Race Report: Leprechaun Chase 10k

PH and I post-race

Leprechaun Chase.  For the last several years, this event has been a big deal to me.  Because of this, I have trained hard and typically had a good day here.  Yesterday, this was not the case.

Although I have had a few hurdles during my current training cycle, I felt more of less ready a week from race day.  I told my husband that I was going to train hard at the beginning of the week and then taper off so I'd be ready for race day.  I did 9 miles last Saturday, took it easy Sunday, then REALLY hammered it on Monday and Tuesday to the tune of three-a-days and 90 minutes total of hard work on both days.  Wednesday I pulled another tough two-a-day.  After that workout, my legs felt like they were toast.  I was still hopeful at this point and took it very easy on Thursday and Friday.  (I even took an extremely cold 20 minute ice bath in hopes that it would speed my recovery.)  Still, I awoke Saturday morning to tired legs.  Part of me wanted to pull out of the race before it even started...and part of me wondered if a good time was possible even with my overtrained legs.

I spend my Saturday morning cleaning and caring for my boys.  Nutritionally, my day was near perfect.  Cereal, coffee, and water for breakfast, then a peanut butter bagel and yogurt with more water for lunch.  I was feeling okay.

But here's how the race went:

The start:
As was expected, the competition was insanely talented.  I saw all of the usual faces, and many whom I didn't know (some folk from Colorado had the made the trip...like I said, this race is a big deal).  But judging by the fact that they positioned themselves at the very front of the pack, I knew they'd be fast.  As the starting gun sounded, the top dogs all sprinted off.  I felt good for the first few minutes.

Miles 2-3:
I was still holding my own at this point.  While three of my teammates were in front of me, they were not that far in front (maybe 20ish seconds??).  This is a hilly course and though I should have been feeling okay during these early miles, I could already feel every hill.  Not that I mentally gave up this early, but I knew that I was in trouble.  I glanced down at my watch at mile 3...20:25.  Okay, not GREAT by any means, but if I even split I could still run a 41 and some change.

Miles 4-finish:
Oh my.  Oh my.  I have not felt this terrible during a race in forever.  (Isn't it weird how you can feel so good when you're running fast and horrible when you're running slow?)  I debated dropping from the race around mile 4 so I wouldn't have to face the music of this race.  I was definitely seeing the writing on the wall.  The last mile offers a decent downhill, and I was trying my hardest to use this, but was coming up empty.  As I passed mile 6 (with .2 to go), I glanced down at my watch...upper 42.  Geez.  This was way worse than I thought.
...

The after party was fun.  I really enjoyed being with my husband and friends and celebrating their successes.  I have always said that you need bad races to appreciate the good ones.  And you really DO.  But this was four minutes slower than last year.  FOUR MINUTES.  So now I'm dealing with some self doubt.  Is this it? Am I done? Picking yourself up from a defeat can be a tough feat.  But I feel very driven to do great things in the running world... which looks to be part of my problem.  I have not been respecting my body by giving it the rest it needs to recover from tough efforts.  I am 31 now.  I have had two babies.  I'm working and have my family to care for.  As much as I'd like to be able to hammer the way I did in my 20's, those days are over.

I'm gonna try some new things with my training.  Wish me luck!

Race Report: Seward Optimist Club Freedom Run 10k

Emilie, Jessica, and I post-race

My husband and I have been participating in the Seward Optimist Freedom Run since we moved here three years ago.  However, while my husband always picks the 10k, I had chose the two mile race the last two years.  It always seems to me that the "real competitors" pick the longer race and I usually have a better shot at a good place if I chose the shorter race...plus I believe that I am stronger at shorter races. However, with the goal of racing some long stuff later in the summer and early fall (half-ironman and full marathon), it is more beneficial to my fitness to race the 10k.

The fourth of July is such a fun holiday...especially in Seward.  There are tons of fun activities (c'mon...whose town can boast an actual pole vault competition?! OR bed races??) and LOTS of yummy food.  In fact, our town grows by several thousand people on our nation's patriotic day.  In addition to everything going on in our town, my sister and friend Jessica spent the night before the race and we had plans at another friend's house that afternoon.  So, getting down to business and actually racing the 10k seemed like a difficult job.  We spent so much time laughing and messing around when we got to the race that it seemed like it might be a day of simply jogging it out.

We woke up to an absolutely gorgeous morning.  Temps were in the 60's (unthinkable for July) and the wind was minimal.  Since the race was so close to our home, we didn't leave our house until 6:15am, with the race slated to begin at 7.  We got lined up about 5 minutes to race start and toed the line at 6:59am.  When the gun went off, we all darted out.  I had decided to bring my music for this race as a 10k can seem pretty long on an out and back course in the country.  I do not wear headphones, but simply let my music play from my iphone...it is really important to me that I am aware of my surroundings.  (Plus, it's a little annoying when someone is trying to cheer and they don't notice at all because their music is so loud.)

