Peaceful easy feeling

Race - run - run - race.

That was my running schedule last week.  It was my first time having races on consecutive Saturdays and I'll have to give it mixed reviews.  While the racing part was undoubtedly fun, it was the run - run in between that had me feeling a little off kilter.  

The Wicked 10k left me feeling really sore in all kinds of wonderful places.  I wasn't expecting to keep the pace that I did for 6.2 miles and was pleasantly surprised with a 2nd place finish in my age group (out of 602 women, no less...HUGE turnout for us!).  I was lucky enough to win my entry for the Race for Breath from Jess at The Fit Petite, just a week after the Wicked.  Normally, I'd jump back into intervals on Monday or Tuesday (depending on my schedule for the week) after a race, but I felt my legs deserved a little more time off after the Wicked and did a comfortable 4 miles with Camryn in the stroller instead.   My second key run of the week was an easy 3 miles in place of the 5 mile tempo run my training plan called for (my plan is geared toward a 5k later this month, so I had to finagle it a bit to take these other races into account).  

I went into this past Saturday's Race for Breath with fresh legs and zero expectations.  I had the mindset that it would just be great practice for racing in general, and I could count those miles as my speed work for the week to make up for the easy miles I did the week prior to the race.  I met up with our team leader, Jess, and met some of my other teammates while warming up for the race.  The purpose of the race was to raise money for Lung Cancer research, so there were tons of people and teams wearing shirts in memory of a loved one they lost to lung cancer.  I was reminded of a childhood neighbor of mine who lost her battle with the ugly disease a few years ago, and I got a little choked up thinking of the family she left behind.  It was around this time last year that we learned Peggy's cancer had returned with a grim prognosis, and I had to walk around a bit or else risk being reduced to a puddle minutes before race time.  Emotions were high, but I did my best to shake it off and get out there and enjoy myself.

It was chilly and windy, with the first half of the out and back course going with the wind and the second half coming straight into it.  Now, I've been working hard on not starting out too fast when I race, but that day was different.  I really wanted to push my speed, and I knew I could only really fly if I went with the wind.  So off we all went, and I felt my pace was quick but comfortable for the first half mile or so.  It was just me and the guys for a while, and with it being a small race, I was able to see past runners and admire the view of the ocean on a blustery first day of November.  

Perhaps I should have been focusing straight ahead because a dark horse came up from behind, her long ponytail blowing in the wind as she pranced past me with her hoppy gait.  The longer I was behind her, the more irritated I got...not because she was ahead of me, but because I couldn't understand how she ran so fast with such a high flying stride.  Regardless, I tried to stick with her as long as I could as we headed back north and into the wind.  Seabiscuit was about a foot taller than I am so I was hoping to draft behind her for a bit.  No such luck, as she continued to gallop along and I started to run out of steam.  Much like during the Wicked the week before, I was grunting and groaning for the last few hundred meters, trying to shave off however many seconds I possibly could.  I crossed the finish line in 22:46, then practically bowled over the handsome Marine who was handing out finisher's medals literally a foot past the finish line.  

Maybe I was being generous when I said a foot...this looks more like 6 inches!

My finish line photo tells the story of how I was feeling.  The Race for Breath left me completely out of breath, and the photog with the quick trigger finger snapped this before I was able to smile pretty for the camera.  This is the real deal, folks.  Exhausted.

As quickly as the lady in black came up from behind and passed me, she disappeared into the crowd at 24th Street Park.  I tried to find her to offer congratulations, but she was nowhere to be found.  I stretched for a minute, collected my post race snacks, found Jess to thank her (and ask her if she'd mind collecting any award I may have won), and dashed off to the soccer field to catch my girls' back to back games.  Turns out I was the 2nd overall female, and I won a nice little gift certificate to my favorite local running store.

I just ordered my favorite Sauconys from Amazon for $65 (!!!), so I guess I'll just have to treat myself to a splurge item with this gift certificate instead!  This was my first time placing overall in a race, as well as my first monetary award...considering I didn't pay for my entry into this race, I'd say I made out pretty well!  

My 5k time of 22:46 was 1:40 slower than my PR from last year, and while I don't feel great about that significant difference, I do feel good about my time.  The week leading up to the Race for Breath wasn't a typical race week as far as my training plan goes, and the race day weather conditions were less than ideal for speed (although gusty winds are par for the course at the oceanfront in November).  Until that race, I was basing my training paces around an imaginary 5k time instead of an actual one.  Now I can adjust my paces to a more accurate (and slightly faster) 5k time for the remainder of this training cycle.  The Race for Breath was my litmus test, so now it's time to put in a few more weeks of hard work and see if I can do better at the Harbor Lights 5k.  

After the tough spring I had dealing with an injury, I am so happy to be running strong and healthy again.  I was worried I would have a lot of ground to make up to get back to where I was pre-injury, but it seems as though I've been able to pick up where I left off.  It feels so good to attack my training runs, even on days I'm not sure I have it in me.  I've gotten lucky and placed in all three of the races I've entered since returning from injury, and it feels like I'm being rewarded for my patience while I was down and out, as well as the work I put in once I was back out there pounding the pavement.  

I've been enjoying this lighthearted approach to running I've taken in the past couple of months, and I think it's a much healthier way for me to race.  This approach has made finding balance in my life so much easier...training for these shorter distances isn't all-consuming the way marathon and even half marathon training is.  I feel good about giving my body more time to rest and rebuild when needed, and there isn't even a trace amount of panic that would usually come with doing so.  I am registered for the Shamrock Half Marathon and start training in just a few weeks, and I hope I can keep this easy breezy approach as I start to ramp up my mileage to places it hasn't been in a while.  And as much as I'm loving these shorter race distances right now, I still have not ruled out running another marathon...not anytime soon, but maybe someday.  I learned this past weekend that it's impossible to watch the New York City Marathon, this time as a marathon veteran, and not be inspired, not wonder what I would do differently my second time around.  I don't feel like the nail is in the coffin of 26.2, and it's a little exciting to think about when and where #2 would be if I chose to have another go at it.  In the meantime, I'll just keep running happy...in some new gear from Running Etc!