Next Race

Duluth, MN - half marathon

Monday, December 31, 2012

Year in Review

Week in Review:
64 miles
2 doubles
1 run on dreadmill
13 mile long run
1 run w/Jamie

Well, Anthony and I made it to 3000 miles this year, with one day to spare. We ran 3004 miles, only logging four miles today because of the snowy, slippery roads. I also ran several races this year, 20 to be exact. 7 of them were half marathons (yikes!) This week Jamie came down to run with us, and we took him to Wilson's Creek. Jamie, if you are reading this, I apologize. For those that aren't familar, Wilson's Creek has some monster hills, one even being named "Bloody Hill", however, I think that has more to do with the war ;) This last week we also experienced what finally felt like winter, with cold temps, wind chills in the single digits, treadmills, and snow.

Now what's up for next year? I want to "debut" in a full marathon. It will actually be my second full marathon, the first being in Oct. 2010, but this one I will actually train for properly. I ran my first marathon before even attempting a half marathon. It was right after I graduated. . . I felt like I was in good shape and would just go for it. I definitely underestimated how hard I thought the marathon was going to be. . . you have to respect the beast. So, which marathon, I'm not sure yet. It's going to have to wait until the fall because of school, boards, job, etc. I'm leaning towards Chicago, but open to suggestions if anyone has any.

Also for 2013, I want to run in the USA half marathon Champs in June. I've already run a good qualifying time, now it's just a matter of them letting me in. . . fingers crossed!

Anthony is still planning on being open sometime in early January for his practice. Carpet and fixtures should go in this week. He got some good marketing experience this weekend, working at one of the local half/full marathons providing free soft tissue/ART to the runners. Unfortunately, several were out of towners, so we probably need to hit up a local 5k.

For those that are wondering, we took second place in the balcony contest at our apartments. We still think we should have got first ;)

Everyone have a safe New Year's Eve!

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Lousy Workout

2 mi w/u
Goal: 4 x mile w/half mile recovery @ 5:30 or faster
Actual: 2 x mile @ jog
c/d back to home

Well, we decided to run this workout today rather than tomorrow because the wind was supposed to only be 10-12 mph today. We head out to the mile stretch that we have recently adopted as our new "workout" route, but wind was not as reported. When I got home I checked weather.com and it said 23 mph!!

So we decided to try the workout, running the first mile into a head wind. I'm too embarassed to actually tell the split, but my thinking was that obviously we would run faster on the one with the wind at our back. Well, wrong again. It was at this point I got so frustrated that I quit and jogged back home. I couldn't keep up with Anthony anyways. Anthony attempted another another repeat and was successful since he didn't have me holding him back.

I probably should have known better and opted for a fartlek where I could focus more on effort rather than time-sensitive workouts.

On another note, we spent most of the afternoon finishing our balcony for the decorating contest. It seems like things never work out. . . winds are supposed to be 40mph on Thursday. I don't think our gingerbread house will survive that :( and judging is on Friday evening. All that hard work gone to waste. But check out our cute gingerbread people. . . we are going to keep them inside until Friday (just in case the house survives)

Aren't they cute?!

Monday, December 17, 2012

Christmas Mile

Week in Review
70 miles
1 workout
1 race
17 mile long run
3 doubles


I'm on a mission to reach 3000 miles this year, an all-time yearly high for me. Last year I ran around 2500, so this would be quite a leap from last year. 3000 miles is a weekly average of about 57 miles per week, which doesn't really sound like much. It is actually quite the accomplishment when you throw in important races that require tapering and a recovery week after a hard season of training/racing. I'm at 2870 miles, only 130 to go and 15 days to get there! I didn't make it easy on myself.

With some doubles, I was able to significantly increase my mileage last week. Once I catch back up to Anthony, I'll move back down to singles (I really don't like running in the cold). I currently don't have any races lined up anytime soon. I'm thinking of possibly getting back on the indoor track again this year at my Alma Mater in Jan/Feb?

For anyone interested to hear about Anthony's practice, it's underway. With a few set backs from the carpet company (we rushed to get the walls painted because the carpet was supposed to be put in on Monday. . . that was 3 weeks ago), he is expected to be open by Monday December 31! He is still working on his website, but feel free to visit Ultimate Health and Rehab
Pictures to be posted soon.

Christmas Mile
3 mi w/u
Goal: mile @ 5:10 or faster
          first place female
Actual: mile @ 5:17
          first place female
6 mi (to make a total of 10mi)

This was a very small race, yet fairly competitive up front for the men. The race actually started about 3/4 a mile from the finish, so at 8:00am, when the race was supposed to start, people were still walking to towards the start line. We got started about 15 minutes late, and as a consequence my legs didn't feel very good the first 1/4 mile. Which is unfortunate when the race is only 1 mile. Anyways, the late start meant that I warmed up too early, which resulted in a poor start with legs feeling like the lactic acid had already built up.

Small race. . . I'm starting to miss KC
I'm still fairly pleased with the time I ran. It gives me a good starting point. I have no doubt that if the first 3/4 of the mile hadn't been run head on into a  22 mph wind, I'd likely have run faster than 5:10. When we first got there, I got really excited because I thought they had reversed the course. Hence, having the 22 mph wind at our back a majority of the race. Unfortunately, it was false hope.
Old guy I ended up passing shortly after.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Tis the Season for Tempo's

Been a while since I've had anything of importance to blog about. Since Bass Pro in early November, we've simply been doing mileage. Enough mileage I've decided, time to start incorporating some workouts again. Another reason we haven't been doing workouts is because we simply don't have any races lined up. . . until now. I've signed up for the Christmas Mile this weekend. It advertises a flat, fast course. We will see.

Today was the first day in over a month, that Anthony and I tapped into sub 6 minute pace. We planned to ease into speed stuff again with an easy 3 mile tempo at sub 6 minute pace. I'm not going to lie, I was a bit scared at the thought. I usually feel like I can run right around 6 minute pace all day, but ask me to go faster and the run immediately feels harder.

Fortunately, that's no the way it went down :)

3 mi w/i
Goal: 3 mi @ sub 18:00
Actual: 3 mi @ 17:34
3 mi c/d

This workout was run from our new apartment in Republic, so we warmed up to a point where we would have less traffic. The route turned out to be to our advantage. We would begin by running the first mile west, turning to run the second mile north with the wind pushing us, then pulling a 180* turn to repeat the second mile in reverse. We knew that we'd have to run the first 2 miles a little faster to give ourselves a cushion for the 3rd mile being into the wind. We opened up with a 5:51, feeling very easy and relaxed on the semi-flat mile. Turned the corner to head north and, suprisingly, split a 5:47. Surprising because this mile tended to have more uphill, but we attacked and had the wind at our back. It was during this mile that the tought of running a 5k popped into my head. I did a quick calculation and figured we had a chance of running sub 18 minutes if we could just hold on the last mile.

