Last minute 5k...because, hills!

I came across a race called Hike the Hill 5k, in Abingdon, scheduled for April 15.  I thought that was the date of Blue Ridge, so I figured it was not an option for me.  Then I found out that Blue Ridge was a week later than I thought it was...and I couldn't find a good excuse not to run the Abingdon race.  (I mean, resting for Blue Ridge was an excuse, but not a good enough one to keep me away from a hill challenge!)  I'll post my race recap tomorrow or sometime this week.  I'm waiting to see if any race photos come out...

This week : 

M : run 10 / 7:33 / 561

T : group 4.3 / 7:51 / 151 ft

W : rest

R : run 8 / 7:34 / 581 ft

F : 45 minute Power Yoga

Sa : warm up 1.6 / 7:22 / 79 ft

race 2.76 / 7:34 / 414 ft

cool down 0.7 / 9:51 / 89

Su : bike 21.2 / 17.3 mph / 1286 ft

total run miles : 27.4

total bike miles : 21.2

On Monday I decided I needed another long hill workout since I still had almost two weeks til Blue Ridge.  So I went out to the closest hill from home that most closely resembles the Mill Mountain climb at Blue Ridge - White's Mill Road.

I ran down to the bottom at a moderately hard pace, and then really pushed the uphill coming back.  My pace was close to 7:00 and I was feeling really strong, until I reached the steep part towards the end, and then I completely died.  I dug deep and found every bit of grit in my body to keep pushing for the top, but it was a major struggle, and I fell way off my pace as I gasped for air and my legs slowed from lack of oxygen.  Needless to say, I will be running that hill again, and trying to make strategize better so as to make it to the top without dying.  But it will have to wait until after Blue Ridge at this point.

Heading down the hill...sporting some nice blue argyle compression socks!

On Thursdays run, I again decided to push some hills.  I ran a moderate pace in between the hills, and pushed the uphills.  And I sought out as many uphills as I could during the 8 miles...some long, some short.  The last one looks tiny, but it was really steep and definitely hurt that late in the run!

Today's bike ride was supposed to be pretty easy, but the wind had other ideas.  I still managed not to quite overdo it out there, but I had to work harder than I wanted to with the wind in my face for the last 7+ miles!  It was a gorgeous day though, I rode out to the Emory & Henry campus and back.

Low Mileage Week + 5k

I was going to call this a recovery week, but then I remembered that I didn't technically take it very easy this week at all...I just had reduced mileage.  I'm imagining that my legs needed some recovery time from the 27 miler, but it was hard to take it too easy because they didn't feel like they needed recovery.  But taking it easy for recovery seemed like a good excuse to skip the run today, even though maybe by today it doesn't matter anymore.

This week : 

M : 20 minute yoga

T : run 7 / 8:16 / 591 ft

W : hill workout 6.5 / 8:23 / 909 ft

R : TRX 30 minutes 45/15

F : off

Sa : warm up : 2 / 7:44 / 95 ft

race 3.1 / 6:43 / 194 ft

cool down 2 / 8:40 / 128 ft

Su : 15 minute yoga

total miles : 20.6

Yoga is not my favorite, but it is definitely helping me keep the hip pain at bay, so I guess it's good that I started and ended the week with yoga.  I've also made great strides with my frog stand this week, I can now hold it for about 10 seconds, and I can come out of it smoothly instead of falling on my face.  I'm about to find out what the next step is between frog stand and handstand.  

Tuesday's run was cold with blowing snow, but of course I ran anyway.  I wasn't sure how many miles I was going to get, but as usual, once I settled into the run I felt great and went farther than I expected to.  It was my first run post-27 miler, and everything felt good.  

Cold and snow can't stop me from running!

On Wednesday I ended up with a day off school because of ice on the roads, with temperatures too cold to melt it off the untreated roads.  Because I live in the south where they don't know how to deal with ice and snow on roads... I was lucky I was running late that morning, normally I would have been already well on my way to work at the time the call was made.  But I was dragging, so I was just on my way out the door when the call was made.  (And when I say late...I just mean later than usual.  I still would have been early to work.)  I ended up settling on the couch to read all morning, and took a nap for about an hour.  It was pretty cold and windy outside so I put off the run all morning, but then went out around 12 to get it done.  I did a loop warmup that was about 1.6 miles long, then did suicides up and down the hill I live on.  There are 3 side streets off the main part of the hill, so I ran to the first one and back down, then the second, then the third, then all the way to the top, around a short loop, and then made my way back down one street at a time. I ran hard going up, and jogged back down each time.  Then I ran my warm up loop in reverse as a cool down.  The hill I ran was pretty steep, so all the times running up it wore me out!  

the beginning of the hill...

I was a bit sore on Thursday, but I needed my TRX for the week so I went ahead and did it, and I didn't spare my muscles at all.  I upgraded myself from 30/10 to 45/15, and did a lot of tough leg work.  It didn't seem like the brightest idea 2 days before a 5k, but I decided marathon and strength training was more important than a 5k.  

