by Jessica

Race Report: Cedars Frostbite Half Marathon – February 7, 2015

Once I decided to run the Tom King Half, I knew that the Cedars Frostbite would make for a perfect training half. It’s held exactly a month before, which is when I’d be putting in a 13 mile long run anyway. And it’s only $8. Heck yeah, I’ll pay $8 to get water stations and some free food after my long run! I just had to make sure not to run it too fast, especially considering that the Hot Chocolate 15k was the following weekend.

That, perhaps, is easier said than done considering I had been running most of my long runs too fast. I just had to keep repeating to myself, “You’re not allowed to look at your watch. Your time does not matter.”

I did want to use the race to test a new fueling strategy. For the Country Music Half, I fueled twice, around the top of each hour of running. I wanted to try fueling three times: every 30-45 minutes with the last two being caffeinated gels. The Cedars Frostbite has only three water stops (miles 3.5, 7, and 10), so it made choosing when to fuel fairly simple. See a water station coming up? Time to eat.

Race Day

The race wasn’t until 11am, so I got to wake up at a reasonable hour. The weather was amazing for February: mid-50s warming to lower 60s and sunny. I chose to run in shorts and a short-sleeved shirt.

There was no packet pickup ahead of time, so I was aiming to get there an hour or so early in order to be able to park, get my bib, and then use the restroom if I needed to. I plugged the address into Apple Maps and was off. Except Apple Maps still isn’t always very correct, as I turned around at a dead end. There was a car behind me doing the same thing, so I figured they were using the same GPS.

Then my GPS told me to turn down a gravel road. Nope. I kept going. I finally ended up in the right spot. When I finally parked, I asked the other car if they had been using Apple Maps. They said they had just been following me. Heh, sorry!

I walked down to the start and went inside to get my bib — I was #1! This, of course, called for a photo.

I’m #1!

I didn’t need to use the restroom, so I just stood inside to stay warm before heading out to the start line about 5-6 minutes till. I didn’t warm up because this was supposed to be a training run.

Mile 1: 10:06
Mile 2: 10:01
Mile 3: 10:27
I was very committed to keeping this like a training run. So I did not look at my watch, except to glance at the lapsed mileage so I would know approximately when to take my gels. I also took a walk break for 30 seconds to a minute at the start of each mile (unless I had just passed a water station).

I felt very weak and shaky at the start of the run. I felt like I was running through molasses. My form seemed off. This photo, taken around mile two, shows how unrelaxed I was. Need to lower those shoulders!

Mile 4: 10:20
Mile 5: 9:26
Mile 6: 10:16
I took my first gel, a strawberry one, shortly after the start of the fourth mile. We were soon upon the first water station, so I took a quick break there instead of at the beginning of mile five. Right after the water station, we headed up a gravel path for the next 3-4 miles.

Mile 7: 10:24
Mile 8: 9:38
Mile 9: 10:22
After we got off the gravel path, it was time for another gel and another water station. This time I took a lemonade one, which is caffeinated. It was yummy! Tasted just like lemonade. And when I reached the water station, the flavor in my mouth made the water taste like Gatorade.

Mile 10: 11:04
Mile 10 was my slowest because I took a longer walk break to down my last gel. It was a chocolate one and was thicker than the others, so it was harder to down it while running. It was tasty, though!

It was around this time that I did actually glance at my watch. I only had 5k to go, and realized with some surprise that if I kept my pace steady, I would actually finish in under 2:15.

Mile 11: 9:29
Mile 12: 10:27
Mile 13: 10:12
The last few miles were rough. I knew all I had to do was keep under an 11 min pace, but that felt like a monumental task at the end of a half marathon.

With about a half mile to go, I was passing another girl and we just kept yelling encouragements at each other as we neared the final hill. “We can do anything for three more minutes!”

Final 0.1 (0.14 to my Garmin): 1:17 (9:18 pace)
When I saw 2:13 on the clock as I was nearing the finish line, I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t have enough in me for a finishing sprint, so I just mostly maintained my pace through the finish. I immediately grabbed a water and walked to cool down a bit.