Well, as soon as we turned around, it was instantly like running into a brick wall. This mile started out up a decent size hill and directly into a headwind. A quarter mile later, we crested the top of the hill and my Garmin was reporting that we were on pace to run 6:22. This was when all thoughts of an extra .1 left me. I just wanted to finish the last mile at a respectable pace. Once we got to the top, Anthony pulled ahead and I tucked in behind him, trying to hold on and let him pull me through the last 4+ minutes. I focused on his back and let him pull me through the rest of the run. Still managed to get the last mile under 6 minutes.

This was a great first workout, giving me lots of confidence to be running this kind of pace on pure mileage. I was so pleased, I decided to give the Christmas Mile a try this weekend :) Acutally, I was always planning on running, but now I have something to go off of to set a decent goal for the race.

Now, time to go help Anthony with our Christmas decorations. We are entering a contest for our apartment complex.

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Running Topless - Parental Advisory

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Anthony and I started our day off right. We slept in until 7:00 and  moseyed on over to the trail to put in an easy 10 miles. Turned out to be more of an up-beat run, but still felt very relaxed. For being late November, the weather was awesome. Here's a picture of Anthony enjoying probably his last day of "no-shirt" weather. I, on the other hand, was WAY over dressed and over heating the entire time.

 
 

Now off to Aunt Sheila's house to find some food and entertainment.

Monday, November 5, 2012

Anniversary Post - Bass Pro Half

Happy Anniversary to my blog! I've slowed down, but hopefully can pick it back up and post on a more regular basis. I started it last year the day before Bass Pro, and am still enjoying reflecting on my running and racing.

2 mi w/u
Goal: 13.1 mi @ PR
          1st place
Actual: 13.1 @ 1:18:18
          1st place
Results


I went into this race with some high hopes, maybe too high seeing as how this is my 2nd half marathon in 3 weeks. I was hoping for a PR and possibly to run 1:16:xx. I'm one that thrives off competition, and I knew this was going to be a smaller race, so it would probably end up being a solo effort. Although, if you recall, last year there was an Ethiopian woman who showed up and kicked my butt last year, so you never know for certain.

I hate going to races feeling unprepared. Anthony and I had planned to check our gear in at the start line. In the program given out at the expo, it said to follow signs to the bag check in. No location listed,  just follow the signs. Well, 15 minutes before the gun, I mean cannon, was scheduled to start the race, we found no sign of bag check. We made a split decision to high tail it to the car and simply leave our stuff there. 5 minutes to race time and we were leaving the car, running probably close to 6:00 pace, hoping we'd get to the start early enough to catch our breath (nothing like a race before the race). We got there just as the national anthem was starting and after a few opening remarks from the race director, we had a few minutes to spare. Not as many as I'd like, but we made it!

Aaron, Anthony, and myself at the start.
Regardless of falling way short of a PR, it was still a decent time for me, averaging barely under 6:00 pace/mile. Turns out there was a Kenyan woman in the race. We ran stride for stride through about 3.5 miles. Made the turn to climb the "hill" (nothing compared to KC) up Grand when she dropped like a fly. She labored about 30 seconds trying to hold on, then gave up. Didn't even try to make a comeback on me. I took a sneak peek behind me at around 4.5 miles and nobody was in sight, not even any guys.

On a side note, there were several bicyclists helping guide runners through the course. Being the lead woman, I had my own, which I was very thankful for. The arrows on the course were small and hard to see, and my bicyclist was good at pointing turns out early enough that I could run tangents. I also had him to stop traffic for me as it was an open course through the neighborhoods. Back to the race, I ran great through about 6 miles. I was still on 5:52 pace through the 5.5 mile check point. From there, it got lonely and went downhill (figuratively, unfortunately not literally). I managed to hold on to a couple 6:00 miles, dropped a 6:05-6:10 here and there. Still no one in sight either direction.

So I thought I was going to finish alone, but all of a sudden I pass a water station (mile 11.5) and hear cheering even after I have gone through. I look over my shoulder and two guys are gaining on me really fast. A mere two miles earlier I couldn't even see them! They were probably still running the 5:50 pace I was wanting to run (although, they had to start out slower, because that was what I started out at). At mile 12, I was over taken by guy 1, who was rather nice encouraging me to try to hang with him to the finish. And it did help, I think my last mile was back down to 5:50's. By this time, we had hit a ton of 5k walkers (great) who as everyone know, like to walk 5 abreast. Another incident where the bicyclist came in handy :) He was vocal and did the best he could to clear the path for me, guy 1, and guy 2.

I glanced back to see where guy 2 was, and I knew who guy 2 was! He was the guy that beat me last year by about 20 seconds. I thought we might meet again this year. This year he never had the pleasure of being in front of me, and I held him off by about 3 seconds. Ha, sucka!

Unfortunately, I couldn't hold onto guy 1, The course had changed this year, and I must say for the better. They are really trying to improve this race. This new finish was AWESOME. Last year we wound through the neighborhoods, turned a corner, and all of a sudden were practically finished. This year we had a decent straight-a-way to the finish so the crowd could line up and cheer you home. And as I was chugging along to the finish, trying to hold off guy 2, there was a series of loud booms and crackles. They lit off fireworks! How cool is that! Talk about adrenaline rush :) I actually heard the fireworks for the male winner when I was still like 2k from the finish, but had no idea it was even related to the race. They were loud.

To the finish!
The surprise of the day was Anthony's race. He managed to pull off a third place and run a huge 3 minute PR. Amazing time of 1:12:57 (his goal was to run 1:14:xx). He had great advice from his coach *wink, wink* to just see if he could hang on to 5:30 pace and stay with the leaders.

Shout out to Megan Earney for smoking all the other women in the FULL marathon, finishing first, and breaking the 3 hour barrier! and to Aaron Hohn running an impressive 2:32:40. He was supposed to run in NYC, enough said.

Monday, October 22, 2012

Rockin and Rollin through St.Louis

What a weekend!

Goal: 1st place, 13.1 miles @ sub 1:18
Actual: 1st place, 13.1 miles @ 1:17:19
Results

This was a loooong weekend, but so worth it. Anthony and I headed to St.Louis Saturday afternoon, and after a 3.5+ hour drive, went straight to the expo to pick up my packet. We're too cheap to pay for parking ($10!) so I went in by myself to enjoy the numerous free samples and all sorts of running goodies. I made it fairly quick since Anthony was waiting in some random parking lot, and we headed to Forest Park for a quick shake-out run to loosen up after the long drive.

Sunday morning came very quickly, and we woke up way earlier than anyone should have to on the weekend. The race started at 7am, and it was a cool, brisk morning. I managed to get to the elite starting corral with a few minutes to spare, when they announced a 5 minute delay :( Five long minutes of freezing my butt off. I tried to tuck in behind some of the others in hope that they would block some of the wind.