TRX fun

I took Friday off because I like to take Friday's off...but also because I drove to Lewisburg after work.  I hadn't been here since Christmas it's nice to be back!  It would have been weird to celebrate St Patrick's Day anywhere other than the Irish Pub in Lewisburg!  I'm on spring break now, so I get to spend several days here.  I'm looking forward to a TRX class at the gym on Monday morning and running some mountains at some point!

Saturday's 5k was the Celtic Knot 5k which I have run about 6 times now.  I missed it last year because of a sprained ankle.  I was really sore from the hills on Wednesday and the TRX on Thursday so I was afraid to run too hard.  I also want to work towards negative splits in races, but there's a giant hill in the last mile of this race so negative splits seem rather unrealistic.  I gave it a negative split effort though!  I started out a bit easier, instead of starting as fast as possible like I usually do for a 5k.  Then I pushed a little harder for each mile.  I finished in 20:52, not the 19:45 I had 2 years ago, but a good time for where I am in my training right now, especially since I really haven't been training for a sprint race!  

I had planned to run today, but my hip was bothering me yesterday, and I got lazy, so I ended up just doing some yoga.  

frog stand success

Thin Mint Sprint

I was on the fence about this race all summer because of my foot, but this week rolled around and my foot was feeling good so I decided to go for it.  Partly because they said every finisher would get a box of thin mints, and I happen to love thin mints.  Unfortunately, this week's allergy flare-up hit my lungs the day after I signed up.  That had me more worried than my foot did, but I had already registered so I stuck with it.  If I cough up a lung, I must not really need that lung, right?

I checked the weather Saturday morning and it said it was about 55, so I was expecting a pretty cool race.  I decided shorts and a short sleeve shirt would be appropriate.  By the end of my warm-up, I was rethinking that decision.  It felt more like 75 than 55, and it was really humid.  One of my racerback running tanks would have been much more comfortable.  I almost decided to run home and change since I had plenty of time, but I decided it wasn't quite worth the hassle.

I took my dose of Serevent around 8.  I was on the fence about using the ProAir inhaler before the race or not.  I had meant to try a faster run at some point before the race to see if I would need the rescue inhaler or not, but since I was sick, that didn't happen.  In the end, I decided to use the ProAir right before the race, rather than struggle to use it in the middle of the race while sprinting.

The race went pretty well.  I didn't start out quite as fast as I normally would, but I knew there was no way I was going to pull a super fast time with being sick and not being in race shape. I settled into the fastest pace that I felt like I would be able to hold.  I was in fourth place overall for most of the first mile, then slowly picked off the two guys in front of me.  My friend Denver was the first place runner, and I knew I would never catch him.  I beat him on this same course back in March, when I was the one in better running shape.  It was his turn in this race.  He ended up beating me by about 2 minutes.  I finished in 20:40.  Not a bad time after all my slow runs and lung trouble lately!

my heart rate was through the roof...not sure if that was because I was running so hard, 

or because of all the asthma medication in my system...

I got my box of thin mints for finishing...and then I got 12 more boxes of girl scout cookies for winning my "age group."  For some reason, they didn't give awards to overall winners, just age groups.

I gave one box away before I went home and took this photo.

As of right now, 5 more boxes have been given away.  

I'm keeping all the thin mints for myself, I'm not attached to the rest...

receiving my giant box of cookies...

Celtic Knot 5k 2015

I was 100% healthy for this race, this year.  I have been either sick or injured every time I have run it, until today.  So I finally got to find out how fast I can actually run this course!  My previous record was 20:12, which I achieved in 2013.  Today, I ran 19:45.  And I won the race for the fourth year in a row.  It was the second time (2013 being the first) that I won the entire race.  Second place was 20 seconds behind me.  I felt strong throughout the race and was really excited to find myself able to give the race everything I had, with cooperative lungs.

this is roughly half-way through the race

I continued widening the gap as I got further through the course.

Celtic Knot 5k

3.1 miles
20:24
1st place female, 3rd place overall

The McDonough siblings came together for another race, although it was only 2 of us this time.  My goal was not to get beat by much more than a minute or two, and I only got beat by a little more than one minute, but that had something to do with the fact that the course was not well marked and Sean ran a bit further than me...and he had to slow down at some of the less-marked turns to make sure he was going the right way...  But we conquered the race field, taking first for men and women.  Happy to say that second place overall was taken by my former (and hopefully future) running partner.  He passed me on the final uphill and urged me to keep up, but I wasn't about to work my lungs any harder than I already was.  He beat me by 9 seconds.

I ran the race pretty hard, but possibly not as hard as I could have.  My lungs are still not on the same level as my legs, and so I ran as hard as I could without putting too much strain on my lungs.  I didn't want to strain them so much that I would end up sick this week, especially since I have a half marathon to run this coming Saturday!

Here's a picture of Delia and I from the award's ceremony.  She ran the kids 1k race.

We were both first female/3rd overall.

PS : this girl gives the BEST hugs!