Other than two big hills, the course wasn't too difficult.  This particular race was marked by kilometers instead of miles, which was a nice change.  I felt really good the entire race and felt like I ran an even pace.  I crossed the line in second place (to a runner from New Jersey) and my time was 40:49.  They awarded the first place finisher with $100, and I received $50.  Since we had a little extra cash money,  Jessica, Emilie, Philip, and I went to our church's pancake breakfast afterwards and then walked around the town.

Great race, great day.  While it's always a good day to be a runner, it is especially great to wake up on our nation's big day with a run.

Happy Running!

Complete race results can be found here: http://www.onlineraceresults.com/event/view_event.php?event_id=13592

Race Report: CorNfield CorNfield 10k

Alyssa and I pre-race...beautiful day and great atmosphere!

On June 28, I competed in the first annual CorNfield CorNfield 10k in Papillion, which is part of the BRIN Running Series.  As Anders had his surgery on Wednesday, I once again did not run for the three days prior to this past Saturday's  event.  I tried my best to get some quality work in at the beginning of the week, but it's still a little tough trying to race with that much rest beforehand.

I checked the forecast the night before, and saw that there was once again a good possibility that it would rain during the race.  (Would this be the third time I've raced in rain this year??)  Philip told me that as long as the rain held off, he wanted to come cheer with the boys.  Luckily, when I woke up and checked again, it looked like it was going to stay clear!

We left our house at 5:30am and headed to Lincoln to pick up Alyssa...it was a full load with two kiddos and three adults!  This would be Alyssa's first time racing a 10k and her first race after qualifying for Boston in her spring marathon.  Since this was an inaugural event, neither of us knew what to expect from the race.

We got there over an hour before the race was slated to start, so had plenty of time to catch up with our Women Run Nebraska teammates and warm up.  Six of our teammates were running this event, which was really cool.  The 3k started at 8am with the 10k starting 5 minutes later.  We started the race inside Werner Park and then headed out for two loops around it.  I suspected that the course might be rather hilly based on its location, but holy cow...it ended up being more so than I thought it would be!  I ran the majority of the race with one of my Columbus friends, Darrin, who told me that our first mile was in 5:54! (Probably shouldn't have went out THAT fast, but hey, maybe this means I'll get a new PR at the Lincoln Mile in a couple weeks!)  We looped back inside Werner Park for the final .2...my final time ended up being 41:17.  This was a little slower than I was expecting as I felt like I was working REALLY hard, but it makes sense when I thought about the hills.  Don't get my wrong here, I'm not complaining about the hills, I just don't train on them very much so I wasn't that well prepared.  Hills are definitely a part of racing...and honestly, it's really hard for me to switch gears when a course is completely flat.  Point being: I'd take a hilly course over a flat one.  (That being said, the course will be different next year, with LESS hills.)  I placed second female overall, which I was happy with.  Afterwards, I cheered on my WRN teammates and found my husband and boys.

I had so much fun after the race with my family and friends...Werner Park was such a fun atmosphere for this race!  They served yummy corn and watermelon post race, which was a cool touch for a summer event.  We did not have to wait long for the awards and found out that all six WRN ladies placed!  I would definitely run this race again and look forward to the next event in the BRIN Running Series, the Harvest Moon Hustle.  Registration opens on July 1st, and beings CorNfield sold out, I'd register early to secure your spot.  Information regarding HMH can be found here: http://www.bornandracedne.com/

Full results from CorNfield CorNfield can be found here: http://www.onlineraceresults.com/race/view_race.php?race_id=40568#racetop

Next up: Seward Optimist 10k...my LAST 10k before I get to switch gears to TRIATHLON!!

Happy Running! :)

Race Report: Havelock 10k

No race picture because of the rain, but found this little guy during a training run!

I competed in the Havelock Run 10k this past Saturday.  I have run this race several times and have always had a fun time.  One of the reasons is that the event includes a team competition, scored like they would in cross country (averaging the top 4 times, fastest average wins).  I was slated to be on a mixed team, so in this case, the top two ladies and top two men score.  After our son Anders was hospitalized on Tuesday, I wasn't sure that I would even be able to run on Saturday.  However, he was released on Friday and after literally not having left the hospital for three days, racing sounded like the perfect plan.

Because of the unexpected stay at the hospital, I did not run at all after Tuesday morning.  With extra rest, I was feeling pretty good Saturday morning when my alarm went off a little after 5am.  Upon checking the weather, I saw that there was a 100% chance of rain.  (It was coming down pretty hard as I pulled out of my driveway and did not abate until maybe an hour after the race.)

