it as well.  After all, Garrett's parents only live 40 minutes outside of Kinston and I needed a flat course to help boost my confidence.  I was in!

Garrett and I got on the road in the early afternoon in hopes of beating some of the traffic so that we could make an early dinner in Raleigh with Michelle, Thomas, and (surprise) Meagan!  We made it to Raleigh in time to enjoy about 10 different 8-piece sushi rolls split between basically four adults.  Somehow we spent over $150 on sushi and, more importantly, consumed 95% of it.  It's always a special treat to catch up with Meagan and Michelle and I couldn't help but keep thinking of what they looked like in red wigs (flashback to my bachelorette weekend in Raleigh).   After a couple of laughs and a couple of glasses of wine for Meagan, Garrett and I got on the road again.  We arrived at Garrett's parent's house and I basically went directly to bed.

Flash forward to race morning, where Ann and Scott drove me to the race in Kinston in time for a nice warmup.  Immediately, I surveyed my competition.  First, I saw Kris Vegh get out of her car and was both happy and dismayed at the sight of her because I like her very much as a person, but I also knew that she'd beaten me at the USA Half Champs.  I immediately went up to her and asked if we could warmup together, where I discovered that she had just run a 1:16 at Shamrock half six days prior and that she had basically the same race plan as me -- that is, to go out conservatively in 5:40 and gradually get faster.  She also told me that a Kenyan was there and I immediately recognized her name, Divina Jepkogei.  I felt certain that she had beaten me, albeit by very small margins, in past races, and immediately resolved to beat her.  

I finally toed the line next to Kris, and the director yelled "Go!" and we were off on the perfectly flat course.  I settled into a nice rhythm in the middle of Kri and Divina.  We were running three abreast on the wide street, and I just relaxed next to them.  My Garmin had our lap pace as 5:40, so I felt very good about our start.  Then, of course, we came through the course marker in 5:33.  The next mile, we turned down the main street of Kinston, and the three of us were still running side by side.  After I saw the 2 mile split of 5:56, I told myself that I didn't come here to tempo, and immediately began to push the pace.  Kris and Divina stayed with me through about 2.5 miles We rounded a left turn through a neighborhood, and I put on another surge through the turn.  I couldn't help but think that all the practice for a proper u-turn technique for the Olympic Trials Marathon course finally was coming in handy!  I could sense that Divina was falling slightly off and kept going. After that dismal 2 mile split, I stopped looking at my watch.  I did listen for my 4 mile split - 22:27 - which was a 4 miler PR.  I still had no idea if I was going to break 28:00 and honestly, after the 2 mile split, I thought there was no chance.  By the final mile, I could tell that no one was within reaching distance to me unless they unleashed a killer kick, so I tried to use my own motivation to keep me powering through.  There weren't any men within distance that I could use as bait, so I just pushed hard.  Right before the finish, I passed Mother Earth Brewery, and silently thanked them for providing beer for my wedding.  I crossed the finish line in 27:45, with a 24 second PR and earning $500.  

Considering that I've reduced my mileage by about 25%, I am absolutely thrilled that I was able to PR in basically my first real race back since the Army Ten Miler.  For the first time in over 9 months, I felt hungry for competition and enjoyed fighting for a top place.  I'm also very pleased with the faster splits in the last half of the race.  I basically ran some of the fastest mile splits I've seen in a race in a couple of years.  Now I really want to jump into a 5k so that I can break 17:00!!!

Finally - my Garmin splits were a bit more accurate than my manual splits...They were 5:40, 5:42, 5:32, 5:18, 5:16  - which shows a nice progression.

Week in Review

60 Miles
12 Mile Long Run
8k Race in 29:32
7 runs
1 Lift session
1 Deep Stretch Class
1 Mobility Class

I hadn't planned on racing the CRC 8k, but after the gun went off and my legs felt good, I decided to.  I had contemplated running with Anna and holding hands as we crossed the finish line, but my competitive spirit got the best of me and I decided to take advantage of this situation to test my fitness.  I went through the first mile with Ben Hovis' high school star, Emma, on my right shoulder.  We came through in a relaxed 6:01.  I didn't want to run over 30:00 for this race, so I set my sights on the guys in the club that I normally beat and tried to catch them.  Mile 2: 5:57.  By the 2.5 mile marker, I had caught Matt Rich and John Fillette.  Up until that point, I had several men to set as targets to reach, but after that, it was somewhat lonely.  There was a pack of guys about 200m in front of me, so I kept driving my pace to pass them.  Mile 3:  5:54, Mile 4: 5:55.  I passed all the people who were within a reasonable distance of me and continued to pass more in the last mile.  I felt relaxed until the fifth mile and began to feel fatigued before crossing the finish line in 29:32.

