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!

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!

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!