Nick’s Run Double Challenge 5k & 10k Recap

Posted by hellyontherun in 10k, 5k, Race, Running and tagged with 10K, 5k, Angels for Athletes, GVP Runs, Local Races, Nick's Run, PR, Run Local February 22, 2016

I FINISHED 3RD FEMALE OVERALL!!!!!

Okay, I just needed to yell that. Oh, and it was the 5k where that happened. 😀

Lemme start at the beginning.

As I’d mentioned before, I was the ambassador for this race and was very, very excited to be a representative out there. I went in with the intention of have fun and using it as a training run for Phoenix Half next weekend. That was the plan.

My high school running buddy Nadia was also doing the double challenge and she also planned on taking it easy. This pleased me because I’d have a running buddy and really, it would be my one chance to run with her (she’s way faster than me).

The 10k was first and we plodded along nicely at around a 9 minute pace. We chatted the entire way and eventually had no idea where we were in the park. Luckily the race had ample volunteers directing us because we were not paying any attention, lol! We rolled along and around mile 5 Nadia wanted to slow down and I decided to stick to the groove I was in. I finished the 10k at 55:05 with an 8:49/mile pace. Felt good the entire way.

The 5k was next and started about 30 minutes after the 10k. Nadia was going to stick to 9 minutes but I wanted to be around the 8:30-8:45 mark so we decided to go at it solo. I looked around the crowd one last time in search of my husband–he was meeting me before the start as my daughter would participate in the Kid’s Run after the 5k. I didn’t see him so when the horn blew, I began to run. I was going along nicely when at about a half mile in we approached the first turn. From where I was, I could count the people in front of me and saw that I was the third girl at that point. When we rounded the corner, I could see the crowd behind me and saw that the next couple of girls were a bit aways. This might be my only chance to place overall! Any plan I had at that point was out the window and I picked up the pace.

Just after the first mile, 7:55, I saw my husband and daughter and he caught this pic of me capturing how happy I was to see them

I kept it going, feeling good and mile two beeped at 7:58. I was still 3rd female.

When we reached the final mile, I began to speed up a little as I saw I was close to a PR. I figured I was so close, I might as well give it a shot. The race ended with a little uphill but I finished mile 3 at 7:39 and managed to beat my previous 5k time (and remain 3rd female!) at 23:55!!

As soon as I grabbed my medals I walked towards my husband and dragged him to the screens displaying runners’ finishing times. There I was, my name next to third female overall!!!

I know that this will very likely NEVER happen again (and thank goodness for small races, lol) so I’m glad I was able to finish strong despite having ran a 10k before.

But my bad luck with race awards continues…

Remember how at FroYo 10k my chip time never registered so I missed out on an Age Group award? Well Nick’s Run only awarded 1st and 2nd overall places ONLY!!!

WHOMP, WHOMP!!!!!

No 3rd place overall award for me 😦

It’s all good though because I can still say that at one point in my life I did that, lol!

On a positive note, they mail out Age Group awards and my times put me at 1st in my Age Group for both the 5k and 10k so I should be getting those! Super yay!

The best part of the race though???

THIS

Waiting for go time to start her Garmin ❤

I think she likes to run.

My daughter had an absolute blast running her race. The 2-4 year old distance was perfect for her and she ran the entire way by herself. I was such a proud mommy!!!

Admiring our medals

This was such a great race. Very well organized–like I’d mentioned earlier, the race was in a huge park and the course took you through several loops. There was a volunteer at EVERY turn directing you. I even saw the race director himself on the course pointing runners in the right direction.

And the medals. GORG.

I strongly encourage runners to race locally. So much thought is put into it and you can see how people truly care about the event taking place.

Plus, running smaller races gives you a chance to place 😉

–Do you run local races?

–Ever placed overall in a race? (Like Suzy, winning the whole damn thing in her first 5k)

–Have you raced two (or more) distances back to back?

FroYo Race Pics and More

Posted by hellyontherun in 10k, 5k, Race, Running and tagged with FroYo, Half Marathon Training, Nick's Run, Phoenix Marathon, Race Pictures, Running February 19, 2016

Happy Friday!!

Short post today but wanted to share with you pics from FroYo. There were a couple I liked, but it wouldn’t be Helly’s blog if I didn’t share the ones that weren’t so great, lol!

If you recall from my recap, I wrote that I fist pumped my way through the finish line. I wasn’t lying 😀

And while they didn’t get me with full pumps in the air, you get the idea. I was so ridiculously happy to snag a PR.

I also mentioned in my recap how I struggled with my earphones. It was right at the start actually when they started to fall out and here’s proof:

LOL @ my face!!!

Of course, I got it together and just went with it.

These pictures were free so that was another cool feature of the race. I finally did get a response from the race director and while it’ll be a while for them to fix/add my time, it will get done. I’m a little bummed they’ll be using my time and not their chip time (you know, sometimes you gain a few seconds 😉 ) but it’s okay, I’m just glad it’ll be taken care of. As far as my age group placement, I had to be there to accept the award anyway…

I have Nick’s Run this Sunday and I’m super excited. Their medals look super cool and I’ll be getting the Double Challenge one since I’m doing the 5k and 10k back to back. I don’t plan on “racing” as I figured this would be my long run leading up to Phoenix 1/2 next weekend. The 5k is tempting to race but I don’t want to do anything foolish.

I had originally not planned to “race” Phoenix 1/2 as I didn’t think I’d be ready with less than 6 weeks to train, but now I’m toying with just going for it and seeing what I can do, given I had a good 10k last week and have been doing well with the training I have done so far. What are your guys’ thoughts?