My teammates and I hunkered down in our vehicles until about 10 minutes to race start.  At this point, we just accepted that we were going to be soaked regardless.  It was a little cool (64 degrees) standing around, but once we started running, it felt great.  I once again did not start my watch and was just planning on racing by how my body felt.  A little over a mile in, we turned off of Havelock street onto 84th and had to cross through a HUGE puddle/stream because of all the rain.  (I didn't know this was going to be a Steeplechase!)  As I pushed up the first big hill on 84th, I for some reason had it in my head that there was lots of women in front of me and that I wasn't racing well.  I found myself justifying this in the early miles... my baby was in the hospital all week...I barely ran this week...I haven't slept much in several days...who cares if I don't well today, no one will judge me...the rain is making it hard to race...this is a hilly course...etc.  I was totally on top of thinking up every reason in the world to have a bad race.  However, things started to turn around for me once I hit the 5k mark.  Only 3 miles left.  Only 20 minutes to go.

Part of the course (mile 4-mile 5) is looped through Mahoney.  As I entered the park, I saw that Mike Morgan, a NE Wesleyan alum who has went on to have an amazing career with Hanson-Brooks in Michigan, was leading the charge. (Why was he back???)  He was followed by a few guys I knew, but many I did not.  Where are all these fast guys coming from?!  Anyway,  it was around this point that I realized I wasn't doing as poorly as I thought.  As we ran back, I counted only 5 women...two of which were literally right in front of me.  We finished out the race together and I ended up placing 4th with a time of 41:04.  I really needed to get back to my family as soon as possible, so I did not stay for awards, but heard that my team placed 2nd in the mixed division.

Next up is CorNfieldCorNfield on June 28th, which is part of the BRIN Running Series.  If you were thinking about registering for this race, do it SOON as I believe it will be closing.  Check it out here: http://www.bornandracedne.com/

Happy running and racing!

Complete results to the Havelock 10k can be found here: http://www.onlineraceresults.com/event/view_event.php?event_id=13341

Race Report: Leprechaun Chase 10K Iowa

On Saturday, March 15 I competed in the Leprechaun Chase in Des Moines.  It is the same concept as last week's race...girls get a 5 and a half minute head start to when the men begin to compete for the title.  The race was slated to start at 10am, so Jenny, Nate, and I headed to Iowa on Friday evening.  We arrived at our hotel around 9pm, got our gear organized, and had lots of fun laughing as Nate created an owl out of a paper sack (our mascot Bruce...or was is Bennie or something?).  After last week's very successful race, I wasn't feeling as confident or motivated for this week's race, so I wasn't really sure what the next day would bring for me race wise.

We got up around 7am, got breakfast, and headed to the race location at Principal Park downtown around 9am.  It was in the upper 30's, cloudy, and a tad on the windy side, so we hung out in the car after picking up our packets.  To me, it felt MUCH colder than the week before, but not terrible racing conditions.  About 15 minutes to race start, Jenny and I used to rest room one more time, stood at attention for the national anthem, and lined up for race start.  When the gun went off, we began our 6.2 mile journey.   We ran downtown for a bit, and then after the first mile, we looped back and could see the sea of green runners charging down the street.  Interestingly enough, there were already two guys quickly making their way towards the front of the group.  At this point, I didn't think there was a big enough gap that the lead female runner was going to make it to the finish line first.  Oh well.

We made our way onto a trail around Grey's Lake.  I have run out here several times competing in the Des Moines marathon and Market to Market Iowa...what a beautiful and scenic park.  The girl I was running with at that point told me that the swimming portion of the Hy-Vee Triathlon was also here.  Good to know as Philip and I have registered to compete in that tri this fall.  We made our way around the park and a bit after mile 4, the trail weaves back to head downtown to the finish.  Unfortunately, we ran straight into the wind for maybe a mile and a half.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about this...everyone running the race was in the exact situation as me.  The course was very flat compared to the one the previous week.  It's without being said that this provides an ideal situation in which a PR is very possible.  That being said, I think I'm much stronger with some variety...if there is a hill in front of me, I think about powering up the hill and driving my knees upward, then monitoring yourself when you run back down.  Here, with a flat course, there was really no reason to put in a surge.

I ended up finishing the race in 41:35 and placed 5th overall female (second in my age group).  Physically, I felt much better than the week before.  Last week's race took a lot out of me and I felt pretty tired for the next couple of days.  I majorly struggled though my 10 miler the day after Lep Chase NE, so hoping to feel better with this week's long run on Sunday.  I did not do my speed workouts the last two weeks because of my races, so hoping to get some good quality work done now that both 10k's are done.