When we finally took off, I could tell pretty quick that this was going to be a dual between me and the lady that took second. I actually recognized her as she ran Hospital Hill in June. We came through 2 miles together, and she was quickly dropped as we made our way through the water station. At this point, I realized that I would get my own bicyclist since I was the lead woman :)

Around 2-3 miles. . . headband is already off and gloves are getting ready to come off
I ran scared the next couple miles and finally decided to sneak a peek behind me (I'll admit it) as I rounded a corner. To my surprise, I saw no females. In fact there were only a couple guys. My bicyclist saw me take a peek and she offered to find out how far behind 2nd place was. About half mile later, she informed me that 2nd was about 40 seconds back. Yes! I had already made a significant gap a mere 4.5 miles in. Of course I tried not to get to0 excited and tried to continue running as if I was going to get caught. With the exception of Hospital Hill, I've been known to drop a couple 6:teens-6:20's during some of those middle miles. I smiled and teasingly asked, "you didn't tell her I was looking for her, did you?" She replied with a laugh and a "hell no, I wouldn't do that!"

I tagged on (sort of) to a group of three guys who pulled me through the next 4 miles. They were all friendly and buddy-buddy towards each other, but once I tried to tuck in or *gasp* pull even, they'd surge and try to drop me. So my bicyclist and I stayed about 5 feet back (which they were content with) while I tried to hold on as long as I could. They must have started to actually race each other around mile 8 because all of a sudden they were a good 15 seconds ahead. My bicyclist had check points in which she called in splits to the finish line so they could announce to the crowd who was in the lead, pace, etc. Well, she had no phone service, so she stopped to text in my split. About quarter mile later, just past 10 miles, she caught back up and informed me that 2nd place wasn't even in site :)

The clock kept ticking, and my bicyclist kept me honest. When we got to the point where the marathoners split off and the half marathoners turned to head to the finish, my bicyclist congratulated me, told me to finish strong, and bid me farewell. I'm so glad she was there. Even if we didn't talk very much (I was winded) it made the run less lonely and easy to keep the pace honest.

My Garmin had been beeping earlier than the marked miles, so I was hoping the entire time that it would work itself out because according to the Garmin I was on PR pace. Unfortunately, it didn't work out (13.23 says Garmin). Even by looking at the clocks on the course, I knew it was going to have to run my last 4k in 18 minutes and some change to break 1:17. Well, it didn't happen, but I have no regrets. Hospital Hill was a huge (2 min) PR for me, and I was hoping it wasn't a fluke. So I'm quite relieved to have come within 4 seconds of my PR. I am now confident that if I can find the right race, one with more front runners (and not quite as hilly), I'd be able to run in the 1:16 or even under!
Chilly Morning
At the finish line, everyone was sooo happy for me! I had reporters getting quotes and a 2-3 different photographers asking for pictures. I even had a volunteer request a photo with me, I felt like a celebrity :) It was awesome! They were happy to see a Brooks uniform cross the line first, seeing as how Brooks puts on all the Rock-n-Roll races. They gave me an extra VIP wrist band, so I could take a guest into the VIP area. This was the first time I got to enjoy the benefits of the VIP. We had our own port-a-potties and gear check in. They had gourmet breakfast, and after the concert we came back for lunch before we hit the road. It was divine.

After the awards
Cheers with the Michelob Ultra sponsors.
The awards ceremony was nice, and the announcer took a quick bio of the top three. Immediately after, the band 3OH!3 was going to play some songs. Anthony and I only knew a couple of their songs, but they sounded really good live and it was a fun way to spend the afternoon.
The after race concert

Monday, October 8, 2012

2 x 3 mile and Hill Repeats

Week in Review
65 miles
2 workouts
1 day off
14 mile long run

2 weeks to go until St.Louis! These races just sneak up on me. It seems like no matter how I prepare, I just never feel fully ready for these big races. Everything looks good on paper, so hopefully I will have b-e-a-u-tiful weather for the upcoming race. I have started toi decrease my long runs in hopes of fresh legs, but regular runs have still been kept up pretty high.


Hill Repeats (10/6)
2.5 w/u
12 x 400m hill repeats
1.5 c/d
10 mi total

Have I ever mentioned how much I hate hill repeats. I blame Jamie for making me do them almost every week in undergrad ;) but seriously, I feel like they give me an advantage over other runners. I tend to run really well on hilly courses. Anthony and I found a hill out at my Mom and Dad's house that was a quarter mile to the top. It starts out with a pretty good size hill, flattens out for about 5 seconds, and then continues up even steeper! Several of our repeats were under 6 min pace or right at. Not too shabby, and did I mention we did TWELVE?! Ya, we were out there for what felt like forever. We almost got run over by the Mennonites, had a farmer recruit us to work, and saw three dogs that were as big as cows, but we survived.

We woke up Saturday morning and the temperature was 37 degrees. Burrr! I dread the cold weather. I have Raynauds, so my hands get frigid and numb even when it's not that cold out. I have these really awesome mittens, but I feel slightly silly wearing them when it isn't really that cold out. None the less, this was the first time of the fall season I had to dig the capris, long sleeves, gloves, and headband. Ok, I'll admit, I even layered a t-shirt over my base layer. . . I'm a wimp when it comes to cold weather.



2 x 3mile (10/3)
2.25 w/u
Goal: 2 x 3 miles @ 17:45, 17:30
Actual: 3 miles @ 17:58 and 17:46 w/one mile between sets
1.75c/d

After coming off a high from Sunday, I had really high hopes for this workout. I just ran a 10 mile tempo at 6:05 pace, and thought for sure I could run these mere 3 mile tempos at 5:50 pace or faster. Well, I fell short and was a bit disappointed. I could have easily stopped after the first 3 mile tempo, but wanted to press on. It's not that I felt bad during this workout. I actually felt pretty good, I just wasn't moving as fast as I felt like I was moving. On the bright side, at least I averaged under 6 min pace on both tempos. I remember a time not too long ago when tempo runs consisted of only 3 miles and nothing more, so I can't really complain too much.

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

10 Mile tempo success + Review

 
Well, last everyone heard, I had just run the Stampede and it was a huge success! It was only 2
weeks ago, put I've had a lot of good runs since then ;)
 
Week in Review (9/24-9/30)
68 miles
2 workouts
15 mile long run

With only 3 weeks until St.Louis, Anthony and I have started to cut back on our long runs and increase our workouts to 2/week.

10 mile temp success!(9/30)
2.5 w/u
Goal: 10 miles @ 1:01:40 (Avg-6:10)
Actual: 10 miles @ 1:00:45
2.5 c/d

I can't describe how relieved I am that this workout went smooth, fast, and easy. The plan was to average about 6:10 pace. Anthony and I warmed up, changed into my go-fast shoes, and got down to business. We briefly discussed whether we just wanted to run even splits, or start out around 6:20 and work the average down to 6:10. We decided to just start out and see what happened. We opened with a 6:07, and from then on we never fell off pace. In fact, or slowest mile of the tempo was mile 5 when we split a 6:10. I got a side-stitch at mile 4.5 and that slowed us down for a little bit, but not for long.

