Finally getting around to this race recap! It’s been a busy week.
I woke up last Saturday to another wet morning. 2014 has been full or rainy race days, but I’ve realized that’s actually not a bad thing. I parked and headed inside to grab my race packet. Then I retreated back to my car to stay dry and wait for Hyedi, her husband, and another friend to get there.
We hung out under the covered area of the building until it was time to head to the start line. I was feeling good and ready to run. I figured it had to go well given my bib number!
Thanks for the pic H!
After running a hilly half marathon the previous weekend, I knew I wasn’t going to be racing this 5K. Now, I’ve said that at the start of a race before and ended up going hard, but I actually stuck to my plan this time. My goal was to finish under 30 minutes, so I took off and worked on maintaining a comfortable pace. The rain let up a lot for most of the race, so it was actually really pleasant running weather. It started to pick up again near the end.
The course was nice and flat. You headed out from the VA clinic building and ran around the streets in a fairly residential area. The course looped around this area twice and then sent you back to the finish line at the VA clinic. I waved at my friends as I crossed the finish line. My official time was 29:27!
We stuck around for a bit after the race because two of my fast friends earned medals! While I did not get a medal, I was super happy to finish 28th out of 74 runners and 10th out of all the females.
Overall, it was a great race and so nice to support a good cause.
We made a stop at Egg & I for a post-race breakfast.
The rain and wind picked up a lot in the afternoon, so I’m glad we only had to deal with some light rain during the race. I spent the rest of the day relaxing, touring an apartment, and then heading to a BBQ with some grad school friends. So nice to catch up with all of them!
Tomorrow is the MN DAR Flag Day 5K! I’ve been excited for the race all week, but I haven’t been excited for the 60% chance of rain. I didn’t want to run in the rain for the second week in a row. Then it dawned on me that rain might be good luck for me. Two of my big PR’s for this year have happened during races where it was raining at the start line.
At Goldy’s Run 10 mile, rain came down right until the race got underway. I finished feeling cold and wet, but super happy with a new PR!
Then last weekend, Lola’s Half Marathon was delayed a half hour while rain and a storm rolled through and light rain continued for most of the race. Again, I finished feeling gross and wet, but super surprised to have a 3+ minute PR!
The ultimate goal for the 5K tomorrow is to have fun, not PR, but maybe I need to stop complaining about rainy race days. They appear to be good luck for me. 🙂
Do you like running in the rain? Do you have “good luck” running weather?
The day started out a bit shaky. I woke up a few minutes before my alarm was supposed to go off because I heard thunder. Not what you want on race day. Luckily that storm moved through fairly quickly and there was a break in the rain, but the forecast was showing a chance of showers all morning.
The race is local, but it was still a 45 minute drive. My sister, a friend, and I got to the race at 6:30 a.m. so we could pick up our bibs. Getting there early had the advantage of getting a good parking spot just a block from the start/finish area. We hung out in the car for a bit after getting our bibs and it’s a good thing we did because it started to rain (and thunder and lightning). We kept checking the Lola’s Facebook page for race updates and around 7:30 they officially delayed the race 30 minutes (new start time of 8:30).
I knew we might get rained on, so I came prepared with a garbage bag to keep me at least somewhat dry at the start line. Getting my garbage bag ready in the car helped us pass the time. I was apparently pretty entertaining. My sister took this pic before I got the arm holes added. 🙂
A little after 8, we headed up to the start. I lined up just behind the 9:55/mile (2:10) pacer. My A goal was to run 10 minute miles, but they didn’t have a specific 10 min/mile pacer (the next pacer was 10:18). I figured if I could hang out in between these two pacers I’d at least be on track to reach my B goal of a sub 2:14:45 half. (My C goal was just to finish. :))
The race got underway and I hung with the 9:55 pacer for the first few miles. After a couple miles, my legs were not warmed up yet and I noticed that the pacer was pretty far ahead of me. I was starting to think I’d never catch up, but several downhills actually helped me catch up again. Then around mile 4 the course leads you from roads to some grass/trail. Which I did not like. It might have been fine on a nice day, but with the rain it was muddy and slippery. I definitely lost some speed through that section and I completely lost the 9:55 pacer. I pretty much gave up hope of catching up to her again, and focused on doing my best to maintain a 10 min/mile pace on my own.
I felt good throughout the race, but OMG were there hills! I was not prepared for that. They weren’t small hills either, several were pretty long and pretty steep.
The majority of the course was around Lake Waconia. Well, technically it was around the lake, but unfortunately you couldn’t really see the lake very much. The course was on roads around the lake but lots of trees actually blocked the view. It was a grey, rainy day, so the lake wasn’t exceptionally beautiful but I was still expecting to see more of it.
Around mile 11 I felt really good about the fact that I only had 2 miles left. I also noticed that my legs didn’t feel as tired at that point as my first two half marathons — a definite improvement! Pretty soon, the finish area was in sight and I kicked it into high gear for the last .30 miles. I crossed the finish line, stopped my watch, and was shocked when it said 2:10: 41! I figured my official time would be a little higher, but I was way closer to my A goal than I thought I was going to be and no matter what it was a PR!
My official time was 2:11:02! So happy with my time and how well I did in reaching my goals even with the rocky race-day weather and hilly course.
