Evergreen 5k 2017
August 5, 2017
8:00am
Official Time: 20:20 (no stroller)
Female Ranking: 1
(My 14th race of the 2017 season)
I know the start of a new school year affects many of us on the team (some work in schools, some are parents with kiddos who are in school, etc.) - so you hear me when I say that August = insanity.
The first weekend in August is Anniversary Weekend #2 in Wells World. If you haven’t heard, we celebrate our wedding anniversary in both April (our “top secret” courthouse April Fools Day wedding!) and in August (our larger “with beloved friends and family” party). This year marked two years of wedded bliss and we wanted to celebrate with a mini vacation of some kind that first weekend in August. Well, you know, time and money and all that jazz…and we ended up not doing anything too major (just one night “away” in Iowa City while my parents cared for Gabey!) which meant that I could do Evergreen! I have done this race once before (last year!) and I do enjoy it - it is reminiscent of my foray into triathlon (same course as the run portion of Tri Shark!) AND it is the culmination of a summer of running for many of the ladies in the Heat Wave group (this was my third year volunteering with that awesome program). So - while we would love to someday have our repeat vacation-in-the-mountains, staying in town for a “mostly stay-cation” isn’t too bad either…especially when running and friends are big parts of it!
Clint had a 20-miler for his marathon training regimen the morning of Evergreen and had made plans with his friend/coachling Michael to run from our home out to Evergreen. He would then take the stroller/Gabe from me so that I could run the race sans stroller, run a bit while I was running, return the stroller to me after I cross the finish line, and wrap up their 20 miler. Perfect.
Clint and Michael headed out from our home the morning of the race at O’Dark Thirty. I got myself and Gabe ready and headed out later than I would have liked because my stomach was super messed up for some reason. Clint would later blame it on the fact that I ate *a few* gluten free snickerdoodle cookies the night before after dinner/kinda late. I refuse to believe that they had ANYTHING to do with it ;). Who knows. Gabe and I arrived at Comlara at the race start around 7:15 (later than I would like). I visited the bathroom (sadly they just had the small bathrooms open - just two stalls! - and the larger bathrooms were locked up) and tried to work the stomach issue out. It was still icky, but I did my best to mind-over-matter it and convince myself that I could survive for around 20 minutes.
My big goal was to *finally* break 20. I have yet to do so…my PR going into this race was 20:34 (set at St. Pat’s in March pushing Gabe). My training this past year has been strong (for me). My mental game going into this race wasn’t where it probably needed to be - sub 20 SOUNDS so awesome, but if I am being honest it also sounds TOO FAST and unattainable for me. Guys - take note - if you think you can’t…you won’t.
I didn’t see Clint or Michael yet, so I prepped the stroller to run my warmup. With my stomach hurting, I wanted to decrease the variables/things I needed to think about…so I had donned my racing flats right away so I wouldn’t have to worry about wearing trainers for a warmup and then changing into the racing flats. Right, wrong, or otherwise - that’s my style. I try to simplify things for myself when I can! The running duo came into view as I was getting ready. Clint, of course, needed to use the bathroom ;)…so I started my warmup with the stroller. After about 0.75 mile of easy jogging, I passed off the stroller to the Daddy and ran around in circles a bit to make my watch click at 1.0 mile (cough *OCD* cough).
I joined the crew at the starting line, shared some smiles, fist bumps and silliness with the usual suspects…waited for Mitch’s signal…and we were off! I busted outta there like a bat (fill in the rest). Again, I know it’s always bad when Gary ends up passing me in the first mile - because it means I went out WAYY TOO HARD…Gary should never be behind me. Gary passed me around the half mile point here. Whoops. I pressed on and mile 1 beeped in 6:20. "Well isn’t that nice! If ONLY I could hold that for an entire 5k!” I know, I know, mental game right?!
I saw Clint and Michael jogging off to the left with Gabey as I took the curve on the road to the right and up the slight hill. My legs were definitely feeling the burn. I waved to the boys and pressed onward toward the turn around. I love out-and-back local races because they give you the opportunity to wave to and cheer for friends and acquaintances as you see each other. I gave a bunch of shouts and continued on my way. I gave Rachelle and Ross a wave as I passed the water stop they were manning. Mile two was over in 6:40. I knew that the two first miles averaged together equaled a PR pace (6:30 - with my PR pace being 6:38)…but I also knew I was fading fast.
Mike Eckhoff pulled up next to me shortly after my second mile with some encouraging words. He told me to stick with him, which I did…for about 20 seconds. Maybe. He pulled away and I sighed. Sub 20? Not today. (Yeah, yeah…mental game…).
Mile three hurt…it hurt real bad. I did my best to keep driving through. I did know that I was first female, but I could also tell that I had secured that spot decently significantly so I didn’t have a huge need to push super hard (since I had already resigned myself to the fact that I would not break 20). Mile 3 clicked off in a disappointing-but-still-leg-burning 6:59.
With the finish line, Clint, and Gabe in my sights…I did my best to hammer it in. I dug deep and managed a 6:08 pace for the final bit (which was just 0.06 by my watch).
Official finish time was 20:20. This equates to a pace of 6:33/mile for 3.1…but my watch had me a bit short at 3.06…which means the pace per mile was 6:39 which is actually slower than my PR…so who knows. I am going with the official race time, though, and calling this a PR. 20:20 because I know GPS watches aren't always perfectly accurate…14 seconds knocked off from March and 21 more seconds to knock off to get that 19:59.
It did feel good to be the first female finisher, run a PR time, and to earn a solid time for the race. However, it was also a bit disappointing as I felt I SHOULD be able to be at least a bit faster without the stroller (and with great weather…64 degrees at race time!).
After my race, Gabe joined in the kids’ race and ran part of it by himself. It was a short and simple out and back….once the bigger kids starting running back, he followed them in (instead of carrying on out to the turnaround) and collected his medal proudly. So. CUTE!
THANKS to Mitch for an awesome race. Love Evergreen! Thanks also for allowing me to be on this team. Thanks to my teammates, both those at the race and those who weren’t. Thanks to Saucony for the killer uniforms and shoes. Thanks to Coach Clint for the guidance, support, belief, and daddy-ing! Thanks to Gabe for the inspiration!
Shout out to Clint for the pic below - one of the few of me lately running without the stroller/Gabe and one of my fav pics (I look like I can really run!)
Next up - ???
Canal Connection in November for sure. Other than that, I haven’t solidified a plan. I will likely pace my sister at the Quad Cities Half at the end of September. I want to try a stroller marathon this fall…maybe Whiskeydaddle in Peoria in October? I do still want that sub-20 5k…maybe I need to try again somewhere this fall? We’ll see.
Also…stay tuned for my Bix Report. One of these days, I will get around to finishing it.
Have an awesome day, friends!
~Rachel
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| Top Female - holding my biggest inspiration |