This tempo was run on the Frisco Highline Trail in Springfield. It follows the old railroad track, so it has long gradual inclines/declines which make for a fast run. So gradual that it appears flat. We started getting excited towards the end, realizing that there was a chance we could break 61 minutes. We closed with the last two miles under 6:00! and it felt so easy and good to run that fast. The entire run felt better than some shorter (4 mile) tempos that I try to run at 6:00 pace. . . crazy. It was a big confidence builder and I feel more prepared for St.Louis Rock-n-Roll. This time is actually faster than my 10 mile race PR I ran last December (Jack Frost 10 mile). However, that race was run in the cold and wind, and right after I had taken a down week.

My go-fast shoes. Brooks Launch, a light weight trainer. Now they are extinct :(
 
Fartlek (9/25)
2.25 w/u
goal: 6 mi of 2on/2off
actual: above; 6 mi @ 37:36
1.75 c/d

This was a solo effort on my own at the Frisco Greenway Trail in Joplin. Despite the decrease in miles, my legs didn't feel so good this week. It was really windy this day which meant during the first two miles I felt like I was going backwards on my "on" segments running around 5:50 pace. After seeing this, I stopped splitting the Garmin and just ran on feel. I finally got to the portion of the trail that is blocked from wind and manged to finally start running a decent pace ~ 5:35ish pace.

Week in Review(9/17-9/23)
68 miles
1 workout
1 race
16 mile long run
1 Tour of Missouri

Roots and Blues 10k
goal: 10 @ 35:30
actual: 10k @ 35:47

This race actually went better than it sounds. I was on pace to break 35:30, running consistently between 5:30-5:40 pace through four miles. Immediately after we hit the four mile mark, we came to this HUGE hill. It was steep, then when you think you reach the top, it kept going! No kidding, I dropped a 6:24 (no, this is not a typo) on this mile :( If that tells you anything about this mile. I managed to run the last mile back on pace splitting a 5:45. Even if I could have managed to run a 6:00 mile, I'd have been under goal pace, so I'm really still pleased with this race.

Nothining like BBQ and beer at 9AM (just kidding, I saved mine for later, I did eat the BBQ though)
The race was in Columbia, so we took a tour of Missouri on the way back and shopped until we dropped. We went to the Columbia mall, had a great lunch, hit up Central Dairy in Jeff City, and took on the Outlet Mall in Lake of the Ozarks. The most fun weekend we've had in a loooong time :)

The workout earlier in the week was 10 x 800 w/quarter mile recovery. Run on the trail rather than the track. I can't recall many of the details. My splits ranged from 2:44-2:39 depending on which part of the trail I was on. Usually I only do about 6 800's (sometimes 8?) so for me to do 10 was a pretty big deal :)
Photo
Central Dairy in Jeff City. Same as it was back in high school. We went there after state every year. Anthony had never been!

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Stampede - Welcome Back to Cross Country

Week in Review
70 miles
7 runs (1 double)
1 day off
17 mile long run
1 race (and a win!)
1 workout

Considering the decrease in mileage, this turned out to be a pretty busy week. Anthony and I have decided to start dwindling our mileage now that summer is over and we have started up with workouts again. We will probably drop down to a more comfortable mileage (around 60 - Yay! no more doubles) and I am looking forward to not being tired every waking moment and running workouts with fresher legs.

MSSU Southern Stampede
2 mi w/u
goal - 5k @ sub 17:30 and top 5 place
actual - 5k @ 17:21
             1st place
5 mi c/d
Results

Starting Thursday evening: it rained, and it rained, and it rained, and then Saturday morning it poured! Joplin received over 2.5 inches of rain making the Southern Stampede run through "lake Joplin". What a welcome back to my first cross country race in over two years. I had Mom dig out the old spikes and I was ready to go.

Rainy - about half mile into the race
I wanted to make a conscious effort to not get too carried away the first mile. In college it was common for me to open up fast, but it's been a while since I've run a competitive 5k. However, once the race started, I paid no attention to the Garmin and just tried to hang on to the leaders. Considering the conditions, we opened up with a surprisingly fast mile, just under 5:30. At this point it was three Tulsa runners, an Arkansas runner, and myself. On of the Tulsa runners attempted to make a move and gapped the pack by about 10 meters. This didn't last long, we reeled her in a mere quarter mile later, and it was the Arkansas runner's turn to try and break away.
Probably around 2k - brief moment when the rain stopped.
I continued to truck along and managed to take the lead just before 2 miles. This is when I really started to get excited! I had never won the Stampede before, I think the highest I've placed in 3rd? my Senior year and Junior year. I was too scared to look behind me, but I could kind of tell by the crowd's reaction that I had built a little bit of a gap.
Right before I took the lead.
When I got back to the last little loop before heading to the finish, I was starting to build confidence with the gap that I'd managed to create. I knew I couldn't let the other runners be within kicking distance because I was sure I'd get out kicked. I have not done too much speed yet this fall, but I feel really strong right now. Dad said they were announcing who was the leader at each mile, but I guess they didn't announce me because I was unattached. He said they (Dad and Mom) were surprised to see the gator round the corner (800 meters to go) and I was the one right behind it! Lol, I was quite surprised myself :)
About 800m to go!
Poor Anthony! By the time his race game about the course was a hot mess. He, unfortunately, had no spikes and was forced to slip and slide his way through an 8k on a muddy course that had alread had several hundred runners trample over it! In my race, the rain let up, but in his race it poured as harder than it had all morning for about 5 minutes.


This video has a couple good shots of the start and finish and the ponds that we had to cross. Keep in mind that this is only the second race and how much worse it got by the time the high school races were run!

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

3 x 2 miles + catch up

Sunday - 9/2
3 mi w/u
goal: 3 x 2 mi @ 12:00, 11:50, 11:40 w/ half mile recovery
actual: 3 x 2 mi @ 11:31, 11:27, 11:20
5 mi c/d

total: 15 mi

Wow. This went WAY better than I had hoped. Having logged 80 miles (a new weekly high for me) for the past two weeks, my legs were feeling tired and worn down. This week I was forced to cut back my miles due to a blister that developed earlier this week.

Anthony and I ran this workout on the Frisco Trail in Springfield. I'm not sure what got into me, but I opened up my first mile in 5:43, and just hoped I could finish without crawling to the finish. I broke Anthony off fairly quick during the first set (sorry babe), but he managed to hold on for the last two. He probably could have actually broken me off, but was nice enough to push me through the last two. At first I was worried that I had toasted myself for the entire workout. It was hard, but I was able to power through.

Review
Week of 8/13-8/19
                80 miles
                17 mile long run
                2 doubles (9 runs)

Week of 8/20-8/26
               80 miles
               17 mile long run
               2 doubles
               1 accleration run

Week of 8/27-9/2
               70 miles
               15 mile long run
               1 double
               2 workouts


For professional runners, this 80miles/week is mundane and considered a "recovery week". However, for most "normal" people this is bordering insane. For me, whose ability and mentality dwells somewhere in the middle, this is the longest stretch of "high mileage". I have run 70+ miles for the past 6 weeks.