Official Time: 2:13:26

Ridiculous.

I did everything I could think of to keep this like a training run. I didn’t taper. No warm up. Didn’t look at my watch. Walked every mile. Plus the entire course felt uphill! And there were miles of gravel trail! Uphill gravel trail! With muddy potholes! What am I actually capable of running when I try to race a flat course?

Race Review

I actually enjoyed this race more than I thought I would. I normally like urban races with lots of crowd support. Maybe it was because I had the mindset of it being a training run, but it was actually quite peaceful being in the middle of nowhere.

Yes, the course is hilly. It feels like the downhills never make up for the uphills. And, yes, there are about three miles where it’s nothing but a narrow gravel trail and is covered in potholes, so you have to constantly weave to avoid them and other runners.

And there’s no medal. Which didn’t bother me at first, since I wasn’t planning to PR, never mind beat my goal for the year. Now I want one. Maybe I’ll consider my Beat the Blerch Virtual Race medal to be the one for this race. I didn’t even buy the t-shirt.

The food was okay: bagels, bananas, pizza, and cookies. I am not a Papa John’s fan, but even it tasted good after running 13 miles.

Race Analysis

I’m not quite sure what there is to analyze, since I never really felt like I was racing. I was stiff most of the race, due to cumulative fatigue from not tapering. Again, it just makes me wonder what I could do in optimal conditions.

12.11.14

by Jessica

Race Report: Hammer Down 10k – November 15, 2014

I was originally planning on running the Rockin’ Marathon Relay again this year, which was scheduled for this weekend. However, a month or so before the race, they cancelled it due to lack of participation. Thus, I scrambled to find another birthday weekend race.

It’s a popular weekend for races because of the cooler weather, but, ultimately, I chose the Hammer Down because the charity they were supporting was Our Kids, who provide counseling and medical evaluations for victims of child sexual abuse.

They also had an appealing downtown 10k option. After my disappointing 10k in September, I decided I would try again. I didn’t plan on racing as hard as I had planned to race that one, but I did want to attempt a PR at the very least.

Race Day

This race happened right as our first cold snap of the season came through. It had been in the 60s earlier in the week, but was below freezing the morning of the race. Brr! I bundled up with a half-zip, jacket, tights, and some fun birthday socks that I had bought for the race.

I got to the race fairly early so I could get a parking spot before they closed down the streets for the kids’ 1k race that started at 7am. It was freezing out, but they nicely had some portable heaters out so we could try to keep warm before the start. Tearing myself away from that heater to head to start line was the hardest thing ever.

Mile 1: 10:03
This wasn’t a big race, so there was a pretty small group at the start (only 129 finishers between both the 5k and 10k). Most of them were faster than me, so, of course, I started too fast. Meaning, I was running at an 8-9 min pace before a hill finally slowed me down to a more reasonable speed. Also, my car key fell out of my pocket right after the start of the race. (I had unzipped my pocket to put my hand in to keep warm and forgot to zip it back.) I heard someone say something about a key, but by the time I realized it was my key, I was like, “Eh, someone will pick it up and turn it in. I don’t want to stop running to look for it.” Yes, I am that trusting of people.

Mile 2: 10:41
I don’t remember anything remarkable about this mile. I just tried to maintain a steady, comfortable pace. I wasn’t pushing at all. We passed the first water station, so I took a quick walk break. My fingers, which had been frozen the entire first mile, started to thaw out towards the end of this mile.

Mile 3: 10:20
Another comfortable mile. The people at the second water station wished me a happy birthday. While I had been grumbling to myself the first two miles about not wearing gloves, by this mile I was happy that I hadn’t.

Mile 4: 10:05
Around the halfway point, I finally looked at my watch and started doing calculations in my head. Yep, I was probably going to PR. I decided to push a little to see what I could do. There was a guy who had been running about a quarter mile ahead of me the entire time. I made it my goal to catch up with him.

