Better Late Than Never: Tidewater Striders Marathon Report

Yesterday I ran my 35th marathon in Chesapeake, VA at the Tidewater Striders marathon. I'd love to say that I'm so experienced I would never make a rookie mistake. But alas- it seems like it's time for me to go back to basics.

We drove down to Chesapeake on Friday and it took us about 3.5 hours. When we got to the hotel I laid out all my race gear to ensure I wouldn't forget anything on race morning. Because this was a small race, there was no packet pickup the day before. Everyone would be getting their bibs on race morning. I brought two options for my top (short sleeves or tank) and two options for my bottom (capri tights or long tights). Either shirt would go with either pair of tights. It was going to be very cold throughout the entire race so I didn't even bother bringing shorts. I had originally considered wearing the adidas adios Pro Evo shoes, the ones that are $500 and super light. But I ended up returning them because if I PR'ed, I didn't want it to be because of the shoes.

We had dinner at 5:15 at a restaurant we had been to before. Back in 2021, I ran a 10-mile race on this same course so we were familiar with the area and the course. I had my standard chicken parm with no cheese and loads of bread. I made sure to hydrate really well throughout the day with water and electrolytes. I was worried that I would not be able to carry a cold water bottle with numb hands so pre-hydration would be critical. 

All day on Friday my right knee and shin felt injured. My knee had started bugging me a week prior during a run and now my whole shin felt achey. I had gone to PT earlier in the week and he thought I probably had some mild bursitis in my knee. I didn't run on Thursday or Friday just to be extra safe. I wasn't freaking out about it, but I could definitely feel that my knee/shin was off. I decided I was still going to race at full effort and hope for the best. 

Race prep and outfit decisions
I slept ok for the night before the race. As usual I woke up a bunch of times and kept falling back asleep. I probably got about 5.5-6 hours total. I had my usual anxiety dreams about missing the start or showing up without my Garmin or my shoes or whatever. I almost never have anxiety dreams about the race not going well - the anxiety is always about getting there on time and having everything I need. 

I woke up naturally at around 4:00. For a 7:00 race start, I knew I wanted to be done eating by 5:00. So at 4:45 I ate a banana and almond butter filled pretzels. I also drank plenty of water with electrolyte mix. Now it was time to finalize my outfit: the short sleeves or the tank? (Both options would include arm warmers). The capri tights or the full length tights?

Weather
According to my weather app, it would be 17 degrees at 7:00 and rise to 35 degrees by the end. I decided to go with the capri length tights because they had a more compressive fit which I thought would feel warmer. But given that the majority of the race would be in the 20s, I opted for short sleeves with arm warmers. I prefer this to a long sleeved shirt because I feel like too much air gets trapped in long sleeves. This way, my arms are still covered but the air flows. 

I suffer from Reynaud's syndrome which means my hands easily go numb. I wore thin gloves under convertible fleece mittens with hand warmers in each mitten. This would allow me finger access to get my fuel. 

I give this weather an 8 out of 10 on my race weather scale. Normally nothing is too cold for me, but when it's in the high teens to low 20s and it's a marathon, no amount of mittens/gloves/handwarmers will prevent numb fingers and this means fueling issues. The fact that there was no wind was a huge blessing. Temperature wise, this was my coldest marathon out of 35. But "real feel" wise, Boston 2018 with its torrential downpours and punishing winds felt far colder. I was uncomfortably cold for the first half of this race but I think once it got into the upper 20s I started to feel less chilled. 

In reality, this weather impacted me beyond just race conditions, but I'll get to that later. 

The Course
This course was pancake flat. Two out-and-backs. Greg would be able to drive to several spots and see me at multiple times. As much as I wanted him to hand me water bottles, that's against USATF rules and I didn't want to get disqualified for getting extra help.

A cool thing about this race is that they set out a table shortly after the half marathon turnaround and you can put your bottles and fuel on that table. 

There was also a 50K and a 100K, but those had earlier start times. The email said that those runners would need headlamps for the dark start, but the marathon runners would be starting in the light so we wouldn't need headlamps.

Car windshield

Before the Race
Our plan was to leave the hotel at 6:10 and get there at 6:30 for a 7:00 race start. Normally I would have left earlier but I didn't want to wait around at the start line in the cold. When we got inside the car, the entire windshield was ice. We didn't have a scraper so we had to wait for the windshield to defrost. This gave me so much anxiety. I even said to Greg "this is giving me so much anxiety". I was at the mercy of a frozen windshield to get to my race on time. 

Thankfully it only took about 5 minutes to defrost and we made it to the race at 6:32. I immediate got my bib and walked back to the car to pin it in. It was dark out and I could see runners around but I didn't pay too much attention to what was going on because I had to get my bib on. 