This past week, I was forced to drop two of my doubles because of a blister caused by my new shoes. That's okay though, because this last weekend wore me down. Anthony and I moved into our new apartment on Friday, and we had lots of unpacking to do! The anticipation of this move has made the past 4 weeks fly by, as I'm already halfway through my new clinical rotation in Joplin. Thank goodness. I'm not a big fan of the in-patient setting.

Even Missouri had some of hurricane Isaac.
With some of my big races quickly approaching, it's time to stop simply logging mileage and start the workouts! This past week I opened up with fartlek, so I could ease into fast stuff and run based on effort rather than having the stress of meeting certain time goals. Since moving to Joplin, I've been lacking on my abs and weight routine, so the goal for the upcoming week is to get started on that again.
My guest bathroom :)

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Farmstead Stampede

Week in Review
73 miles
2 doubles
1 race
16 mile long run

Well, I have successfully completed my first week in Joplin. I'm here for 9 weeks working my in-patient rotation. Thankfully, I've been meeting up with Jamie most mornings, so that's helped me fall into a consistant schedule. Jamie's in pretty good shape right now, racking up a couple 10+ mile runs with me. He keeps telling me that he's dieing during the run, but believe me, I can't tell. I think he was secretly glad when I went back to KC this past weekend for Anthony's graduation.



Saturday 8/11 - Farmstead Stampede
3 mi w/u

Goal - Survive
Actual - 5k @ 17:47
4 mi c/d
Results

With the higher mileage I've been doing recently, I simply wanted to run a decent 5k. I'm pleased with the outcome of this race. We woke up and had to dig out warm clothes to wear. The weather was awesome, even a bit on the chilly side.

After warming up, I decided that my legs felt okay. After beating Ken two weeks ago at Rock the Crossroads, I thought I'd try the same strategy and try to hang on to him for as long as possible. That strategy lasted about 30 seconds. I opened up my first mile about 15 seconds slower than I wanted. Even if I did open with a 5:35, he still would have been too far ahead of me. This goal would have been more appropriate for Anthony, as he didn't pass Ken until half way through the race (I think?). Anyways, he wasn't even in my line of sight, and I ended up running solo for  most of the race. I did manage to catch the guy in front of me with .3 miles left. I could sense this guy gaining on me, but tragically, he mis-estimated his kick. Sorry sucka. I managed to hold him off by about 3 seconds.

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Rockin' the Crossroads

Rock the Crossroads:

2+ mi w/u
Goal - 5k @ 17:30 ish
Actual - 5k @ 17:58 (course was 3.17)
             1st place
5 mi c/d
10 mi total
Results
Photos (from the website)
My awesome Kinesio taping job. Anthony is all fixed now!
Anthony and I were very busy last weekend! Saturday we woke up early and headed to Liberty for our Kinesio taping seminar. Yep, we can now tape people up, which will be good for Anthony once he starts his practice. If you've been watching the Olympics at all, you know how popular Kinesio tape has gotten in the athletic world.

The seminar was supposed to go until 5:30, then we were going to head downtown for my evening race scheduled for 7:30 pm. We got out a about 1.5 hours early, so did some shopping and still ended up downtown early.
Warming up before the race
We arrived to packet pickup with the sun still high and temperatures in the upper 90's. Great. We put in a decent warm-up, had time to play around with the camera, then I headed to the start line. As usual, we saw lots of familiar faces (I'm going to miss KC races). The race went better than I thought. The sun had slipped down far enough that the building gave us shade during parts of the race.

Quarter mile in to the race. I'm probably in the top 10 here.
I often have trouble making up my mind for a race plan. Originally I wanted to run fast, then I thought I'd tempo it because of various factors, but it always boils down to the same thing. Once the gun goes off, my competitive streak appears. Of course I got more competitive as, once again, I found myself trailing Ken Moran for most of the race. I tried my hardest to latch on to him. I trailed by maybe 1-2 strides behind and pulled up even to him during the second mile. Ken and I take turns beating each other, and he pulled my through a fast 2.5 miles, splitting 5:35 and 5:47 (this mile was mostly up hill). The guy that finished ahead of me (who we were steadily gaining on) had pulled off with a side stitch and hopped back in once Ken and I ran by. I ended up surging up a hill to pass them both, only to immediately be passed right back by the 3rd place guy. Darn! I thought it would have been really cool to take 3rd overall :) I ticked off a 5:42 for my last mile, and wish I would have looked what I came through the actual 5k mark in (probably 17:34-17:40 ish).

Probably about 1.25 miles into the race.  Trying to hang on to Ken.
Boy was I glad to be finished. With the miles I'm putting in, this 5k sure did feel long. Probably because I'm used to running at 5:30am. The awards were awesome! We got to go up on a huge stage and enjoy an outdoor concert prior to the awards (although most of our time was spent on a 5 mile cool down). It was a rock and roll themed event, and a fun evening.

Ready to be done. It was a solid race.

Week in Review
70 miles (in 10 runs)
1 race
16 hour seminar
1 workout
1 more week left of my first clinical!

Lots of miles. Good race. My legs feel like crap.

Due to the early seminar on Sunday, we were forced to put in a two-a-day. Running that late has thrown us into a bad start for the current week and left us feeling tired and sore (maybe I need some Kinesio tape to inhibit my IT band?) Earlier this week we also put in a good workout. We did 5 x 1k on the track with good recovery. Considering how hot it was that morning, our times were decent.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Girls Just Wanna Run

Week in Review
60 miles
1 day off
15 mile long run
1 workout
1 race

Whew, what a busy week. Unfortunately, I didn't get to the planned 70 miles week. On Monday, Anthony and I attended our first Royals game of the season, and I didn't get up early to run. So there were 2 runs that didn't happen.

This coming weekend is going to be a busy one also. Anthony and I are signed up for a Kinesio Taping seminar that will last all weekend. But it will definitely be worth it! Also this weekend I have an evening race. I just hope it isn't over 100 degrees at race time. Realistically it could be in the upper 90's.  We will see how it goes after being at the seminar from 7:30 am -5:30 pm. At least I won't have to get up early to run before ;)




Girls Just Wanna Run 5k - 7-21-12
1st place
17:59 (course record)
Results

I headed to Springfield last weekend to run my first race in over a month. I ran in the Girls just wanna run 5k, which I ran last year. For me, summer training is more about putting in a good base mileage for the fall and spring seasons. Any race I run I think of as more a workout. Don't get me wrong, I still get competitive, but am not expecting to run PR's or peak for any specific race.

