Race Recap: First on the First 5k

The medals are always great - Photo by Cap City Sports Media

The First on the First 5k took place January 1, 2017 at 11:00am in Westerville, Ohio.

Pre Race

Sleepy?' – Cap City Sports Media

This was our 4th year running this race, so we knew what we were getting into. In fact, this is the only race we've participated in every year since we started running. My stats have certainly improved: 2014 - 31:20, 2015 - 27:31, 2016 - 25:00, 2017 - ??

We picked up our packets early and they included a fleece headband, long sleeve tech shirt, training plans, granola bar, bib, and gear check bag. We arrived around 10:20 and walked to the community center to use the indoor bathrooms. I saw a few friends, we pinned on our bibs, checked our extra gear, and eventually sauntered over to the start line with 10 minutes to go. The weather was warmer than normal. It said 38 degrees, but it felt more like 40 something because of the sun. Needless to say, I was very overdressed in capris, tall socks, long sleeves, gloves, and a headband.

Goals
When I began 5k training five weeks ago I intended to get a big PR. Well, I forgot about a half marathon I have to run next weekend, so I shifted my focus to distance vs. speed. In the week leading up to this race, I ran 29 miles to reach 1,000 miles in 2016... so my legs were tired and my goals were loose. I planned to run by feel and hoped for a sub-25.

I'm behind the tall guy. Cap City Sports Media

The Race
After Alex went to the front of the pack I found myself next to two running friends. One, Jeff, was shooting for his first sub-25 and the other, Steve, was someone I met the day before in my new pace group. He remembered me and we had a nice chat. Directly in front of me was a girl in shorts and a tank top who looked fast, so I decided to keep her in my sights as long as possible.

Meh – Cap City Sports Media

The first two tenths were pretty congested but I could see Jeff, Steve, and fast girl and felt pretty good considering how tired my legs were. Most of mile 1 is a straightaway, so I focused on maintaining my pace and not getting caught up with the folks passing me or stuck behind the folks I passed. This was the first 5k in eons where I didn't get stuck behind a 9 year old sprint/walking, though there was a woman next to me for a bit who sounded like she was dying.
Mile 1: 7:45

Mile 2 winds through some trees and is always my slowest section of the race. I wasn't really gunning for a PR so I decided to stick with my beacons: fast girl and Jeff (not sure where Steve went). At one point I looked down at my Garmin and saw 9:0x. Whoops! I tried to rally, but I was pretty tired and the narrowing course didn't help. My 2017 goal of all miles under 8 went out the window as soon as mile 2 chimed.
Mile 2: 8:16  (Booooooo)

I figured a PR was hopeless and tried to power through. I'd lost ground on my beacons in the last mile, but I was slowly catching up to them. A little after the mile 2 sign I saw Jeff stop and walk. Steve patted him on the back as he passed and I ran by and gave a sympathetic thumbs up. I could hear him start to run again behind me. I think having him there motivated me to finish strong. The last mile is flat and along the outer edge of several soccer fields, so you can see exactly where you're going... and how far you are from the finish line. It was really hard, but my pace only dropped when we turned corners. I would have gladly walked if it wasn't a race. Instead, I kept fast girl in my sights, and as we took the final turn to the finish I must have passed Steve because he shouted, "Finish strong Elizabeth! Save yourself!" What's truly great is he caught up with me and we finished side by side (unfortunately photos don't really show the finish).
Mile 3: 7:43

That's Steve in blue! And I was way overdressed.

Steve and I congratulated one another and Jeff was mere seconds behind and got his sub-25! Alex met us at the finish (he finished in a "slow" 21:xx / top 50) and we grabbed a few photos, then went inside for the free taco bar. (Unfortunately, they didn't have chocolate milk this year.)

Afterwards we stopped at Starbucks for a free drink, cleaned up, then went to my mom and step dad's for Christmas #3 / New Year's. We were both beat by the end of the day!

Posing with Alex and Jeff - Cap City Sports Media

Final Stats and Thoughts
Well, shoot, this went better than I expected on tired legs. Of course - in hindsight - I sure wish I could have nailed the second mile. This isn't really the best course for a fast mile 2, but I could have been a bit more consistent to get all miles under 8.

Final Time: 24:32 (PR by 3 seconds)
Overall: 127 / 1301 (10%)
Gender: 34 / 838 (4%)
Age Group: 9 / 192 (5%)

Alex took this one

Up Next: Rocks and Roots #1 (10k) this Sunday. Hilly trail, with lots of turns, and it's going to be 11 degrees. I'm physically ready, but not mentally. Oh, and I have a half marathon the weekend after and I haven't run farther than 9 miles since October. What am I doing?! 