After I pinned on my bib, I asked Greg what time it was and he said 6:41. It was time for my UCAN gel, I dug it out of my jacket pocket and made sure to eat the entire thing. 

We got out of the car at 6:44 and started walking to the start line. It was still quite dark and we couldn't see much. There was an indoor bathroom on the way so I stopped in and was pretty quick about it. Nobody else was in the bathroom which I thought was odd, but I didn't question it.

I got out of the bathroom at around 6:47 we were at the start line a minute later. There were a few people lingering around the start line but not many. This was a small race and I assumed most people were still in their cars and were waiting until the very last minute. There was also a 50K and 100K race occurring, but those had started earlier in the morning. 

I went to set my bottle down at the half marathon turnaround table and I noticed that there were only 10 other bottles. I guess people were waiting in their cars and would put their bottles out right before starting. I knew that just over 100 people would be running the marathon, so I envisioned 100 bottles and I hoped mine wouldn't get lost or moved. It was 6:50 and with 10 minutes to go I decided to have Greg film a quick video for Instagram of me at the start, talking about my pre-race thoughts. After the video I knew it was time to line up at the start. Someone asked me, "are you running the marathon alone?" I replied "no, why?" He said "the marathon already started."

What? This guy had to be joking with me. "No, it's not 7:00 yet. The marathon starts at 7:00," I said.

"I started at 6:45," he insisted.

"But I know the email said 7:00."

At that point he walked me over to the race director and the timing people and reality hit me. I somehow got the start time wrong. The marathon had, in fact, started at 6:45. Probably while I was in the bathroom. It was dark so I couldn't see a bunch of people lining up, and I didn't hear anything. I didn't have time to think about any of this or to get emotional. No time to panic. No time to get emotional. I had to focus on what to do. Here was the conversation:

Race director: It's timed by chip, so you can start now.

Me: I know but I was kind of hoping to win. (Geeze that sounds cocky)

Race director: With what time?

Me: Around 3:10

Race director: Well, okay just go ahead and start. 

As I ironically posted about in my Turkey Trot race recap last week, overall winners are determined by gun time, not chip time. It's a race and you have to know who you are racing against. With a 14-minute delayed start, I would have to run 14 minutes faster than the next fastest woman to win the race. Not likely. 

I did not get emotional. I shed my heavy coat and my light jacket (that I was originally planning to wear for the first hour). But I guess that late start made me take it out on my jacket so I didn't start out wearing it as planned. I had just a thin t-shirt and arm sleeves in 19 degree temps. 

I turned on my Garmin and waited for it to locate. As soon as it did I crossed the start line. 

So I started 14 minutes after everyone else. WOW. 

I figured I would get emotional later. I would kick myself later. I would figure out how I got it wrong later. Now was the time to focus on running. 

Now is later, and here's what I think happened.

How I Got it Wrong
I had been 100% sure it was a 7:00 start so there was no need for me to double and triple check like I
always do. I think it was a combination of these three things:

• I had a lot going on this month with buying a new house and getting ready to sell our current house and also switching jobs. I didn't have a lot of free headspace to do my normal "triple check the start time".
• The race was on December 7. Every time I opened the final instruction email, I kept seeing 7.
• At some point I must have looked at the start time, but mainly for the purposes of weather. I kept looking at the 7:00 temperature, so my brain must have assumed a 7:00 start.

A few things confirmed my belief in a 7:00 start time. First, 7:00 is a much more standard time than 6:45. I was almost late to a 5K last summer because it started at 7:15 and I thought it was 7:30. Second, they had sent an email saying that the 50K runners and the 100K runners would need headlamps, but it would be light for the marathoners. It was still mostly dark at 6:45. 

The race director helping me start

Finally, the reason that the weather impacted me more than running conditions is because I would have been at the start line much earlier if it hadn't been 19 degrees. And the lack of people at 6:50 would have concerned me more if I didn't think everyone else was in their cars. The fact that the water table only had 10 bottles also confirmed my false belief.  If it had been warmer I would have gotten there earlier. Sure, I would have been thrown for a loop but I think I would have still started on time.

On the plus side, if we had been delayed by the windshield for 10-15 minutes, or I knew in advance that I would miss the start, I would have much more time to be anxious. But given the fact that I was going to start immediately I had no time for anxiety or stress. The stress comes from the anticipation of being late, not actually being late.

I can analyze this all I want but plain and simple, I made a mistake. After 34 marathons, I forgot one of the most basic things which is knowing the start time. I don't have any excuses, but I do understand why it happened. It will never happen again, I can guarantee that!