It was a toasty morning for a 5k. It already 80 degrees by the 7:30 am start. I think the race was a bit smaller than last year, but there was still quite an impressive crowd. Almost immediately I found myself in the front of the pack. Being warm and comfortable with the little cushion I had on the next runner, I was very tempted to slow down and run at a more comfortable pace. However, the lead bicyclist kept me honest as he continued to encourage me to continue running hard. I think he was really excited for me, as he mentioned several times that I was on pace to run a course record ;)

I pretty much ran steady the entire race as I ticked of rather consistent miles. I opened with a 5:51, then ran 5:49 and closed with 5:48. Probably I sped up down the home stretch as I could see the clock was still under 18 minutes.

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Week in Review

63 miles
2 doubles
2 acclerations
12 mi long run
1 weights (oops)

The start of high mileage (what I consider high) is about to begin. It's going to be a looong summer. This week was pure mileage with some runs ending the last few miles at goal marathon pace. So basically just picked up the pace by about 30 seconds per mile. Next week we intend to do a little workout on Tuesday because I might be racing a 5k in Springfield on Saturday. It's been about a month since I've run a mile under 6 minutes, so I need to gently remind myself that those speeds do exist. We are headed down to hopefully get signed up to lease an apartment beginning in September! Hard to believe we are done in Kansas City :( It's going to be nice to be near family, but I'm going to miss all the cool races up here and the running community. After the 5k in Springfield, I'm signed up for a 5k the following week in Kansas City. Unfortunately, I didn't realize the race was in the evening. I will make every effort to be there, but if temperatures are still in the upper 90's or (gulp) in the 100's, I may opt out. It's just not smart to try and race at those temperatures.

Well, I'm 2/3's of the way done with my first clinical rotation! Only 3 weeks left and then I start my in-patient rotation in Joplin (I can't wait to see Alison, Paula, and Terra!). That is if I can ever get ahold of my new CI. I left my phone number and e-mail with her last week, but have heard nothing. I'm going to be very busy this week. The goal is to finish my inservice so that I can present next monday. I also need to type up my case study. The goal is to have all this done by the end of Tuesday. Now that's it's written down, it must be done! And tomorrow we are going to our first Royals game of the season!!! Poor Anthony has been waiting for like 2 months.

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Down Weeks in Review

After a hard race effort during May and early June, I've taken the last two weeks easy to regenerate for the fall season. I'll mostly be putting in pure mileage with a few workouts sprinkled in here and there to make things interesting. I'll also throw in a few 5k's so my body doesn't forget what sub 6:00 pace feels like.

Week in Review
42 miles
2 weights
9 mi long run
1 accleration run
4 weeks down of my clinical rotation :) (5 to go)

I'm fairly pleased with my first week back. I must admit that I was enjoying staying in my air-conditioned apartment, rather than venturing out into the 90+ degree heat. We've been setting record highs across the midwest, and even getting up before 5 AM, we still wake up 80 degrees and there's no relief in sight. The plan is to add doubles not this week, but the following.

Something different I'll be trying for part of the summer is moving my long runs to Saturday. This way I can do my mid-week long run on Tuesdays (I don't have to work) rather than Wednesdays. I'm getting anxious to reach my highest weekly mileage this summer!

I'm really enjoying myself at my first long-term clinical. I'm learning ALOT actually being in a clinic. Everyone is pretty laid back and more than willing to help me with anything I may need. What's really cool, is that on our lunch break most of the staff heads to the gym to workout! This is great because it practically forces me to do my abs and weights :)

Good news for Anthony! He passed his 4th and final national board exam. So next time you see him make sure to call him Dr.Reed ;) We are planning on moving to the Springfield area, so if anyone needs treatment (what athlete doesn't have some sort of pain?), he's planning on having his business up and running by November.

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Mission Accomplished

Week in Review
45 miles
1 track workout
1 5k race
no long run

This was a low mileage week due to no long run. But finally at last. . . some time off. I've run 3 half marathons in the span of 4 weeks. Granted, not all of them were all-out effort, but I'm tired. Next week is planned to be an easy week with a few days off from running. Hopefully I'll come back feeling refreshed and ready to gear up for the fall season. Earlier this week Anthony and I had a great track workout. Everyone will be happy to know that the quest is finally over. . . last Tuesday I did infact break 70 in a quarter! *Gasp* I've run much faster, just not in a long time. I've been on a mission to break 70 again since April.

Tuesday (6/12)
2+ w/u
Goal: 800, 400, 400 x 2; 400m recovery
Actual: above
2+ c/d
total: 8 miles

It was a beautiful day to run on the track. Slight breeze, good temps, the only problem was that we were running at 7:00 in the evening. Still feeling fatigued from the past couple weeks, Anthony and I set out on a snail-pace warm-up. This was the same workout we did a few weeks earlier before one of our races, so the goal was to duplicate the splits. We cruised through the first set with no problem. In the back of my mind, I knew that this was one of the last times we were going to be on the track for a while, so of course we had to try to run "last one fast one". So we take off for our last 400m, and 150m in I start sprinting like crazy. Bad mistake. This only lasted about 100m before I really started to feel the lactic acid building up. Still managed to finish the last straight and finish in a whooping 68! Was it everything I thought it would be? Yes, but it was over-shadowed by my my 2:29 800m :)

Hope Challenge 5k
2+ w/u
Goal: 5k @ 17:10 (about 5:30 pace)
          1st place
Actual: 5k @ 17:27
            1st place female (4th overall)
2+ c/d
Total: 8 miles
Results

I set myself up with a VERY lofty goal. After the last month I've had, I'm not too surprised I didn't run as fast as I would have liked. I actually made this goal after our track workout Tuesday. Non the less, 17:25 is still a very respectable time for me on the roads. I think it's my 2nd or 3rd best time on the roads.

The race started at 8am and it was HOT and humid. I tried to open up in 5:30 and keep on truckin along at this pace. In reality my splits were 5:38, 5:40, 5:35. I came through the mile in 5th place and the guy in 4th was quickly coming back to me. It kept me running honest, as no one was even in sight behind me. He was really struggling and I blew by him at about 1.5miles. Ha! Sucka! However, the guy in 3rd was already too far for me to catch. I was close enough that I could see Anthony had taken over the lead around mile 2, but was far enough behind that I couldn't tell how much of a cushion he had. He ended up holding off the other guy and win :)

I was drenched in sweat before the race even started! Finish line picture.
First Female

First Male finishing shot!

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Hospital Hill Domination

Goals:
1. Place in the top 3 (I'd like to win)
2. Run sub 80 min (or at least my PR prior to Rock the Parkway - 1:20:30)
3. Be competitive

Actual:
1. 3rd place
2. 2 MINUTE PR!!! 1:17:20 (1:17:18 - Chip time)
3. You know it!

Results

If the hills have names, they must be tough! I got a pleasant surprise Friday evening before the race. Jamie (my Coach from MOSO) called to say that he was going to come up and watch Hospital Hill. I always like it when he is present because what do coaches do best. . . they motivate. The paparazzi (aka Mom and Dad) came up also. I'm glad they did because I always run amazing when my Mom comes to watch me run. It's like she has a sixth sense and can tell when I'm about to run really well. She'd be kicking herself if she missed this race.