We grabbed our food from the post-race party, hopped in the car, and headed home. When I was finally able to take my shoes off, this is what I found…
Dirty socks
A shower and nap felt so good that afternoon. The next week will be about rest and recovery. Next race on the docket is the MN DAR Flag Day 5k on June 14 (which there’s still time to register for!). Will probably be taking it easy for this race as I’m guessing my legs will still be recovering from all the hills!
Hey all! Just stopping by because I’m running a half marathon tomorrow! Unfortunately the weather is looking a bit dicey. There’s a 50-60% chance of rain through the early morning hours. Not sure what that’s going to mean for the race, so I’ll have to arrive prepared for anything.
I’ve been thinking about my goals for this–my third–half marathon. I came up with my A, B, and C goals:
A: Average 10 minute miles and finish in 2 hours and 11 minutes or faster.
B: Finish in under 2 hours 14 minutes and 45 seconds (my current PR)
C: Finish.
I feel like my training has prepared me to reach my A goal, but of course there are lots of things you can’t control/predict for race day. We’ll see what the weather is like and how my legs feel. In the end, that C goal is the important thing – to cross the finish line no matter how long it takes.
It’s June! And that means it’s officially summer in my book. 🙂
Every year, without fail, I start the summer with a mental list of things I want to do around the Twin Cities. And every year, without fail, I never get to do everything on my list. Well this year I’m writing typing the list down. I’m on a mission to cross off each item on my list, and I think by doing so it will lead to an amazing summer!
Eat on the rooftop patio at Amore Victoria. I want to get to a lot of rooftops and patios this summer, but I’ve been wanting to check out the rooftop at Amore Victoria for a long time, so I’m calling that one out.
Take a day trip to Stillwater. It’s a quaint small town in eastern Minnesota with some cute shops and restaurants near the river. Perfect place to spend an afternoon with some girlfriends.
Walk around the Sculpture Garden. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen the spoon and cherry in person, so I think a reunion is in order.
Go to a St. Paul Saints baseball game. This is their last season at their current ball field, so gotta get there one more time!
Spend a night at the drive-in. Maybe Vali-Hi Drive-in again, but any drive-in will do.
Buy some fruits, veggies, and other fun stuff at the Minneapolis and St. Paul Farmers Markets. Still can’t believe I haven’t made it to either of these yet, so we’ll change that this summer.
Eat something on a stick at the MN State Fair. Summer can’t come to an end without a trip to the state fair and eating some yummy fair food.
I feel pretty confident there will also be lots of running/walking around the lakes, eating ice cream and froyo, and sipping cocktails on patios. Here’s to a great summer checking things off my list and having lots of other fun adventures along the way!
The half marathon is almost here! Feeling pretty good about it. I’m hopeful that the weather will cooperate. I know several people who were supposed to run the Minneapolis Marathon races that got cancelled yesterday. I feel bad that they didn’t get to do their run, but you can’t control the weather – even though we wish we could sometimes.
Monday – 10.5 miles, 10:20 avg pace
I pushed my long run to Monday. I made sure to get up semi early so I could get my run in before it got too hot. Pretty good strategy as it was in the lower 70s and there was a little breeze, but it was still humid, hot, and sticky for the whole run. I did my usual routine stopping at my car for some water after each lap around the lake. After the first two laps, I was still feeling good, but I started carrying my water bottle with me anyway. Was kind of nice to be able to take a sip of cold water when I wanted it.
Given the heat and humidity, I felt like I kept up a pretty good pace. Hoping the morning of the half marathon is pleasant, but you never know!
Smiling even though I’m kind of a hot mess at this point.
Tuesday – 45 minute walk (2.73 miles)
I got home from work and seriously considered making this a rest day. I even ate dinner which I don’t normally do until after my workout. After relaxing for a little bit, I noticed that the sun was coming out after a rainy day so I put on my shoes for a quick walk that ended up being 45 minutes. A nice relaxing workout after Monday’s long run.
I spent some quality time with the foam roller when I got back home.
Wednesday – Rest Day
Thursday – 5.08 miles, 10:06 avg pace
It was pretty warm, but I made it through all 5 miles feeling good.
Friday – 30 minute elliptical workout
It was hot again after work, and I knew I was going to do a run the next morning, so I opted to stay inside and do something low impact. I cranked out a good workout and could feel it in my legs when I got done. Probably when
Saturday – 8 miles, 10:24 avg pace
I was heading to a wedding in Wisconsin later in the morning, so I got up early to get in my last long run before the half marathon next weekend. Given my limited time this weekend with traveling and wanting to give my legs a little bit of a break, I decided to keep this long run a bit shorter. Running early was nice because it wasn’t too hot yet. I started out really slow. My legs were definitely feeling the effects of that hard elliptical workout. My legs warmed up after a mile or two.
I got home and had a little over an hour to shower and finish packing. I threw on my compression socks since I was going to be sitting in the car for about 4 hours. It was a fun wedding and I got to see a few friends from college. We danced the night away celebrating the bride and groom, so I guess that could be considered my second workout of the day. 🙂
All dressed up!Sister selfie!
Sunday – Rest Day
Traveled back home and got ready for another week!
On A Fun Run 