While I would have liked this effort to feel a little bit easier than it actually did, I am quite happy with where my fitness stands right now.  Over the past three months, I've averaged under 40 miles a week and haven't done any real workouts.  This race effort only puts me 83 seconds from my 8k PR, which I hope to break this year.

Additionally, I was able to hit 60 miles and still put in a decent race effort.  I plan to stick between 60-70 miles for the next couple of months so that I can stay healthy and avoid overtraining.  I may perhaps do a Fall marathon, but we'll see how this spring training segment goes before making any decisions.

Army Ten Miler Race Recap

Goal:
10 Mile Race in sub-59:00

Actual:
2 mile warmup?
10 Mile race in 1:00:26 w/ splits of 5:43, 5:51, 5:49, 6:00, 6:05, 6:08, 6:12, 6:11, 6:14, 6:09
18th female
1 mile cool down

In 2011, Meagan and I used this race as a sendoff party for her move from Charlotte to Boston.  She felt out of shape and I felt fit.  The tables turned this year, however, in the attitudes going into the race.  Last year, my training had been going well and I was confident I could break 59:00. On the flip side, Meagan, as she outlines in her recap, felt unfit and unprepared to break 60:00.  This year, I felt unprepared and I knew Meagan was going to have a huge PR based on her training (which she did!).  Why didn't I feel ready for this race?  Well, my iron took a plummet in late August, and I spent most of September focused on staying positive while struggling through most workouts.  This took every ounce of mental energy and focus to stay positive, so when I say that I wasn't ready for this race, I mean it from a mental perspective.

Fortunately, on Monday this week, I was greeted with the good news that my iron supplementation program had worked its magic, and that my iron had reached one of the highest levels I've ever seen.  That information alone was a huge positive influence on my mindset going into the Army Ten Miler.  At least I knew that my breathing wouldn't be an issue.  So, that being said, I set my sights on breaking 59:00, in a similar time as to what Meagan ran last year. I kept looking at Cherry Blossom 2012 as my motivation because I surprised myself to run a 58:38 when I thought I wasn't in shape.

After a seven hour drive on Thursday, Garrett and I had two whole days in the district to enjoy with Garrett's sister Elyse, who lives in Cleveland Park and works at Georgetown as a nurse.  Having Elyse as our host not only made it much more fun, but it also greatly reduced the expensive nature of the trip. We picked up packets at the Expo on Friday, browsed one of the Smithosonian museums on the mall, and slept for 11 hours on Friday night.  On Saturday, we enjoyed the beautiful fall weather by eating outside at Open City with Meagan and Jilane and taking a stroll around the zoo, where I saw several of Cicero's long lost cousins like Tiger, Lion, Lioness, Cougar, and Cheetah.  By the time dinner came around, I was ready for the race to be there.

This year, we wanted to avoid the metro as much as possible since we almost missed the start of the race last year.  So, Garrett and I listened to George Banker's instructions for the elites, and parked in the Hayes Street Pentagon parking lot with a volunteer pass.  Somehow, Garrett and I managed to make it there without a hitch--since some of the roads were closed, we had to map out a different route in a city we don't know.  It worked.  Shortly thereafter, Meagan got dropped off and we hung out in the car, while I insisted that we take pictures to document the trip.

Soon it was time for us to make our way through the masses of people and through the baggage check. Garrett wasn't allowed through since he didn't have a race bib and I hope that we would find him eventually.  Meagan and I began our warmup together and discussed a brief race plan, which was to go out in 5:45-5:50 and then for me to try to maintain that while Meagan probably picked it up.  Right when we finished cooling down, Garrett found us as he was exiting a porta-john, so Meagan and I dropped our pants and gave it to him to carry until the finish.  I did some hip swings, and immediately felt my hamstring pull with tightness as soon as my leg reached hip level.  Not good.  I tried to disregard the feeling and headed to the start.