 Jenny came in right behind me in 9th place.  She ran a full minute faster than her 10k last week and earned a new PR! :)  After Nate finished (also a PR for him!), we switched out some gear at the car and headed over to the post-race party.  The place where it was held was pretty full of people, so we hung out in the tent until the award ceremony began.  Afterwards, we made our way back to the car, stopped by Arby's, and headed back to Nebraska.  The 3 and a half hour drive went by quickly as we chatted about different races, our training, and our lives in general.

Overall, we enjoyed the race and had fun during our weekend away.  As always, I am incredibly thankful to my husband who took care of both boys while I was gone.  Without him, it would be impossible for me to go for my running goals.

A link to the complete results can be found here: http://www.pigmantri.com/jmsracing/results14/leprechaun_ia14c.pdf

Happy Running!

Race Report: Leprechaun Chase 10k

Let me start this out by saying that this race is a big deal to me.  For whatever reason, this is "the" race where I want to do well.  I have no idea why, but I have created an atmosphere of pressure and stress to surround this race. Last year, I had some overtraining issues, so when it came time for the actual race, I wasn't feeling 100%.  So this year, I very closely monitored my training.  I've been writing down my goal workouts, what I actually do, and how I feel afterwards to make sure that I didn't have the same situation occur.  What a hard balance it is to get better while being able to recover from hard efforts.

 The Leprechaun Chase is a unique race in which the girls have a 5 minute head start...the concept is that the guys will be chasing the girls and whichever gender finishes first wins a free glass of beer. This race starts at 4pm which is a difference from many races.  This basically gave me all day to worry.  Plus, you really have to think about nutrition...what to eat and when.  I had cereal for breakfast and a bagel with peanut butter for lunch.  I was feeling very good physically and my training the prior two months had went really well.  So, I shouldn't be worried, right?  Ugh, I wish.  Because of this, I thought if I didn't PR and place high, there was something wrong.  In addition, I scanned the list of registered entrants and the field was ridiculously talented this year.  It was going to be REALLY tough to crack the top 10.

After getting our kids settled with their babysitter, Philip and I headed to Ashland about two hours to race start.  We swung by and picked up our friend Jenny and hopped on the interstate for the quick drive to the SAC Museum.  (Cool venue, by the way.)  After arriving, we picked up our packets, settled in for a bit and did some stretching.  As always, it was hard to decide what to race in...I never want to be too hot or too cold.  Plus, since I run on the treadmill for the majority of my training runs, I don't have a very good ability to just look at the temp and know how many layers, etc. to put on.  It ended up being about 40 degrees, minimal wind, and sunshine.  Beautiful racing conditions.  I decided to wear a tank top, arm sleeves, and capris and felt good temperature-wise while I was running.

By the time we were getting lined up for the race, I was very jittery and nervous...but once the gun went off, I was able to calm down.  A big group of fast girls immediately darted out.  In my head, I was thinking, "Crap, am I even gonna make the top 20? Too early to call that, don't worry about that." I historically have an issue darting out with the top runners, hanging for a bit, then fading fast.  Today, I tried really hard to listen to MY body and run MY race.  I decided that I wasn't going to look at my watch at all...just going to run and respond to the course and what the race would dish out.  I felt pretty good the first three miles and when I hit that third mile post, it was hard to not look down at my watch and check out my pace.  I think there were some decent hills in the first half, but since I was feeling good I didn't really notice them.  However, on the back three miles, I really started to take note.  Luckily, we had some nice downhills to recover from the ups.  As I passed the mile six marker (.2 to go!) I glanced down at my watch...39:12!!!??!! What the heck??? I had no idea how close the next girl was to me, so I tried to power it in.  My final time ended up being 40:36, which is about a 2 minute PR for me.  I wasn't able to make top 10, but finished 12th overall and 2nd in my age group which I was happy with.  VERY tough field.

After finishing, I once again wanted to rip my lungs out.  (I really need to make more of an effort to get outside.)  I talked to some other runners who were in before me and congratulated my friends as they came in.  Many of my friends ran faster than the year before and Philip ended up running 6 minutes faster than last year! He practically dropped a whole minute per mile! (Can you tell I'm excited?!) The post race party was inside the museum, so we didn't have to sit around in the cold.  That being said, my sister alerted me that my lips had turned blue even though I had changed and was wearing about three layers. Huh?

Congratulations to everyone who ran and finished this race.  The 10k is a difficult distance and the hilly course added to the degree of difficulty.  And a big high five to Ben Cohoon who once again put on a stellar event.   Cheers and happy running!