My only qualm is that I haven’t done any double digit long runs. I did a 9 miler 2 weeks ago, (my 10k last weekend), and I’ll be doing 9.3 this weekend (BUT, I plan on adding a warm mile and cool down mile to make it 11.3–it just won’t be done consecutively).

Anyway, those are my random Friday thoughts (not as short as I had said, lol!). I hope everyone has a great weekend!! Who else is racing??

Local peeps, there’s still time to register for Nick’s Run!! Check out the bling!

www.nicksrun.com

FroYo 10k Recap (PR!!)

Posted by hellyontherun in 10k, Race, Running and tagged with 10K, FroYo 10k, PR, Race Recap, Running, Will Run For FroYo February 15, 2016

Whew! What a week last week. Before I get to my recap of my first race post injury, I’ll quickly give you the run down of last week and a surprise!

Monday: 30 minutes on the bike and the usual planks and bridges
Tuesday: Got in some good miles–5 at 8:30/mile. Felt good the entire way and was continuing to be surprised at how good being in the 8s felt. I was working, but not pushing too hard. Planks later.
Wednesday: Rest day
Thursday: 5 easy miles at 9:50/mile as I knew I had a race on Saturday. Planks later.
Friday: I was planning on doing a little shakeout run anyway but then it for sure happened so that I could test out THIS!!!

Garmin Fenix 3–Squeeee!!!

It’s so beautiful and I’ll talk more about it later 🙂

Saturday: Race Day!
Sunday: Rest day

FroYo 10k Recap

My game plan for the race was to try and maintain 8:30 miles for the first 3 and then progressively speed up for the last 3. And then gun it for the last .2.

But this is how it went.

The race was in Tempe Town Lake, a pretty area that I was familiar with. I arrived early to pick up my bib and meet up with some friends and we talked about how cold it was (for Arizona) but we knew it would quickly warm up (which it did, to like 80). I also planned on taking a pre-race pick with my Moms Run This Town group ❤

The 10k would start first at 7:45. There were no corrals but volunteers holding pace signs. I went to the front where the 8:00-9 sign was and adjusted my ear phones. Yes, I actually ran with music! Well, kinda. More on this later.

Soon enough, it was go time.

I started running and just ran. I always try to only look at my watch when the mile beeps and adjust accordingly so when the first mile beeped and I saw 8:08 I panicked a little. Too fast and not what I planned. I kept going and that’s when my earphones began to fall out. Plus, I had the I-pod in a pocket on the back of my shorts and when I ran, the volume would decrease and increase. I was reminded why I don’t like running with music. Too many unimportant/unnecessary things to worry about. I ran with one ear phone in and left the I-pod alone as I didn’t want to be struggling with trying to fix it. Some parts of the race I had music, most of it I didn’t, lol!! Mile 2, 8:12 and I felt a little better as that wasn’t as fast as the first mile had been and closer to what I had planned.

Mile 3 was the last of the loop (we’d do it again for the 10k) and it was a tough mile because there were little climbs throughout, tight turns, and changes of terrain–concrete, asphalt, and dirt. But I kept pushing through.

a fellow MRTT friend snagged this race pic — having fun doing what I love 🙂

There was a girl in front of me who looked really strong. I kept admiring her calves and her arm muscles and for a while, I was distracted. Do you do that sometimes? Stare at runners while you’re running? After a while, I was pretty close to her and I wondered if she was slowing down. I began to pass her and then wondered if I was going too fast. Isn’t it funny how we do that? Doubt ourselves and let ourselves be intimidated by runners we feel ‘look’ faster than us?

Not too long after, mile 3 chimed in at 8:04. Panic set in again as I began to feel like maybe I wasn’t focusing on my pacing. I worried about getting tired and not being able to finish strong.

But then I remembered I had done 4 miles at an 8 minute pace not too long ago and told myself, heck, I could do it if I concentrated and pushed myself. I’d already blown my plan of doing the first 3 at 8:30 so new plan it is!

Mile 4, 8:06
Mile 5, 8:04
Mile 6, 7:54

I freakin’ did it!!! And you know how I said I wanted to “gun it” the last .2?? I freakin’ did that too!!!

6 minute pace for one minute!!!

I ran through the finish line fists in the air and with a huge smile. An over 3 minute PR at 49:29!! NEVER did I think I would get a sub 50 time.

I met up with some other friends and we quickly got in line to get our celebratory yogurt.

I was on cloud nine on my drive home and was so excited to see my husband. I had texted him my race results and I knew he would be as thrilled about it as me. He was ❤

On Facebook a while later, a friend posted her official time which prompted me to check out mine. Except I couldn’t find it!! I looked and looked and rechecked my bib number but I was nowhere to be found. When I compared my time to the overall, gender, and age group I saw that I had finished 20/361, 7th female, and 3rd in my age group! I had placed!

Except it wasn’t official 😦

I immediately e-mailed the race people, and Facebooked them for good measure, but have yet to hear back. The age group placement doesn’t concern me; I’m glad I placed and all, but I just really want my time to be listed and official official, you know? I mean, it’s gotta be on my Athlinks! LOL

Overall, I just can’t believe how well I ran. That I maintained a sub 8:15 pace for 6.2 miles is just dumbfounding. It’s a huge confidence booster going into the 1/2 marathon I’m running in two weeks. I hope to PR there (sub 1:55) but really, I’m just so so glad to be running again ❤

–Do you get intimidated by the way other runners look?

–When is the last time you surprised yourself at a race??