Saturday morning I woke up to beautiful weather for June. It was low 50's with just a little breeze, compared to last year's 80+ degrees at start time. Anthony and I found Jamie, and we went through the usual pre-race routine. I could tell that there were some fast girls lined up at the start.

We started with the blast of the cannon, and it appeared that there were going to be 6 women competing for the top 5 positions. We were only in a group for about the first 1.5 miles, when three ladies broke off, leaving myself and the "pink girl" to lead the second pack. The top two then proceeded to drop the 3rd girl (Ann Marie), and I tried to keep her in sight and reel her in. After two miles in, I was pretty sure I'd dropped the pink girl and the 6th girl (actually I didn't even realize there was a 6th girl until Jamie told me after the race) but pink girl went flying by me down past Volker around mile 5ish. Almost immediately we came to Rockhill and had to climb up past UMKC. Let's just say that I was dominating all those hills! I remained calm and passed her right back. She didn't even try to hang, so I then focused on Ann Marie's back again and surged the middle part of the race. Anthony and Jamie were on bikes, so I saw them EVERYWHERE and they informed me that I was about 20-25 seconds back. Each mile brought me closer and closer as her lead was dropping from 20 seconds, to 18 seconds, to 13 seconds, to finally like 5 seconds. I stayed focused and managed to catch her a little before 10 miles in. I knew miles 11 - 12 was going to be up hill, so I continued to press and broke her off fairly easily. I knew that my strength would be climbing the 2 mile ascent, and that if she could hold on I'd probably get out kicked in the downhill finish. Even though my 11th mile was my slowest (6:08) I continued to pull away. Haha, at one point I was actually gaining on Jamie as he was struggling to get his bike up the hill. I finally made it to the top, got a little break, then had to climb yet again another mountain. I believe this hill is called Trinity Hill, and while it isn't very long, it's very steep.
After about 50 minutes of chasing, almost where I caught her. This is heading back towards the plaza around mile 9. Trusty spectator Jamie giving his encouragement.
Getting ready to pass. Just before mile 10.

I came through 10 miles in sub 59 minutes (of at least right at), and started to get excited! This was about a minute and a half faster than what I came through 10 miles in at Rock the Parkway. Thoughts of breaking 1:19 came flying into my head. I just knew that I had to make it through the next two challenging miles. Around mile 11, we hit the 10ker's (thankfully they separated us by cones because that is not the case at the Waddell and Reed Marathon. . . it's not fun) which provided a little more motivation. I held on and got to mile 12, when thoughts of running under 1:18?! started creeping into my head. Man, I couldn't believe how well this race was going for me :) At one point I started to wonder if sub 1:17 was possible, but realized that was just out of reach. I came through 13 miles in 1:16:38, waved to Mom and Dad, and sprinted to the finish line.
Almost finished

Top 5
Did I want to win? Yes. Am I sad I didn't win? Kind of, but I was so ecstatic that I had run in the 1:17's!!! It by far exceeded my expectations. This is a 2 minute PR for me, and I still don't think the reality has quite set in. I knew I would eventually get to this point, but I didn't think it would happen on this course. Oh, and I finally beat my rival (although he doesn't know he's my rival) Ken Moran. I tucked in behind him and we went back and forth from about mile 3 - 7. I need to live this up now, as it probably won't happen again for a very long time. Haha.

Week in Review
48 miles
1 workout
1 race
1 PR @ 1:17:18
Several hills conquered
14+ mile long run (aka Hospital Hill)

I've got about 2 more weeks until I take some time off to before putting in a really good summer base. Anthony is going to race at Maryville next weekend, so I also signed up to use it as my long run. Then the week after that we have a local 5k and then headed to Jeff City for Ashley's wedding. Then time for a much needed down week. I'm not sure what my next "big" race is going to be. I'm looking at either the Saint Louis Rock - n - Roll or a Half marathon in Wichita. Both are in October. Anthony and I have big plans for this summer. We are going to try to increase our weekly mileage to the highest I have ever done, so we are aiming for around 80 miles/week. After the next 2 weeks, we probably won't start workouts again until August and just focus on obtaining a good base mileage this summer.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Morning Workout - Fail

All right, I have a lot of catching up to do. I'll start with this morning's workout and work my way back.

Monday - Track workout
2 mi w/u
Goal - 8,4,2,2 x 2 @ fast
Actual - 8,4,2,2 x 2 @ slow
2 mi c/d

This was the exact same workout that I did before Rock the Parkway in early April. Anthony and I were trying to repeat this workout in order to create the same magic that was produced at Rock the Parkway for Hospital Hill this weekend. To say that this workout didn't go as well as planned is an understatement. From the first step of the warm-up to the final step of the cool down, I felt lethargic and sleepy, and my legs did not want to run fast this morning. I usually run my workouts in the evening, so I'm hoping that after a week or two, my body will adjust to morning runs. I'm in the process of adjusting my runs to morning #1 because of the summer heat and #2 my clinical that I'm starting requires me to be at "work" by 7 or 8 depending on the day. Unfortunately (maybe. . .?) I'm going to be working four 10 hour days/week for the next 9 weeks. This means I get Tuesday off (yay!) but will have to get up very early on Monday and Friday (like 4:30ish early. . . eww) to get my runs in. Fortunately in the summer I basically do pure mileage (no workouts) so the body won't be forced to sprint at absurd hours of the morning.

Back to the workout. We opened the first 200m of the 800m with a 39, and this alone told me that I was going to have to force this workout rather than feeling energetic and quick. I'll let you ponder what the first 800 was, as I'd rather keep the split to myself. We took a full lap of recovery between most repeats, giving ourselves lots of rest in order to have a quality rather than quantity workout. We did manage to run our second 800 in 2:35 and second 400 in 74. This means that my 69 second 400 that has been eluding me since early April will just have to wait until the fall training starts up >:(

Week in Review (5/21-5/27)
57 miles
2 workouts
2 weight sessions
11 mile long run

Saturday 5/26 - Mile repeats
1.5 w/u
Goal - 5 x mile @ 5k goal road pace (~5:30 pace)
Actual - 5 x mile @ 5k - 10k pace (~5:30 - 5:40 pace)
c/d to 9 mi total

This is the workout that determined that it was time to start morning runs. We arrived at the trail about 11:00 am and it was already sweltering hot and sunny. We decided to bring our water bottles to our start and run the same mile on the trail back and forth. We strategically start at Mission road and loop around the pond at Leawood Park, ending by the water fountain. This way we could splash ourselves and take a zip before each interval. Given the condition, I'm rather pleased with the way this workout went down. Only one mile was actually at goal pace, but given the hot/humid conditions, I'm positive this would have been an outstanding workout had we been disciplined enough to start earlier in the morning. It was really tempting to stop after only 4 intervals, but after an internal battle with myself, I ended up doing 5. By the end of this run, I didn't have a dry patch of clothing visible. Even after the warm-up I already had little rivers of sweat running down my arms and legs.