Once the cannon went off, Meagan shot forward like a bat out of hell and I was left in the dust, wondering how fast we really were going.  I kept myself a safe distance from Meagan, maybe ten to twenty meters back, hoping that what my body was telling me--that we were way too fast--was right.  While she thought that I was starting conservatively, I was thinking, "damn, she's going out for a 5k."  Sure enough, I almost couldn't see Meagan when she came through the 1 mile mark, and I came through entirely too fast as well in 5:43.  Mistake #1

Through the next two miles, I was doing great.  I relaxed into a steady cadence of 5:50 for miles 2/3, and then missed the 4th miler marker, but came through 5 miles in 29:30, which meant that I had slowed down considerably. I told myself that if I just maintained 6:00 pace, I would still break 60, which would still be very respectable given all that's been going on.  I felt pretty optimistic at that point.  Then, things changed.  My leg didn't want to cooperate and I felt the tightness seize the left side of my leg in a way that prevented me to get the leg lift I needed.  The last 5 miles were a very slow, painful death for me.  Every time I passed a race clock, the seconds crept closer and closer to being above my goal pace.  I was hitting over 6:10s.  Dozens of men passed me; eight women passed me.  it was demoralizing.  I couldn't help but think that my last 10k at Twin Cities Marathon was faster than this.  I questioned:  What has happened to me?  Am I the same runner that I was 2 years ago?  Where is my confidence?  Clearly, not in this race.  I fought every urge within my body to drop out.  A part of me wanted to see the (in)famous Grim Reaper as we made it onto the interstate ramp, so I kept going. I even encouraged one guy that had helped me a lot and finally made it to the finish, not out of breath at all.  Good, at least I knew it wasn't an aerobic thing.  I looked for Meagan and hoped that at least she made up for my lackluster performance, which she did, setting a HUGE pr and placing 6th overall.

What I love about this blog is that it allows me to reflect on my running, both in training and racing.  To be clear, I'm not totally injured.  I can still run.  My leg is like 95% healthy, but I need to be 100% healthy to be race ready.  My butt doesn't have enough strength, okay.  But in the end, I think that 95% of my race result today stemmed from my mentality. Having low iron always wears me out physically, but even more so mentally. It's a game against yourself, believing that you are still in great shape even though your workouts would indicate otherwise.  Over the past couple of months, instead of practicing positive self-talk, I have been practicing negative self-talk.  My mind isn't in race shape, and that's the bulk of the issue.  The other slim issue is getting my hamstring back up, but I don't think that is where my attention should be focused right now.  It should be focused on getting back into the mindset where I am fired up to race and where I believe that my training has been quality.

Greek Fest 5k

Goal:
5k race in 17:00 or under

Actual:
3 mile warmup
5k race in 17:21, 5:26, 5:38, 5:37, :38
6 mile cool down

Last time I ran this race--in August 2009--I ran 17:18.  I was running 60-70 miles a week and I was also not really training for anything other than local races in Charlotte in an attempt to make a name for the CRC.  Now, three years later, with 100 miles under my belt, I am not a stronger 5k runner.  I'm a stronger marathoner (or so I hope).  For some people perhaps running 100 miles per week would be that secrete ingredient to achieving a new road 5k PR.  But for someone like me, it just makes me tired.

It didn't help much that my hamstring had been exceptionally tight the entire week leading up to the race.  In fact, I wasn't even sure if I was going to toe the line and suggested to the generous Dr. Greenapple that perhaps he should provide the comped entry to someone else.  And I will admit, that a small part of me--no actually a large part of me--didn't want to back out because I didn't want some people--Aaron Linz--to say that I had backed out because I was scared of Dalena beating me.  I could include Alana in that list, but she's already beaten me; been there, done that.

So, I figured my hamstring would be just fine for a 5k, and woke up Saturday morning to meet the Wilmore Express, plus some foreigners like Dalena, Michelle and Thomas, for a nice warmup to the race.  When I toed the line, I was tired.  My legs were heavy.  My mind was exhausted.  I was spent before the gun even went off.  I put out a good race effort...in fact everything that I had.  Even if that meant I ran close to a 5:38 for that second mile as I watched all my training partners--Caleb, Brad, Phil, Chiquita Charlie--pull away from me. I even positioned myself perfectly...Kept myself a comfortable distance from Alana until the 1200m mark, where I pulled up alongside of her, close enough to wake her up and make her go faster.  Then Spada pulled up alongside me and it would be the Spada show the rest of the race.  I could feel Dalena on my left shoulder, and I knew she was executing the race strategy Aaron had told her (and me):  "Caitlin is running 95 miles this week Dalena, so stay on her shoulder, make her do all the work, and then kick past her in the final 800 meters."  Dalena did exactly that, and in doing so, achieved a huge PR, and when she did pass me, she said "Come on Caitlin!"  And it wasn't all huffy-puffy, like she was dying.  It was really energetic and sincere, like a friend would do.  That's what I love about Dalena...she's a fierce competitor and has no idea what she is capable of achieving in the realm of running.  Watch out 2016 Trials, she might be there!  Anyways, I'll tell you, I tried to go with her, but I sure as hell couldn't. My legs didn't react, like, at all. Oh and I even stuck my tongue out, as if that would help me go faster (see picture below).  It didn't.

