Saturday, July 25, 2015

Race Recapping: 10Ks in 2014

I like 5Ks races. They are short, sweet and you can get your 30 minutes (plus or minus a few minutes) of exercising done on a Saturday morning, usually before 8am. But I am a fan of the longer distance racing, because for me and my body it takes at least 30 minutes to really get warmed up. By the time I hit the 30 minute mark, my body has figured out the pace to run and breathe at....and the race is over.  So in 2014 I signed up for some longer distance races as well, to keep me motivated in running and to not give up after my first half-marathon.

I started my 10K races with the Love your Heart 10K in February. I ran the 5k in 2013, so this year I wanted to challenge myself to the longer race.  The weather is 2013 was freezing cold, I think I wore every piece of running gear I owned at the time and I was still cold! 2014 proved to be a drastically different year.  There was a freak heat wave in February, and I ran the race in capris and a long sleeve t-shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Finishing time: 1:10:02, which took 3 minutes off my previous 10K time. Yeah!!! A new PR!

What a great motivator these runners were, helping us the last 200 yards!


The next month was the St. Patrick's Day Kegs & Eggs, run the day before St. Patrick's Day (which fell on a Monday). Winter in Nashville is not too bad, so the cold was only minimal, but add a drizzle to it, and it makes for a pretty chilly day.  The race was either a 5K or 10K, so the longer distance runners had to run the same route twice.  The only problem was there was a pretty big hill at the beginning, but I attacked it so well, that once again I had a new PR--1:05:50!! I had taken a total of 8 minutes off my worst time over the course of 6 months! I was feeling pretty good about the rest of my upcoming races!


My husband, the Army Officer, ran in high school and later on the college cross country team.  So he is a great role model for me and my running habit. But he is not much of a "racer" so I was really excited to get him to join me for a the Beyond the Battlefield 10K. In fact, he received 2nd place in his age group! How awesome is that?!?? But enough about him, this blog is about me. :)  It was hot (when is it not, in Nashville in May?), and I still finished a respectable 1:06:11. No new PR, but under 1:10, so I'll take it.


My last 10K for 2014 was in August, and it was one of the worst races to take.  It was hot, humid, and the race course had very little water.  I can understand that on a typical day, but this was 72-degrees and 88% humidity at 7am.  Glad I had my own water, but more is always better. Because of that, I ran a pretty bad time: 1:12:23. My worst 10K of the year. And it was done, over with, I can learn from it about what I need to do better, and move on to the next race.

Sunday, July 19, 2015

Race Recapping: 5Ks in 2014

Blogging. Running. Writing the great American novel.  All things that people may have on their daily or weekly "to do list". All things that seem to get pushed aside when this other little thing called LIFE gets in the way. I seem to lose steam on this blog when life does in the way. That and it is so hard to write something posed to the great unknown, not knowing if anyone is going to read it.  Maybe I should treat this blog as my online diary, writing for myself, and if someone else opens the diary....well, have at it!!!

A lot has changed since my last entry. The year of 2014 was my year of running a race very month. It seems like that is one goal that runners will have at least once in their lifetime. It might come right at the beginning of their running life, or maybe towards the end when they need one more HURRAH before hanging up their sneakers.

Things have gone crazy in our household, and running 1 race a month like I did in 2014 was absolutely CRAZY!!!! So in order to catch up you to the present day, I'll write several compressed entries, instead of telling you about every.single.race (because runners would never do that, right???)



This entry I'll tell you about my 5Ks.  I briefly commented briefly on the January 5K that I ran in 2014, and then took some time to run other distances.  Seriously, it is hard to find longer distances to run in Nashville in the summer. No one wants to lace up at 7am for anything longer than 3.1 miles when it is already 75 degrees and 88% humidity.  But I ran the inaugural Run of 9-1-1 5K, which was a benefit for the police. Starting out I was not a fan of the course, because the starting line was on an incline.  But what goes up must come down. So the finish line is also downhill!!! To date it is my best 5K with a final time of 31:49, so close to the 30-minute mark!!! I hope to break that 30-minute marker some day.....

Next up where the July 4th Firecracker 5K, which was the third time I have run that particular race.  My first time (2010) I clocked a 33:24, which I was really proud of at the time because that was my very first race ever! The next time I ran it was in 2013, right before formal training for my first half marathon, and on that particular day it was POURING rain---one of those rains where everything on you is drenched. I think it took my shoes two days to dry out (this was before I realized the magic of stuffing your shoes with newspaper). Anyway, that 2013 time was 37:16. YIKES!! So when I ran the race in 2014, I was really happy to have clocked a time of 32:25, my best time on that course!! Not as good as the race the month before, but still a "win" in my book.

My final two 5K races for 2014 happened in November and December. Both were cold, with the November race colder than what it should have been! I was going to run the 10K, but on race day (which is when I registered), I opted for the 5K.  No need to stay out there any longer than needed. In fact, I remember my toes being so cold that it took 1.8 miles of running to finally feel them again! November's Culminator 5K was clocked at 34:24, and December's Cause for Claws 5K was a little faster at 33:38.

So now that you are caught up on my 5K races, it's time for you to lace up your shoes, run a race, and beat my time!