Tuesday 5/22- College Hill Repeats
2 mi w/u
goal - 8 x 400m hill repeats @ good pace
actual - above (working down to fast pace)
2 mi c/d

I have probably done more hill work in the last 5 weeks than I did for the entire year of 2011. All this in preparation for Hospital Hill (first weekend in June). As if hill repeats aren't hard enough, I attempted this a mere 3 days after the Joplin Memorial Run. Not that that run was anywhere near my PR, but it still takes a lot out of you run that fast, and 1:22 to me is still booking it (and a pretty respectable time!) I can't remember the specific details of how this workout played out as it was a full week ago, and I've put in many miles since then. What I do remember is that there was a lot of procrastination on my part and it wasn't very fun.

Yesterday (Monday 5/28 - (Memorial day) shout out to all those serving in the military) Anthony talked me into driving the course for Hospital Hill. You know. . . so that I could get a feel for where the hard parts are going to be. Let's just say that this drive put me into a minor panic attack. I knew Kansas City had hills, but I didn't know there were MOUNTAINS hiding downtown! What the h*** possessed me to sign up for this race? I'll just say it is going to be a very tiring and interesting race. I'm just hoping that my emphasis on hill training the past month will benefit me. I'm ready to cream this race.


Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Joplin Memorial Run

Joplin Memorial Run

With Anthony gone, I decided to use this as a workout/long run to prepare for Hospital Hill in two weeks.

Goal: 2 mi w/u; 4 mi @ 6:15; 1 mi easy; 2 mi @ 6:05; 1 mi easy; 1 mi @ 5:50; c/d to 13.1
Actual: 4 mi @ 5:57, 5:57, 5:57, 6:05; 2 mi @ 6:02, 6:07; 1 mi @ 6:10; easy miles @ 6:30
Overall - 1:22:07
1st place female / 4th overall

I love going back home to Joplin and running with familiar faces and people. This was the first annual Joplin Memorial Run (formerly Boomtown) that is now run at the anniversary of the Tornado that came through last year.

My alarm went off at the ungodly hour of 4:30 am. I was up earlier than anyone should ever have to get up on a weekend. Why the race started at 6:30 am? I don't know. . . but turns out I'm glad it started early because we beat the Joplin wind and the summer heat.

With no luck convincing Jamie to sign up for the race, he was still willing to meet me at 6:00 am to warm-up with me. We took little loop around town, and then headed back to the start so I could use the restroom and check in my gear. As always, I like to sneak peeks and check out who I think could be my competition. One of the first people I noticed was Dan Hay, my newest arch rival. Recall that two weeks ago he beat me by 11 seconds at Bradleyville 5k (results). Unfortunately, this didn't calm my competitive nature to simply use this run as a "workout". I tried to remind myself that I have bigger fish to fry in 2 weeks. Besides, when I move to Springfield in a couple months, I'll hopefully have several more chances to hunt him down. (I know, I know. . . but I have to have these friendly rivalries, it gives me motivation to run fast. I just hope I'm as fast as him when I'm 50!! Beating up on all the youngsters ;) )

We lined up early, listened to the race director's tribute to those 164 people that lost their lives in the tornado, had a moment of silence, and then released 164 balloons into the air in their honor. This was an emotional race for several people in the crowd, and there were several shirts proclaiming that they were "running in the honor of . . . (named friend, family, neighbor, etc). I didn't personally know anyone that lost their life, so I dedicated my race bib to my mother-in-law's friend and wrote Lori and her husband Glenn's name on my race number.

Finally, we took off. Jamie tagged along for a couple miles before heading back to get his morning coffee and to wait for me to finish. I think one of the things that makes me a good distance runner is that I'm patient and know when to put the hammer down and make a move. I remained patient during the first two miles, and when we finally arrived at 2 miles, I took off for my 4 mile tempo. At this point I had no idea what place I was in overall, as several men took off right from the beginning. The first race gave me a false confidence of how easy my tempo felt. Even my "off" miles were fast. The course was probably a majority downhill with the exception of mile 6 when the climb started. The first four mile tempo went off without a hitch. I entertained the thought of just running all my "pushes" at sub 6 minute pace. During the 4 mile tempo, I passed several people, but still didn't know how many people were ahead of me. The nearest person was Dan, but I knew he was at least 60 seconds ahead, and I wouldn't be able to catch him unless I decided to just race the rest of the way, but I stuck to my plan. Unfortunately, the 2 mile tempo was almost entirely uphill. It was the long gradual ascent up Schifferdecker. I still managed to stick to my actual goal pace of 6:05. By this time I was starting to get tired. I just had to make it through my last mile push. I wouldn't call it much of a "push" as 6:10 wasn't much faster than what I was chugging along at.


Water station around mile 8
Around mile 8, a spectator mentioned that I was in 4th place overall. I was shocked! I thought more people had jumped ahead of me at the start, but it felt good to hear that I was in the top 5. The last 2 miles were flat as a pancake. Once we got back into town, I spotted Jamie on the sideline with about half mile to go. With a high-five and an amused smile, he confirmed the rumor that I was indeed in 4th overall. :) haha, he was probably surprised since when he last saw me I probably wasn't even in the top 10. I think he was proud. I got another high-five from some random geezer, and proceeded to the finish line. The last block was really run and LOUD. It was a pretty cool finish, we rounded the block. It was kind of nice because you turn the corner and all of a sudden see the finish line. Some races you can see the finish line from like a mile away, and it feels like you are never going to get there. Part of me wished I would've raced this, because it seemed like a flat and fast course.
Finish!
The Joplin Globe wrote up a really nice article about the race. That's where the picture above came from. Check it out! There was no formal awards ceremony :( So Jamie was nice enough to stay with me until we could pick up awards. Oh, a funny side moment I forgot to mention. Jeff Galloway was there, and all the award winners were told to go get our pictures taken with him. Well, this old lady comes running up to Jamie telling him she needs to get her picture taken with him. We were both so confused. HAHA. She mistook him for Jeff Galloway. I guess she just saw a skinny runner guy that looked legit and thought it must be Jeff. I had a good laugh about that the entire walk back to the car.

Week in Review
55 miles
1 workout
1 race
15 mile long run

With Anthony in St. Louis taking his board exams! He seems to be pretty confident with his performance, so we'll be hoping for good results to come in a few weeks. I was on my own for the second half of the week. I had a good ladder workout on the track earlier this week, and I've been running really strong the last couple weeks. I talked Mom and Dad into riding their bikes with me on Sunday. Good thing because three dogs came running out to the road to follow us! Ever since I was bit running (gosh, was it really almost 7 years ago?!) I've been terrified of unknown dogs. I have two weeks until hospital hill, then a couple more little races until I take some time off to recover and gear up for the fall racing season.

Finisher's medal. The winners got a brick from the old Joplin High School as the award.