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!
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