ORRRC Week 7: Hitting 1,000!!!

Saturday morning

Happy New Year! I'm back with the Weekly Review linkup from Hoho Runs and MissSippiPiddlin. I'm training for about a dozen races, but my goal is a half on April 9. You can see my schedule here. 

Week of December 26-January 1
Monday: rest
Tuesday: 7 miles
Wednesday: 7.2 miles
Thursday: 4 miles
Friday: 5.7 miles   
Saturday: 5 miles
Sunday: First on the First 5k (recap)

Total (running) miles: 32.1 miles
Elevation gain:  482 ft
2016 total: 1,000 miles (!!)

Going into this week, my main goal was to hit 1,000 miles for 2016. (Read my Year in Review post), but I got off to a rough start.

Monday was Christmas #2 at my dad and step mom's and marked another missed holiday run. We stayed late and I tried to motivate myself to run in the dark, but it didn't happen. I think it was a blessing in disguise because throughout the week I had terrible stomach pain and when I chatted to a friend she said something was going around.

Christmas #2 with Jack and Hugo

I took Tuesday off work and my mom and niece came over for an afternoon visit. I eventually got in 7 miles before dark. It was rough and I was thankful for every traffic stop. I didn't look at my watch and tried to run by feel (to go slow), but by the end I's gone much faster than intended. Afterwards I felt really bad, but it didn't seem running related. We watched Sausage Party (meh) as I tried to feel better.

Goose convention

I went back to work Wednesday, but left early to get in my run. I was not feeling it, but when I got home after 6 miles and saw sunset was still 10 minutes away, I decided to head out for one more mile. Another 7 in the books! It was another rough run and afterwards my stomach pains returned. Again, they didn't seem to be related to running and they lingered for 3 days! After my run, I got cleaned up and we went to the Tiki Bar for a friend's birthday dinner. I did not drink any alcohol -- so you know I was feeling bad! ;)

Wednesday night: Not my drink

Thursday was silly: I got a bunch of texts in the middle of my run that I had to respond to and when I pulled my phone out of my pants pocket I dropped my keys... which I didn't realize until mile 2. I turned around to retrace my steps, cutting my run short. Luckily I found my keys! Later than evening I had a meeting about the next book I'm illustrating. It's monster-themed and should be fun... whenever I have free time!

On Friday I ran 2+ by myself, then another 3-ish with Alex. The run with Alex was a killer progression: 8:41, 8:23, 7:47 (we had 3 traffic stops and last mile was downhill). I'm going to keep using him as my speed work... Luckily my stomach felt a bit better on Friday night.

Saturday was my first training group run of the new season. I ran 5 with my new pace group: the 10s! I missed the 10:45s, but the pace felt better, even on my tired legs. The last mile was a 140ft climb. What a great way to end 2016. And I hit 1,000 miles! Here's my year in review. Alex and I ran a bunch of errands later in the day, then watched a terrible OSU game. :(

Giant beers before the game

We ran the First on the First 5k on Sunday. This was our 4th year and my times have steadily improved: 2014 - 31:20, 2015 - 27:31, 2016 - 25:00, 2017 - 24:31. I'll post a recap in a few days when the official pictures are online (EDIT: recap here). Summary: my legs were tired from this week. Afterwards we went to my mom and step dad's for pork and sauerkraut, games, and Christmas #3. A nice start to the New Year!

First on the First!

Happy 2017!

Did you do anything exciting to ring in the new year?
What's your proudest accomplishment of 2016? 
Have you ever lost anything on a run? 

ORRRC Week 6: Christmastime

Wednesday's sky

Happy Boxing Day! I'm back with the Weekly Review linkup from Hoho Runs and MissSippiPiddlin. I'm training for about a dozen races, but my goal is a half on April 9. You can see my schedule here. 

Week of December 19-25
Monday: walk to work
Tuesday: 4.1 miles + walk to work
Wednesday: walk to work + 2.3 track miles (#5Weeks2TTC) + 2 miles
Thursday: rest
Friday: 9.3 miles      
Saturday:  4 miles
Sunday: Christmas

Total (running) miles: 21.9 miles
Elevation gain: 256 ft
2016 total: 971 miles

Monday was a much needed rest day as I had a weird pain behind my right knee after last week's long run (stretching helped). Monday was also very boring: I walked to work, I walked back. We had a decent dinner and watched Sons of Anarchy. Very uneventful. Monday was also the coldest day of the week, so it was a good rest day.

I played with the new Instagram Stories stuff on Tuesday.... 

