Throwback Thursday: Strut for Strays

The Strut for Strays was held on July 11, 2015 in Battle Creek, Michigan where I just so happened to be visiting my in-laws. Mallory and I ran this race with her mother who had just completed the couch to 5k program and was ready to give racing a go. This race was $25 and each entry raised enough to treat 3 dogs to heart worm medication, which is a great cause.

As previously mentioned, Michigan is a pretty place to run and this was almost literally my first view of the area. I had arrived the night before at around 11pm, gotten a ride to Mallory's aunt's house and hopped into bed around 1am. Other than the two minute car ride to the start, I hadn't seen much of Battle Creek. It's very green and there are deer walking around the neighborhood in places. It's shady and temperatures are cool enough. Overall not a bad place to run.

This is a small race, so shirt and bib pick-up was just before the start. This was the first year with chip timing, although the mat was at the finish line only. Course is an out and back: down one road, around the corner, turn around and come back, run through a winding farm maze type area over hay, dirt and leaves, up a little hill and finish. There are very gentle hills along the course, but not bad at all.

Me, Vangie and Mallory pre-race

I sized up my competition at the start, because I'm an a-hole like that, who likes to pretend she's hardcore when she's not, and decided I would not be winning anything at that race. It seemed some members of the high school track team were there and I had heard there were no age group awards, only top three male and female. I did not anticipate beating any 16-year-old track star, so decided to just enjoy the experience and see if I could beat last week's time on a flatter course.

From the start, only 4 or 5 females were in front of me and they were booking it. I normally do the same and to a certain extent I ran a little faster than I should have at the beginning, but I decided I wasn't gonna fight too hard and kill myself to keep up. But... within the first mile, one by one the competition started to flail and I was still full of energy. By mile one I was the second female overall and had my eye on the leader maybe 20 feet or so ahead. Not a high school track star in sight. I finished mile one with a 7:11 pace and still felt strong. I was wondering if I might be capable of maintaining it. I was not, in case you're wondering, but neither was the lead. I kept gaining on her and by the turn-around, I was just a few steps behind.

I decided I would just stay on her tail, save my energy and kick it at the end. Mallory and I crossed paths and I gave her the sign I was feeling good and thinking I could win this thing. A couple of minutes later, I could tell my competition was struggling and I wasn't feeling amazing, but I was good enough to keep up the speed and didn't need to pace off her, so I went for first. It felt both good and bad at once. I was sad to take it from her, although I didn't know her, and happy to have it all at once. At one point she passed me down a little hill, but I kept my pace and took first back. I secretly hoped we could fight for it the rest of the way just for the drama and competition of it. This has NEVER before happened and being an out and back course made it more exciting. Mallory's mom saw me and people yelled out "first female" as I passed. It was pretty cool.

I didn't want to keep an eye over my shoulder, but also didn't want to lose the opportunity to be first for the very first time, so I kept pushing as hard as I could. When I found myself in the maze area before the finish, I hit 3.1, but the race just kept on going. And going. And going. Did I go the wrong way? I did not. I ran up the grassy hill and through the finish. It was not 3.1 and it was no where near a PR, but I had won! I came in at 25:10. Two minutes slower than the 5k I ran a week earlier.

All of us post-race and happy

The prizes weren't bad either. I got a medal, a water bottle and a free one hour massage from A Moment Away (which I cashed in the very next day). This is my first ever trophy, aside from the second-grade when I got one for reading the most books during the school year. It was an exciting day.

Mallory's mom finished in 35 and change, which is an amazing first 5k time!

Race bling

Throwback Thursday: Independence Day 5k, Plymouth, MA

Mallory, Tiasia and I ran the Independence Day 5k on July 4, 2015. This was the second time participating for Mallory and me and a first chip-timed 5k for Tiasia who has only been running since graduating from high school in the middle of June, so go on with your bad self Tia. (Side note: She ran 2 5k's with our local running store before this, so she has been working really hard, which is so great!)

Mallory, Me and Tiasia before the race

As the title would suggest, this race is held in Plymouth, Massachusetts and ends at the site of Plymouth Rock. It begins an hour before the Fourth of July parade along the same route, so it is very festive and has a few spectators. It’s all very patriotic. 

My Fenix 3 got patriotic as well, of course. I LOVE THIS WATCH!

This year we were given very cute cotton singlets with the race logo across the front. The fit is appropriate for my size, which I always appreciate. This race is chip-timed and bib pick-up is on the day before or morning of the race. Race begins at 8am, which is nice as many 5k’s tend to start later in the morning and being July, it’s a little hot for that. Also, this is a point to point, which I don’t think I have done anywhere else for a 5k. Participants take a shuttle from Plymouth high school to help avoid being stuck in the parade insanity after the race. 

Love the shirt!