Miles 1-6.55
So I started alone. Not a big deal. I was planning on running this one mostly alone with only 120 registered runners. No headphones. No crowd support. I would be fine. This is how I do my long runs. There were, however, runners in the 100K and 50K around me so it was not completely desolate. 

My first thought was to think of this like a fun game. I know there are Santa races where Santa starts at the back of the race and sees how many people he can pass. He does it for fun. That would be me! It would be a fun challenge to pass as many people as possible. I convinced myself that I probably wouldn't have won anyway, there was probably a super speedy woman running sub 3:10, so the win wouldn't have been possible anyway. 

Mile 5

My goal was sub 3:15 and ideally around 3:10-3:12. I started out conservatively and it felt ridiculously easy as marathons always do in the beginning,

I was holding a bottle of water mixed with Skratch labs. Normally I would evenly space out my water sips but I was worried that the bottle would soon be too cold to hold so I drank a lot of it during the first 10 minutes. During the second mile the drink started to develop icy bits and was more like a slushee. As I said, it was about 19 degrees and so liquids freeze quickly. 

I didn't want to litter the bottle so I had to hold onto it until I could toss it in a trash can or at a water station. That was hard. My hands were already cold despite the hand warmers and glove/mitten combo. But what a relief to get to an aid station at 2.5 miles. 

One thing that amazed me about this first stretch was how quickly the miles went by. My Garmin kept beeping and I was like "already?!" It seriously kept beeping for the mile splits and I thought I was only half a mile in. I guess my mind was pretty active so I wasn't really paying attention to how far I had run. 

I had my first Greg sighting at mile 5 and I said to him "I'm losing!" as a joke. He replied "No you're not!" My spirits were high and in my mind I had turned this into a game. It would be fun to play and a fun story to tell. (Yup, I'm having fun now!)

I took my first gel at 40 minutes. The pockets on these capri tights were a little lower than ideal so I had to reach to grab the gel tightly. My fingers only half worked and I was afraid that the hand warmer would fall out of the mitten if I was not careful. I was successful in taking the gel. That felt like a big achievement.

As I approached the 6.55 turnaround, I could see the other marathoners on the other side of the course. They looked fast. Even though I knew I was ahead of some of them by chip time, I had no idea how much and it was impossible to tell how fast they were going. I immediately honed in on the first female. She looked strong wearing shorts, a tank, and arm sleeves. Okay - she was fast. She would probably go sub 3:10 and I would not have won against her. I convinced myself of that. I am not sure how many people I passed during the first section. Maybe about 15? There were also 100K and 50K runners, so it was hard to know who was doing what race from behind. From the front you could see their bibs.

Mile 1: 7:29
Mile 2: 7:27
Mile 3: 7:25

Mile 4: 7:26
Mile 5: 7:23
Mile 6: 7:23

Miles 6.55-13.1
After turning around I thought to myself "I can definitely do 3 more of those. This race is going so well!" They were handing out water at around mile 7 and I decided I would take the time to stop and properly drink it. I hadn't had any water since mile 2. 

I took a big gulp and then continued on my way. But the urge to vomit hit me suddenly. Oh no - was I having digestive issues! I really felt nauseous at that point. There was no logical reason for me to be feeling like that after just 7 miles at a pace that felt totally moderate. I convinced myself that it would go away, I would be fine. I would not have digestive issues. 

Mile 8

Greg was at mile 8 snapping photos. It was so awesome to see him. Even though this race lacked crowd support, I got to see the one person that really matters a bunch of times. I had planned to toss him my jacket at mile 8, but I had ditched it at the start and he had collected it there. 

Now it was time to do math. When did I want to reach the halfway point? My Garmin was reading an average race pace of 7:24 which was in line with my plans. I figured 1:36:xx would be a good half marathon target. 

At 1:20 it was time for my second gel, which would be a caffeinated one. My hands were mostly numb and I had a really hard time grabbing a gel. There were two in my right pocket and I grabbed one of them and I hoped so badly it was the correct one. YES! It was the caffeinated one. I was worried about this one going down because I find the caffeinated gels much harder to digest. My nausea had subsided but wasn't completely gone. I took the gel in 2 servings and told myself to swallow it like a pill so there was no time to taste it. It was not easy but thankfully the gel did go down and I think I was able to get the whole thing down. Not seeing a garbage nearby, I stuffed the wrapper into my tights pocket which was challenging with the numb hands. 

Mile 7: 7:22
Mile 8: 7:23
Mile 9: 7:23
Mile 10: 7:20
Mile 11: 7:20
Mile 12: 7:18

Mile 13: 7:17

Miles 13.1-19.65
I glanced down at my watch as I crossed the mat and I think it read 1:36:5x. So that would put me on track for slightly under 3:14. The high 3:13's. Perfect! Now it was time to negative split. I felt like I could do it!

