Dog Days 5k 2017
July 8, 2017
6:00pm
Official Time: 20:47.8 (*Pushing Gabe*)
Overall Ranking: 20/154
Female Ranking: 3/74
AG F30-34: 1/7
(My 12th race of the 2017 season)
I’ve now run Dog Days four times and earned 3 1st AG places and 1 2nd AG place:
2017 - 20:47 (1st AG) (my course PR and 17 seconds slower than my 5k PR of 20:34)
2016 - 25:04 (2nd AG) (*11 weeks postpartum/6 weeks back into running)
2015 - 21:24 (1st AG)
2014 - 23:10 (1st AG)
Last year, this race was my very first stroller race. It was SO hard but it also felt pretty awesome to run with my little guy. It’s no surprise that I pushed him again tonight, as most of my races are now run with him in his stroller. My C goal was to beat last year’s time (each of my 5ks since then have been faster so I felt pretty confident about this goal), my B goal was to have a course PR, and my A goal was to be the first female. I knew the A goal really depended on who showed up as much as it depended on how hard I could push - so it was really just a wild shot in the dark. My race strategy was also really on point - go as hard and as fast as I could until I had to slow down. Let me be clear - this was MY bright idea, NOT my coach’s!!!
This morning I ran a great 8 miles with Amber, Jennifer (another one of Clint’s coaching clients) and then Sharron Carr (familiar face to many in the Blo-No running scene) joined us along with her stroller and son Charles for about two miles. We met at Tipton this morning at 7 and planned to have an “easy” go of things…but ended up running about an 8:27 average pace with a few miles under 8:15. We blamed the fact that we ran a little faster than we might’ve liked on the fact that we were just trying to keep up with Amber’s daughter Sophia who was biking with us. That’s our story, anyway. After that run, I met Clint back at home where he made us some killer pancakes (after his own long run of 14 miles). After breakfast, we hopped in the car and headed to Peoria where we hung out at Camp Wakonda for a while to spectate our good friend Tanya’s 50k+ (the plus is because the course ended up being 35.5 miles instead of a real 50k/31 mile distance! INSANITY!!). We saw her at her mile 21 and 23 which was awesome - I think it meant a lot to see some familiar faces and I am glad we could be there for her! She went on to be the top female finisher in the 50k! The girl is incredible!!
After this adventure, we went to One World (a Wells Fam Peoria favorite) where we ate a lot of food and I drove us home. I hit a tired wall a few miles outside of BloNo but of course powered through. We had a bit of time to lie around at home before heading out again at 4:50 for Lake Bloomington/Dog Days! I might’ve told Clint to go on without me as I languished in a recliner. Man, it was a challenge to force myself out the door for this evening race tonight! However, I am absolutely glad I did (of course :)). As usual, it was great to see everyone - and it felt “awesome” to push myself for a nice hard-effort run.
Amber and I ran a nice, easy 1-mile warmup. There was no way I was running more than that as a warmup tonight, right, wrong, or otherwise. I was tired and frankly, irrationally proud of myself for doing any warmup at ALL! After the warmup, I changed my shoes into my racing flats and lined up. Since it was a chip start, we all had to kinda cram together in the finishing (so also the start) chute and I did my best not to run over anyone’s ankles. I positioned my wheel directly behind Ryan Leuty’s foot, knowing that if I hit him he wouldn’t kill me. A few minutes before the race started, anyway, he started kicking the wheel (likely trying to sabotage me…spoiler alert…it didn’t work)…so whatever. HA!
After a few minutes in the chute, the starting signal was given and we were off! I immediately charged to the outside/right side of the pack to maneuver around a few of the people in front of me (yes, including Ryan Leuty). We flew down the first straightaway and turned to the right. Taylor Yaklich and Audrey Jenkins, two fierce little 13-year-olds, had settled into a rhythm next to one another maybe 20 strides in front of me (and were the front women in a sea of men). I told myself to keep them within my sights as long as possible. As we approached the left turn in the road, I heard two guys behind me chatting about being glad that they weren’t running too hard and were just “jogging” or something along those lines. Funny, guys. FUNNY!!!! I turned my head around to give them a joking eye roll and one of them said, “I am not talking about YOU! I just mean US! YOU’RE pushing a stroller!” Oh whatever ;). But seriously, the first half mile was over in like 3:00/6:00 pace. WHOOPS. The chatty fast guys passed me right around the half mile and we all carried on down the descent to the left hand turn at 0.75. Up the hill a bit…Taylor and Audrey running in stride with one another and within striking distance but I knew if I made a move I would likely blow it at some point. Mile 1 clicked off in 6:23. I knew that was wayyyy too fast but it was still fun to see.
As anyone who has run this course knows, mile 2 is the worst of the three. I did my best to hang on and push to, at the very least, keep a sub-7 pace. The rolling hills as you enter the inner loop keep things interesting. I passed the water stop with a smile at Rachelle Leuty and company, but kept running through without grabbing any water. I had a bottle with Tailwind in it in my stroller should I need any liquids. I hit the turn-around (a fire extinguisher that had been set out in the middle of the road to run around - HILARIOUS!) and powered on….now back UP and out of the darn inner loop. My breathing definitely sounded labored as I hauled it to get up and out of there. I cheered on tons of people as I ran back (a perk of an out and back). Amber and Carol looked gooooood as usual! Mile 2 - 6:57….34 seconds behind Mile 1 (HAHA!).
As I ran down to cross the lake, I did my best to pick up some speed on the downhill. I noticed that Taylor had pulled away from Audrey…and Audrey was actually walking over the bridge. Poor thing was obviously hurting. Taylor rounded the corner to the left to start the hill and Audrey looked forlornly back behind herself, saw me, and started running again. Gabe and I rounded the corner to the right and I told myself…just three laps around a track left! I started singing “99 bottles of beer on the wall” in my head as I powered up the hill…my standard mind-over-matter distraction tool. I know, it’s weird. It started back in my triathlon days when I was trying to keep my mind off of swimming for long periods of time. I would sing that darn song over and over in my head. Whatever works, right?!
My gap on Audrey kept closing. I asked myself if I REALLY wanted to pass her - did it really matter? No, probably not really. I gave maybe an 80% effort toward catching her and kept closing the gap in spite of my tired legs. Mile 3 clicked off in 6:54…at least it was SLIGHTLY faster than Mile 2, albeit barely! I put my head down and put in work for the final 0.1. I crossed the finish, cheers for Gabe ringing out from both sides, in 20:47. The final 0.1 on my watch was in a 6:01 pace. I’ll take it! It was so fun to hear people tell me that Gabe was clapping as he heard the cheers as we ran down to the finishing chute. I love it! This was a great way to close out one year of stroller racing.
Thanks Mitch - this race is always so much fun. Thanks to the rest of the team - whether you were there in person or in spirit at this one. Thanks to Saucony for the best gear!
Next up - the BIX!
Have a great day, all!
Rachel
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