Mile 5: 9:48
I passed him on a hill at the start of the fifth mile. He said, “Wow, you’re just floating up the hill!” and I thanked him for making me run faster so I could catch him. I continued on and passed another guy.

Mile 6: 9:02
I decided to give my all on the last mile. I passed two more guys, and I was trying to catch up with a woman who was ahead of me (just in case she was in my age group), but she turned her speed on as well, so I never did.

Final 0.2 (0.22 to my Garmin): 1:48 (8:19 pace)
I had been so steadily increasing my speed over the last mile that my sprint in didn’t even really feel like a sprint. As I got near to the finish line, I was in complete shock to see the time posted was an hour and one minute. I really hadn’t been paying close attention to my watch at all. I gave one final push to get in before the minute clicked over to two.

Official Time: 1:01:49

I cannot believe that I ran a 10k that fast. It surpassed all goals that I had set out for my September 10k. I had no idea I could, and I definitely wasn’t really trying to starting out. I ran pretty much the whole thing, only taking four brief water station walk breaks to make sure I stayed hydrated, and I felt strong the entire time.

After crossing the finish line, I grabbed a water, some chocolate milk, and a banana. I ate my banana, then found some official looking ladies. I asked who I need to talk to if I had lost something. One of the ladies said she could handle it, so I told her about my car key. She went and asked around and came back with it! See, I knew someone would find it.

The guy who I passed after mile four came up to me to tell me good job. He said he tried to catch back up to me but couldn’t.

Post-race and beaming!

Race Review

This was the inaugural year for this race, and I think they did a good job! The course was well marked with lots of volunteers and well spaced-out water stations. There wasn’t a plethora of goodies at the end of the race, but that’s not something I expect of such a small race. The goodie bags had some nice things in them like Mary Kay hand cream and Chapstick. The shirt was a long-sleeved tech shirt, which was nice, but I don’t think they were gender-specific, as the small was enormous on me, unfortunately. I don’t see myself running in it.

There was a finish line video posted to the website, which I thought was cool, until I saw that it cut off 10 seconds before I crossed the finish line. What’s up with that?? They did announce your name as you crossed, which is always a nice bonus.

Photo posting has been a little slow. (I delayed this since I thought they were going to post them soon after, but it’s been nearly a month, and I haven’t seen any yet.) But they are free photos, so can’t complain too much.

The age groups were a little larger than normal, so I fell into the 25-34 group. So despite it being a pretty small race, I still finished 10th in my group. It was a speedy group! (Meanwhile, if I had run the 5k instead, I would have gotten the 3rd place age group award!)

Race Analysis

I was generally happy with what I chose to wear that morning. Yes, a pair of gloves would have been nice for the first two miles, but I didn’t need them after that. I may look into investing in a few pairs of cheap gloves I can toss in situations like this.

I need to remember to check my pockets and make sure they are sealed at the start line. (I clearly did not remember this in subsequent weeks when I lost both a glove and my keys again in two separate occasions from the same pocket. Maybe now I will.)

As for my performance, I couldn’t be happier! Check out these charts. This one shows the percentage of time I spent running at certain paces. Note that I spent over 40% of my time at 5k pace. This may mean I need to shift my pace zones down a bit, which means I’m getting faster!

I’m waiting for the day when something appears in the “I can’t run this fast!” zone.

This one shows my 5k splits. I ran the second half sub-30! My 5k PR is 29:14, and I was only 18 seconds off of that in the second half of a 10k, which is crazy. I also ran my fastest mile ever in 8:46.

This begs the question, should I actually try to race the Rudolph 5k in December or just wrap myself in Christmas lights and run it for fun? (Oops, I wrote this right after the race in November. We all know what happened with that now.)

10.27.14

by Jessica

Race Report: Halloween Hunt – October 25, 2014

This race was basically an excuse to wear an old Halloween costume. It was only $8 to run it, and it was along one of my favorite running paths, so why not?

I debated between two running-friendly costumes. 2013’s Velma (if it was cold out) or 2011’s Black Swan (if it was warm). Honestly, I was really hoping I could do Black Swan, as that one is way more fun. As the time for the race got closer, it appeared that it would be in the 60s-70s. Yay!

