Race Report: Pound the Pavement for Peter

Past Stroller Races
Shamrock 'n Roll 5K 2016 29:02, 1st Overall Stroller
Women's 5K 2016 29:43, 3rd Overall Stroller

Result
24:14, 3rd Overall Stroller/1st Female Stroller
(course was about 0.1 short by most people's watches, which means I still broke 25 with a STROLLER)

Pre-Race
So, real talk: I do not enjoy stroller racing. Pushing a stroller on hills is HARD, and navigating strollers around other runners/walkers is stressful. I only signed up for this race because the Atlanta Women's 5K decided not to allow strollers this year, and half of my Running Mamas group had been really looking forward to pushing their babies in strollers in it this year. It was important to me to give those women as close to the experience I had at my big stroller race as I could. 

This is the first charity race I've done in a loooooong time, and it was really awesome to see such a different community vibe than the typical ATC races. Lots of fun for families, lots of gratitude, and next to NO ONE warming up, which was weird, but also really relaxing and chill. 

I'd planned on a one mile warm-up, but that didn't happen. Instead, I got a 0.1ish mile warm-up when my training partner kindly watched my baby (Jerry was off warming up on his own, after having decided to race a couple days before). 

Race

I'd had tentative plans on trying to win the stroller division... until I saw our friend Dave and his son there. I figured I could start with them, though, and let them clear the way off the line... and then hopefully finish as the first female stroller. 

The first mile was great. Though I had a really stressful first 400-800m off the line, trying to get up to speed without clipping anyone's ankles, the crowds thinned quickly. By the half mile mark, I had zero trouble navigating around others, which is always my biggest fear in stroller races. I was a bit shocked to see my first mile pace register at a sub-8, and attributed that to off-the-line excitement and a mostly downhill first mile. 

As the hills and curves started coming, I pulled off to the side to unlock my front wheel. While I'd resolved to race with it locked for safety, the crowds and terrain weren't such that I felt like I needed it locked, and I wanted to have a little more freedom (and less resistance) to push the pace. It took me forever to get the wheel unlocked because I kept turning the wheel back into a locked position.Eventually, I got it, though, and it made a huge difference the rest of the race. 

By mile 1.5, I was hating everything again. Racing is hard. Racing with a stroller is harder. That feeling of "ugh, this is hard" was taking over, which meant I was doing something right. I didn't have a time goal for this race, but did want to to push myself. I wanted to make the other Running Mamas proud of me, and I wanted to be proud of myself for knowing I did something hard. 

elevation profile

Just like Shamrock and W5K, I found myself totally crushed by pushing the stroller up the hills. I knew I could walk and still finish in really good shape, but walking would mean I'd have to acknowledge that I gave up. When I got to the last hill, though, I didn't care. I felt like I would actually be faster pushing the stroller while walking than I was running. So, I stopped, walked up the last 30' or so... and promptly got passed by one of the Running Mamas's husband AND the second place stroller. 

I considered, for a moment, trying to catch the second place stroller, but then realized I just didn't care enough. I was still going to finish as the first female stroller, and WELL ahead of my goal of PRing a stroller 5K (29:01). I was able to kick going into the last bit, knowing it was downhill, and crossed the line with a smile. 

pace overlaid on elevation

Reflections
A year ago, I was just hoping to break 25:00 in a 5K. Today, I did that pushing a stroller on some hills. While the course was a little short (0.05-0.1mi, depending on whose Garmin you ask), I still would have come in at or under 25 on a full course. :) 

and even faster if I hadn't taken like 20s to unlock my wheel

I'm sooooo glad I did the stroller hills at Newtown this past Thursday. Today's course was tough, but paled in comparison to that workout. Definitely a huge confidence booster to know that I'd done something 10x harder two days earlier. 

Also, it was really cool to finally get to accept an award together with my little potato! You can't see it in the pic, but I made all the Running Mamas' kids little Atlanta Track Club shirts since ATC doesn't sell anything in toddler or baby sizes. Puffy paint for the win! 

lol. race bib under shirt looks awkward 

If more stroller races were like this (not having to start in the back, and having enough room to move freely on the course without fear of hitting anyone), I might consider making them a regular part of my training. It was so much fun to have a family running event where both Jerry and I could participate at the level we wanted, and hang out with so many of our friends. I think we'll definitely be doing this race again next year :)

Travel Week, CO Race

Monday

bootcamp
Today was "full body day", and was the most satisfying class so far. Not only did we have more variations in exercises, but there was also a second instructor, who was a much better personality fit for me. If he were going to be leading the morning classes, would probably stick around. Unfortunately, he's only doing evening classes...

Today's class had three major strikes against it:
1) It started late (and ran late) I am a total stickler for punctuality. This is non-negotiable for me, especially when I have something to do immediately afterwards. 
2) I was encouraged to use a weight that I felt was too heavy for me to keep form with... again. This is a safety concern in my mind. 
3) One participant wasn't moving between exercises and we were all made to do extra jumping jacks as punishment. I dislike group consequences for individual actions, and am NOT motivated by someone telling me I'm not making my workout count.

...and, with that, we've decided not to return. 


Tuesday
Scheduled: 6-8mi recovery run
Did: 3.26 @ 8:46/mi + 3.17 @ 8:48/mi = 10KTuesday

I came home from work yesterday feeling sick, and opted to sleep in this morning, rather than pushing myself to wake up at the usual 4:30 for our group 10KTuesday run. That was a good call, since I felt nauseous and congested off and on all morning. By lunch, I was feeling about 85%. Since I had an appointment about a 5K away from the house (and was working from home), I decided to run there and back to knock out 10KTuesday.