On Tuesday I sat at work alone for over an hour. Where was everyone? During that time I finished a lot, so I was able to leave around 3:30. I walked home, suited up, then ran to the local track to do a #5Weeks2TTC workout. Alas, the track was busy, so I took my run to the street. When Alex got home from work we decided to meet at our favorite bar for Taco Tuesday. It was a solid, progression run, but I wish I'd run farther (I was feeling it). Nevertheless, the happy hour prices were beckoning and I had three fantastic tacos.

One of the best displays

I was able to talk Alex into joining me on Wednesday. We did a #5Weeks2TTC track workout (this week's coach is Shalane Flanagan). The workout: 20 minutes to sprint the straights and jog the curves. It was fairly easy and short, but I felt slow. I didn't sprint as much as run a little bit faster than my jog. After 20 minutes I'd run 2.3 miles. Afterwards we set out for a Christmas light tour. We saw some pretty wild houses. By that point Alex was beat (his knee hurt) so he walked a bit while I rounded up to 2 more miles.

Friday's Loop

I had another rest day Thursday (mainly due to a mini work party and tons of errands) and I moved my long run to Friday before holiday travel. I did a big loop that included two bike trails to avoid traffic. I get a little nervous running these trails because they are normally pretty empty, but it was fine and no one bothered me. I did not feel great during this run, but I got it done.

Gray and slippery run in Ashtabula

On Saturday we were in Alex's hometown (Ashtabula, Ohio) so we ran 3 Christmas Eve miles together and I continued on for another mile. Looking back, I wish I'd run at least 5. I didn't realize I wouldn't have time to run on Sunday (Christmas). Somehow things kept getting pushed back and we had our 3 hour drive home at 5pm, so the day slipped away. There was a portion from 3-4 where I probably could have run, but I decided to stay with everyone and hang out.

From Friday's run in Columbus

I have 29 miles til I hit 1,000 for the year. I didn't think I'd be this close, so I didn't consider trying until about a week ago. 29 miles isn't too crazy for a week, but we have Christmas #2 all day today and I don't want to run far Saturday because we have a race on Sunday. We'll see how it goes...

Happy Holidays!

ORRRC Week 5: Ice Ice Baby

Saturday morning's ice storm

Hola! I'm back for the Weekly Review linkup with Hoho Runs and MissSippiPiddlin. I'm training for about a dozen races, but concentrating on a half on April 9. You can see my schedule here. 

Week of December 12-18
Monday: 3 miles walk to work
Tuesday: 3 miles + walk to work
Wednesday: 3 miles + walk to work
Thursday: rest
Friday: rest       
Saturday: 8 miles    
Sunday:  5.1 miles      

Total (running) miles: 22.1 miles
Elevation gain: 259 ft
2016 total: 949.1 miles

Alex and I stayed home from work Monday while he recovered a from a week-long sickness. I worked in the morning (very productive!), then ran at lunch. While I enjoyed running during the day, I felt pretty sluggish. Afterwards I made a hearty dinner and we watched Sons of Anarchy.

As seen on Tuesday's run

On Tuesday, I left work a bit early to run in the fresh snow. We got 2-4 inches during the day. It didn't coat the streets and sidewalks, but I had a great time running while fat flakes of snow fell. I wanted to do a #5Weeks2TTC workout, but the conditions weren't ideal for speedwork. After I cleaned up, we went out for Taco Tuesday and some Christmas shopping, then finished Sons of Anarchy season 6 (sob).

The snow covered track

Alex drove me to the local track to do my #5Weeks2TTC 12 x 200 on Wednesday. The track was covered in snow – which usually isn't bad – but there was a layer of ice slush on top. I made it one lap and called it quits. I couldn't speed up to goal pace and I could barely stay upright, so I decided to run home from the track. I ran in the street when I could because most of the sidewalks weren't cleared. I only slipped a few times and my speed was actually pretty good, considering I was struggling to keep my balance: 8:32, 8:21, 8:12. Almost speedwork!

The warmest part of Thursday.

Wednesday was the first time this season where weather truly prevented me from the kind of run I wanted. On Thursday, temperatures continued to drop, landing at 4º. During my streak last year I went out in negative temps, but this time I skipped because of the lingering ice. I can handle cold, but it's not worth risking injury falling on ice! Friday was more of the same.... Oh well, at least we had a mini holiday party at work and Alex and I went out for a nice dinner!

Saturday: Foggy trail around mile 1.5.

Saturday should have been my first group run of the new season, but it was canceled around 5am (via the new text message alert system. Very cool!). The ice was terrible. I went on my porch to take photos and slid off the porch into our flower bed (I stayed upright). The afternoon forecast predicted 50º with rain, but it never went over 40. I got into my running clothes and gave myself a pep talk to run... "Just go 2 miles." Finally, around 2:30pm Alex stretched on my Yaktrax for me and I went outside. It was spitting rain the entire time. The path near my house leads to a 1+ mile loop. I did the loop three times (groan) and made my way back. It poured rain a few times and it was cold, but not unbearable. The Yaktrax kept me upright and I finished my scheduled 8 miler. Whew!