Now, for my own disclosures, I HATE 5ks! Running as fast as I can for 3.1 miles is painful, exhausting, excruciating, and pure awful. Also, I hate racing in the summer, also far from comfortable. If running only involved summer 5k’s, this would be a very different blog.That being said, I was obviously dreading this race and kept asking myself why in the world I would sign myself up for this torture. Also, having run it before, I knew the course is a little hilly and doesn’t provide a ton of shade. I had been so uncomfortable when I ran it in 2013. But other than that, it’s a great 5k: well organized, cool shirts that fit, excited spectators, beautiful finish line and so on.

Plymouth Rock

I decided to pace myself off my Garmin prediction again, which at the time was 23:10 for a 5k. I did not run an all-out-pukey-pace that I could not maintain, but did my best to stay on goal, even in the first mile where I normally don’t pace at all in a 5k and make myself sick. This was a good strategy. I came in at exactly 23:10, feeling a little gross and spent, but able to recover in literally seconds. I had run a mile to warm up and ran another mile to cool down to meet my mileage per my training plan. It had been a cooler day than when I ran it in 2013 and I improved my time on that course by 1:40 and improved my overall 5k time by 10 seconds. That’s not much, but given the hills and summer factor, I feel pretty good about it. I plan to smash this time again in the fall or winter.

The most exciting part was that I placed for my age group! I got second place. This is my first time placing in a race of that size. However, want to know something annoying? The woman who came in first beat me by a single second!!! ONE SECOND!!!! I don’t know who she was and don’t recall seeing her on the course, so it’s not like I watched her cross the finish right in front of me, but one second? Really? I totally could have run 2 seconds faster for the win. Oh well. I got a medal and felt pretty great about placing at all. This is not something that happens to me every day.

Placing makes suffering through a 5k a happy thing

As for Mallory, she got her best 5k time since her injury and Tiasia cut around 5 minutes off of her 5k time. It was a great day for everyone.

Marathon Training Week 6

Run Mileage: 41.15
Bike Mileage: 0
Yoga Classes: 1
Time Strength Training: 1:11:14
Swimming: 500 yards

This has been a dramatic week of training and learning.

First the lows: I will be writing a review for the Independence Day 5k I did before this training week, but between getting a PR at that 5k and running 6 miles of trails, followed by 11 miles on the street the next day, I totally KILLED my legs and wasn't ready to take on this past week of miles. I mean killed in a good way. Killed as in my lower limbs were so sore for days after that weekend. I could not do any of the paces I was supposed to hit. I physically was incapable. I was able to run but slowly. My legs felt like I was running in ankle weights through pudding. It was rough going. Everyday I attempted my assigned speed work and everyday I failed. I watched in terror as my V02 max and race predictions began to drop with each run.

I contacted my coach and asked for advice. Do I rest, do I lower my miles, lower my pace? What's the best way to take care of myself so I won't get hurt and will get faster.  He suggested I keep at it, don't lower the mileage and do what I can in terms of pace. So I did and struggled with every single run all the way through until Friday when I was finally feeling normal again and could do speed work as assigned. It was so depressing and frankly, also scary. I looked up burn out and worried I was wearing myself down and being counterproductive in my training. It was a real funk. My coach also suggested extra rest and looking into my nutrition. I got an hour extra sleep every night and ate about as well as ever, focusing on getting plenty of vegetarian protein.

Friday I had strides on the menu and I strode! My legs finally felt pretty normal again. Ah, the relief! The soreness and feeling of weight in my calves passed. My V02 max began to return to previous highs.

I should probably point out that at no point did I feel injured. I was just ridiculously sore. This was not rest time and although I had several workouts that sucked because I felt so slow and heavy, runs that made me doubt my potential, I was able to pull through it and it got better. I feel like I conquered that low. Am I stronger? Who knows? But I'm back to normal.

Which leads me to the highs of the weekend...

I went on a weekend vacation to see my awesome in-laws in Michigan. They are absolutely amazing and fantastic! Honestly, love them. On Saturday I ran a 5k with Mallory and her mom. It was her mom's first, having just completed the Couch to 5k program. And, she rocked it! She ran the whole thing. No walking and pretty decent time.

Basking in our post-run glory and shirts by the pool.

I also rocked it. Although I was way slower than my 5k the weekend before, guess who got first place female overall? Yes, I did. (More on that in the race recap.) Not only that, but I ran before the race and ran home after the race to get my full miles in.

But, I am most proud of myself for following through with my long run and strength training the following day while on vacation. I totally didn't want to, but I knew the pain of not doing it would be worse than the pain of going out early and getting it done. So, I ran 17 miles while on vacation and did a core workout. Michigan is really pretty and I enjoyed touring the town by foot even if I did not especially appreciate hitting the road for three hours while on vacation.

Example of the scene from my Michigan long run.

Another scene experienced during my 17 miles in Michigan.

I saw several deer during my run and this is one of them.

Today my legs are feeling perfectly back to normal and deserving of my scheduled two weeks of cut back miles! You deserve a break legs. Chill (a tiny little bit).

And also, I spent a bunch of time in the pool at Mallory's uncle's house. I practiced strengthening my swim, although it's still really tough and exhausting. However, if I keep up the trying, I'm gonna own the pond here by the end of summer!