The run was hot and sunny. I’m not used to running in almost 70 degrees in the sunshine. The only time that happens on a regular basis is during the latter half of longer training seasons’ Saturday LSD runs. Still, I knocked out a pretty awesome pace, and one that felt surprisingly comfortable. I’m always amazed by how much faster I seem to naturally run when I’ve been awake and moving around for a few hours versus rolling out of bed and landing in stride on the pavement.

Unfortunately, “doing it for the hashtag” was NOT the right call for my body. By 2pm, I felt completely blergh again, and had to miss chorus rehearsal.

Wednesday

Did: nada

Sick + long day at work. The only thing of note from today was that I think I may have twisted my ankle walking back from getting some takeout for lunch. :/

Thursday

Did: naga

Sick again, and definitely did something to my ankle yesterday. Today was the worst.

Friday

Did: nothing

I had hoped to do a quick run with B this morning before leaving for the weekend, but 1) being sick and 2) needing to get up at 5am to work for a few hours before departing scrapped those plans.

When we arrived in Denver, I felt even worse. Not only was I still sick with whatever has taken me down this week, but my head was pounding, appetite gone, and nausea intermittent thanks to altitude sickness.

Saturday

Did: skiing, 7mi walking

So much for our weekend ski trip getaway… I was in bad shape this morning and, thanks to Dr Google, was able to confidently self-diagnose altitude sickness. The worst thing for it, of course, would be going up any higher into the mountains (especially since the ski place we’d chosen was actually one of the highest ski resorts in the area).

We ended up having a good time, despite the initial disappointment. When I was finally able to get out of bed, we spent the day walking around the town, reuniting with some college friends who live in the area, and, of course, getting to bed early.

Sunday

Did: 0.32mi warm-up, 5K in 25:12, over 20K steps for the day

Jer and I have a life goal of running a race in every state. We’ve pretty much knocked out all the easily driveable states (Indiana and West Virginia are the closest ones unchecked right now), so, of course we had to do a race while we were in Colorado. I’d found a suuuuuuuuper small local race online that ended up being absolutely perfect.

Hola, Rocky Mountains!

I was pretty nervous going into this race. While I had zero ambitions for a solid finish time, I had three things that worried me:

1) my ankle- it hadn’t bothered me much yesterday, but I still noticed it a little and hadn’t tried to run at all…. Would it hold up?

2) I haven’t RUN at all since Tuesday. I could look back at my ultimate spreadsheet of ultimate running history, but I’m pretty certain this is the longest I’ve gone without running since I had my baby over a year ago?

3) Altitude. After being SO SICK on Friday, would my body even allow me to run at all up here? Would I get a half mile in and have to stop and walk?

All signs pointed to a “hey, if I can finish this thing under 30 min, that’ll be a success” kind of race.

Weather was cold, but comfortable. Jerry and I arrived a little after 8am (when bib pickup started) for a 9am race (11am our time, which was kind of weird), grabbed our bibs, and decided to walk part of the course to warm-up and scout it out a little. “Scouting” the course wasn’t for race strategy, though; it was to determine how snow/ice-covered it was and if I needed to be in my trail shoes. lol.

Race Start/Finish

The course was along a wide sidewalk through a park. While there was a little snow on the grass, I was pleased and surprised to see the entire path was cleared. Way to go, City of Denver (they really do have a HUGE active community)!

I wasn’t planning on warming up, but when Jerry took off to do so, I figured it couldn’t hurt to figure out if I was able to run BEFORE the gun went off. I did a little over a quarter mile. I had a bit of soreness in my ankle to start, but attributed that to not using it much this past week. It went away quickly, and I decided I would be able to run the race, just at whatever my body decided was an “easy pace” for today.

...but then the race started and I realized I was in position to get a top three overall finish, so I asked a liiiiiiiiiiiittle more of my body that I'd planned. 

The first half mile felt fine. I was clocking around a low-8, which should have been a comfortable pace for this sort of distance, except I was running a mile above sea level. My arms and legs felt cold, but I felt hot. It took me a minute to realize that was the oxygen deprivation manifesting. 

I ran the first mile or so with the woman who ended up taking third overall female. It was nice to have some "company", even though we didn't talk. At one point, the female leader stopped to tie her shoe and we both thought we might catch her, but she resumed her 7:45 pace just as we were coming upon her. Shortly after, there was a bit of a downhill, and I solidified my second place. 

Since the course was a simple out-and-back, I was able to see Jerry on his return trip. Probably the coolest thing about this race was the two of us flashing each other two fingers, and acknowledging that each of us was currently sitting second in our gender. :D

halfway U-turn 

The back half of the course was the hardest for me. I haven't had a race that was controlled by cardio in a really long time. Not only was this cardio-controlled, but it was also a different type of cardio. I had the systems in place to get my blood around my body, and they were well-trained, but not for the environment I was in. I could tell I was physically limited and that I didn't want to go any faster (or any further), but the "why" was a completely new sensation. 

Oh, look! Garmin actually has an appropriate elevation scale out here.

This was the first race where I've also actually checked back over my shoulder in the last 800m to see if I could hold position. I did NOT want to go any faster, but, if I'd seen another woman behind me, I would have tried to hold second place. Fortunately, third place wasn't even in view when I snuck a glance. 

Good thing, too. I had ZERO kick going into the finish line.
ZERO.

I was SO done when I crossed the finish line. Jerry tried to hug me and I pushed him away (second time this month that's happened at the finish line, lol), and then reached back out for him a few paces later for support.

sweet "podium" pics
fun fact: 3rd Male and 1st Female are also a married couple

Great picture for our states map :)
Also, race bling is definitely the BEST souvenir we could have brought home from our trip. 

Weeeee :D