Rockin' the Parkway!

The excitement of last weekend has worn off, but a new PR has left me feeling very motivated now that racing season is upon us! I had a strong suspicion that with the increase in the prize purse, it would be a bit more competitive than past years, and it was.

1st place, with a PR!

But I knew I was ready to put myself to the test and race fast. I was coming off a pretty fast 5k the prior weekend (17:25 at Havin' A Crappie Day) and an awesome 2 mile effort tune-up just days prior to the race (See Marshall's Blog). My mind kept going back and re-living all the workouts Marshall and I nailed in the current training cycle. Now, the ultimate goal is our marathon this June. So. . . was I expecting a PR? Not really! I was thinking at least 1:17:xx, but I did not go into this race with the intention of a new PR.

New PR of 1:16:26 :)

Jumping into Stockton Lake. Just kidding, it was way to cold for that!

It was apparent within the first mile, that there would only be 2 females up front working together. Just before the race I saw Danna, whom I know from racing against while we were both in college. And it was pretty much the two of us, with a handful of men (including Marshall). Now for those that know us, Marshall and I usually do our own thing when we race. In fact, the week prior at Crappie Day, was only the second time Marshall and I had ever run side by side for a race (although if you want to get technical, my chip time did beat his chip time! ;) haha). So you can imaging my surprise at Rock the Parkway when Marshall was still running side by side with me at the mile mark. Whether it was because he had been nursing his knee the past couple weeks or been sick with a cold all week I'm not sure. But it sure was appreciated.

Probably within the first 5k

We actually raced pretty well together. I found myself easily ticking off the first three miles just under 6 minutes. Then, I'm not sure if it was because we finally made it to the top of a gradual climb, but all of a sudden, I look down and the Garmin is reading 5:40 pace and I find myself starting to pull away from the small group of us. I was just going to roll with it though. I know it was early in the race, but I was feeling really good! We got to Swope park (7 miles) and Marshall and I started to distance ourselves from the pack. In fact, that was the fastest I've made it up that hill. . . in past years I've been know to slow to nearly a 6:20 mile, but Marshall and I managed to keep it sub 6:00. It wasn't until mile 10 when I glanced at our overall time and realized we only had to run a 19:30ish 5k to be in the 1:17's. This is when Marshall tells me he thinks we can run under 1:17, but a PR was still a reach. We ended up having an amazing last mile which was enough for a 6 second PR for me. YA!

Finishing

Workout Wednesday

Marshall and I have been trying to transition most of our runs to the mornings now that it is warming up. This morning we pulled ourselves out of bed for the always dreaded hill repeats. They were about as exciting as hill repeats can be, but overall we were pleased with the effort. The hill we like is over near Battlefield and West-by Pass and exactly a quarter mile long. We ran up that sucker 8 times and I was pooped by the end. It was a looong 2.5 miles back home. But what I'm even more excited about was my 10 mile tempo and mile repeats last weekend.

3/21/15 - Ten Miler!
2 w/u
Goal: 10 miles sub 60 (sub 6:00 minute pace)
Actual: 10 miles @ 59:24 (Avg - 5:56)
3 c/d

Ya! I could not have been more excited about this tempo run :) Marshall and I set up some water bottles along the Frisco trail to practice water intake. We NAILED this workout. All of our miles were under 6:00, with the exception of number 9, which was still a 6:02. We did take a nutrilite cube and water, which did slow us down just a bit. The awesome thing was that I felt great the entire time. I hope in a race atmosphere I can run even faster for my half marathon next weekend.

Week(s) in review:
3/16-3/22
70 miles
2 workouts
1 double
15 mile long run

3/23-3/29:
65 miles
1 workout (rain)
1 double 17 mile long run


This weekend we signed up for a 5k in Stockton, not too far from Springfield. It was just perfect because it is the weekend before Rock the Parkway, and we were wanting some sort of race for this weekend. It's what I like to call a rust-buster race. Marshall and I haven't run a race since November (Bass Pro), so it's always nice to have low-pressure race to get back into the racing mode. I'd hate for my first race in over 5 months to be a half marathon. But things are moving in the right direction and I'm confident for the upcoming season.