Obviously, I didn’t wear pointe shoes to run in (that’s nightmare fuel), but I laced ribbon through my running shoes and tied it around my ankle to mimic them. I bobby-pinned my hair and the tiara to death, but I was still sure it was going to fall off while running. Luckily, the rest of the costume was not an issue. I guess one plus of having a ballerina-sized chest is that a backless leotard works just as well as a sports bra, haha.

I wasn’t planning on really racing this, so I didn’t have any time goals. The costume contest was my real goal.

Race Day

The race wasn’t until 11 am, so I had a leisurely morning in bed before finally pulling myself up around 8:30 to start work on my hair and makeup. I meant to drink some water when I got up, but I forgot, so I went into the race with a completely empty stomach.

I arrived, parked, and got my bib. After pinning it to my leotard, I joined the group of Mt. Juliet Flyers who were running the race for a group photo.

The start line wasn’t marked, so we just headed in the direction of where we thought the start line was supposed to be. There was no timing mat at the start, so the official times must all be from gun time, since my watch (which I started as we passed the orange cone that I figured was the start) was about five seconds less than the official time.

Mile 1: 10:21
This is the only mile I ran straight through without a walk break, so it was my fastest. We started on an out and back section down a park road before ending up on the 2ish mile loop around the lake that we would run twice.

Mile 2: 11:01
I took a walk break about 1.25 miles in. I could definitely feel the fatigue in my legs from my running streak. I was also really wanting some water, but I had passed the water station at about 0.75 miles in and wouldn’t see it again till the end of the third mile.

Mile 3: 11:10
At some point on this mile, I realized that my car keys, which I had stuck in the bodice of my leotard, were not where I had put them. It took me some time to figure out that they had fallen all the way down to the bottom of my leotard. Yes, I had keys in my crotch. They weren’t really bothering me, so I just left them there. Right as I was completing the first loop of the lake trail, the winner came zooming past me into the finish. Yes, I was lapped! He was so freaking fast. I finally got some water.

Mile 4: 10:49
Refreshed from my water break, I picked up the pace a little. I don’t have much to say about this mile, other than the fatigue in my legs was getting heavier and I started counting down until the end of the race.

Mile 5: 10:49
My watch actually says that the race was 4.84 miles. Most people I spoke to said theirs came in around 4.95, so I don’t know if the course was short or what. It doesn’t really matter to me, since I wasn’t running this for a PR. I was just happy to finish in under an hour!

Official Time: 52:23

Despite not trying to run fast, I still managed to come in less than a minute from my PR. Again, I don’t know if the course was actually short or not. (The race director for this also measures and certifies a lot of the races around town, so it would shock me if it actually was short. Probably GPS error from running through the woods.)

Everything in the costume held up nicely! Props to the bobby pins and waterproof makeup!

As for the costume contest, I did not win or even place. The judging is done by crowd cheers, so, of course, any cute kids got the top prize. (Although I did kind of agree with the winners. It was a family with the dad dressed as a farmer, the mom as a duck, the kid was a cow, and their stroller was decorated as a barn. It was cute.) Anyone have a child they wish to donate to me for next year’s run? 😛

10.24.14

by Jessica

Race Report: Go Commando 5k – October 18, 2014

I went back and forth for the longest time on this race. Do I run the 5k so I can directly compare my race to last year’s? Or do I run the new 10k since it’s the first year they are doing it?

I finally made my decision sometime in July. I had started to believe that I wasn’t going to meet my sub-30 goal in August’s race, so I went ahead and signed up for the 5k as a backup race. Of course, then I did get sub-30 in Smyrna, so…

It worked out all for the best. My cousin Gillian emailed me a few weeks later and said she was thinking about training for the 5k, her first ever. Yay, a race buddy!

I had no real goals for this race. I wanted to be faster than last year (35:15), but other than that, I just planned on running by feel. I definitely didn’t plan to do another sub-30, since my ankle was still gimpy, and I was doing a running streak.