Sticking the tongue out doesn't equal a great kick.
Photo Courtesy of Sandy McKeon

So I finished my second Charlotte race of the year in a 17:21, almost 7 seconds behind Dalena and 25 seconds behind all the guys I train with.  Instead of walking away with my head down, I actually felt pretty good about the whole thing.  What did I learn?  Running a 5k in the middle of the build-up phase to marathon training is definitely not easy for me. You have to be someone special like Pezz or Meagan Nedlo to be able to master that whole thing.  Additionally, it helped me think about what my plans are for 2013.  I figured that out pretty quick--train specifically for the 5k to run in the 16:40s.  I want to lower my mileage to 70-75 and focus on developing my speed.  Heck, as I cooled down with fifteen members of the CRC, I even thought it would be cool to travel to Stanford to run in one of their 7 heats of the 5k next spring just for fun (and for a PR, of course). This 5k was the fuel I needed to recognize what my goals are after the Philadelphia half.

Beat the Heat Race Recap

Goal:
Break 17:00

Actual:
5 miles in the morning

5k warmup
5k Race in 17:04 (5:20, 5:43, 5:30, :30)
4 mile cool down for 15 miles total for the day

So I haven't done a real 5k since this race last year, unless you count the Moe's Burrito Dash I did back in April that featured a brief pause to scarf down a burrito.  Since I don't actually count that as a real 5k, I had no idea of where my 5k fitness stood prior to this race, but I figured I may as well just go all in with my goal and try to break 17:00.  I had grandiose plans to work together with Eric and Caleb to race in a way where we ran as even as possible...so like at 5:25-5:27 for the first mile, at 5:30 for the second, and like 5:25 for the third.  Yeah, that didn't happen, but somehow we still had fun.

After a solid warmup of the course, Caleb, Eric, Pezz, Alana, Danielle, Heather and my former teammate Marley, and I all toed the line in a clump behind the elite men.  My plan was to keep Alana in sight for the first mile to gauge our pace.  The gun went off, and we were out!  Caleb kept the pace honest in the first mile, and we were a comfortable distance from Alana in the first half mile.  By the time we passed the mile mark, we had caught Alana, and were all in a tight pack.  I tried not to panic that we had gone out way too fast and ignored the fact that I was breathing very heavy.  Somewhere around 1.5, we passed Alana and Mark yelled "Go with Caitlin!"  Caleb lead the way as Eric and I faltered a bit, but somehow stayed close behind Caleb.  By the second mile mark, Alana had pulled right back alongside us, and it was a definitely a battle.  As the boys pulled slightly away, Alana and I were left to our own battle against each other.  It actually helped me out a ton as my legs were dead from the humidity and didn't really want to keep pushing.  We helped each other out, and with 800m to go, somehow I had pulled slightly away from Alana again.  Then the 3 mile mark appeared, and Alana was alongside me again.  This is where the race really started to get exciting as I tried to kick and as Alana decidedly kicked better than me.  She edged me out by a second or two, and I crossed the finish line with spaghetti legs.

Overall, I'm really pleased with my race here because for the third year in a row, I'm within seconds of the same time:  2010 - 17:01, 2011 - 17:03, 2012 - 17:04.  I haven't focused on 5k speed whatsoever in my training this year, so it was nice to see that my build up to marathon training has proven to be effective in the shorter distances as well.  I also am motivated to try to break 17 on the roads again by racing the Greek Fest 5k, where Alana and I can work together again to get a PR.  It was exceptionally nice to have so many friends to race against and to push me when the weather conditions were by far the worst they've ever been at this race.  Looking forward to August!