Sunday Funday

Sunday was cold and I was lazy, so after a leisurely breakfast and an afternoon nap (whoops), I got out around 4pm for a cold-ish 5 miler. It was 25º but the ice and snow from the day before was gone, which made for an easier run. It didn't feel that cold either - after days of single digits. Nice end to the training week!

Have you watched Sons of Anarchy? (We're 1/3 through season 7)  
Do you have a treadmill?
Do you use Yaktrax?

ORRRC Week 4: First (real) snow

Sunday's snow

Hello again. It's time for the Weekly Review linkup with Hoho Runs and MissSippiPiddlin. I'm training for about a dozen races, but concentrating on a half on April 9. You can see my schedule here. 

Week of Dec 5-11
Monday       walk to work
Tuesday       4 miles (#5Weeks2TTC)
Wednesday walk to work + 2.5 miles (#5Weeks2TTC)
Thursday    6 miles
Friday         rest 
Saturday     3.1 miles
Sunday        5 miles

Total (running) miles: 20.7 miles
Elevation gain:  361 ft
2016 total:  927 miles

Alysia coached by Molly for Week 2, workout 2. 

Tuesday was an after work #5Weeks2TTC session. Week 2's coach is Molly Huddle and she prescribed a 3 mile threshold (20-30 seconds slower than goal 5k pace), rest, 2 x 400 faster than 5k pace. I felt sluggish, but motivated during this run. My goal pace is 7:50-7:55 and my mile splits were 8:24, 8:27, 8:06. I did both of my 400s on a straight path (1:48) and finished with a short cool down for 4 miles total.

Wednesday: We look like we're wearing lipstick. It was so c-c-c-cold we took this in the car. 

On Wednesday night Alex and I went to the nearby track. Molly's second workout sounded a bit too tough for my tired legs, so I swapped it for the third workout: 10 x 400m faster than 5k pace with a 100m rest. I jogged the first rest, but Alex hates jogging (hurts his shins), so we walked the rest - which worked out because our walks were almost 1:1 with the time it took for the 400s. By the way, he had a cold this week and didn't really feel like running and stayed with me for every 400. I appreciated the company! I got faster as we went and my times were between 1:46 and 1:56 (7:06-7:46 pace) which is in line with my goal. We even dropped into the upper 6s on the last 200m of the final lap. Whew! My legs were super tired after.

First, I had a typo. Ahhh. Second, I'm talking to an Olympian!! Third, Kara Goucher also favorited my tweets.

Thursday was a lovely surprise. In the morning I walked halfway down my street, said, "no way" and turned back to grab my car. It was so cold I couldn't fathom walking to work, let along running after. I decided to take it "easy" and forced myself to get dressed and out the door. It was almost dark, so I wore a reflective jacket, and two blinky lights. It was cold enough to warrant mittens, a face Buff, a hat and ear wrap, but by the end of mile 1 I felt great. It was one of those runs where you want to keep going forever. Around mile 5 it was too dark for me to be running without a headlamp, so I made my way home. Cars could see me, but I could no longer see the cracks and bumps in the sidewalk. Regardless, a fantastic run.

Friday was a rest day. We went out for dinner then watched Blast From the Past. (ha)

Bad photo, great meal.

Alex had a haircut Saturday morning, so I tagged along to run errands. I was on a mission to buy one last thing for my Oiselle secret Santa, but the prices were too high for the limit. Regardless, I had a nice and peppy 3 mile run in "feels like" 13º. I would have continued on, but Alex's haircut didn't take long. Afterwards, we went produce shopping, made an excellent dinner, then went to a beer tasting with a showing of Christmas Vacation.

A little bit of snow, a frozen pond, and a glowing greenhouse.

Sunday was LAZY. I wrapped Christmas presents while watching How to Be Single (meh). After a slow afternoon, I finally ran around 4pm. It was 35º (warmer than Thursday thru Saturday), but there was a bit of half melted snow on the ground. There was also freezing rain, so it was a little slippery. Regardless, I intended to run 3 and ended up with 5 before dark. Not bad.

I didn't have a long run this week, but I think the chilly weather brought out my best. My paces were speedy and I added miles to runs. I hope this continues as I build milage. My training group resumes next week and I'll be in a new pace group. We'll see how it goes. I've enjoyed solo runs!

Do you do speed work on a track or road? 
Did it snow where you live?