I grabbed my water bottle from the fuel table and it was mostly slush. Not a ton came out when I squeezed it and what did come out was icy. Plus, the gag reflex came back and my body did not want to digest this. Unfortunately I probably only got about 3-4 ounces of fluid. This was not ideal because my only other two hydration spots were mile 2 and mile 8. But I wasn't sweating and I know that when it's very cold I can get away with minimal water if I am pre-hydrated. And I was definitely pre-hydrated.

I also think that the way the Maurten gels work is that they combine with fluids to form the hydrogel. So this may have impacted the effectiveness of my gels. If I had it to do over again I would have fueled with UCAN gels. They are watery and work without any extra fluids. 

Mile 14 was a little bit slower because I slowed down to grab the bottle and open it with my teeth. When I saw the 7:28 split on my watch I picked up the pace again and redeemed myself with a 7:17 mile for mile 15. 

I felt mentally strong. I was still passing people and the half marathon turnaround showed me that I was starting to close the gap on the pack ahead of me. That one woman was still way out in front and she looked strong.

At 2:00 it was time for another gel. My hands were totally useless and I could not grab it from my tights pocket. I actually had to stop and go fishing for it. I used my entire hand to grab ahold of it (fingers were not cooperating) and I took the gel. Greg was nearby so I tossed it and hoped he would get the wrapper, which he did! He later told me that the gel was only halfway eaten. I thought I had gotten it all but with numb hands and lips, there was no way to know. 

Ideally I would have been drinking from my bottle this whole time which had water, electrolytes and also carbs. And I would have been snacking on honey stinger chews in between gels to supplement. But those chews were tiny and there was no way I was getting my fingers around them. I was under fueled and I knew it. But I hoped for the best.

At mile 19 the race suddenly started to get hard. It went from comfortable and manageable to hard all at once with nothing in between. I had plenty of energy but my hamstrings became sore. They didn't want to run anymore. Mentally this was the hardest part of the race because I hadn't even reached the turnaround yet! I told myself "just get to the turnaround and that will give you a mental boost to be running towards the finish". 

Mile 14: 7:28
Mile 15: 7:17
Mile 16: 7:19
Mile 17: 7:38 (stopped to get the fuel)

Mile 18: 7:17

Mile 19: 7:23

Miles 19.65-Finish
I was so happy to be on my way back. It was go time. I really wanted to race these last six miles. I had the energy to do so but my hamstrings were so achy. It was time to pull out the mental tricks. I knew I was on track for a PR and I reminded myself that the next 6 miles would be make it or break it. And I didn't train that hard to just let it slip away. I kept the effort level high and was trying to run under 7:20 but my Garmin wasn't reading as fast as I felt like I was going. 

Mile 22.5

I passed a lot of people during this final stretch. Some of them were walking. It helped distract me from my achy legs to pass people. I had one more gel to take at 2:40 and after struggling to grab it I was finally able to take it and surprisingly it went down well with no issues. 

It was go time but my legs did not want to go. I told myself I should have done more hamstring exercises. But I also reminded myself that marathons are hard. Even though I was struggling the last six miles are never going to feel good. They felt AMAZING in Richmond last fall but that's because I fueled properly and the course had more variation than being all flat. I had this expectation in my mind that this race would feel exactly like Richmond - just flying at the end with little suffering. 

But I suffered. I worried that I wouldn't make it to the finish. Every time I had that worry I told myself to keep doing what you are doing. And then I told myself to give even more. Sometimes that worked, sometimes it didn't. I hadn't felt this kind of hurt at the end of a marathon in almost two years. 

With 3 miles to go I felt super confident in myself but my Garmin clocked a disappointing 7:37 at mile 24 and an even more crushing 7:46 at mile 25. With one mile to go I reminded myself that a PR was on the line. I hadn't set a marathon PR since 2018! I really, really wanted it. I didn't want to look at my average race pace because I thought that would be discouraging, so I just focused on pushing super hard. I was able to knock out a 7:35 last mile, which was impressive given that all I could manage was 7:46 for mile 25. Mile 25 is always my slowest. 

When my Garmin ticked at 26 miles I looked down at my watch time and I thought that if I sprinted I could finish under 3:15, which was my goal. I ran hard, hard, hard!!!! My average pace for the final 0.25 was 6:52! Amazing what you can do when you set your mind to it.

And I finished  and my watch read 3:15:12. A PR by 22 seconds. Not my goal of sub-3:15, but a PR that I fought hard for on dead legs with low fueling and only about 15 ounces of fluids throughout the whole race, most of which were consumed during the first two miles.

Mile 20: 7:29
Mile 21: 7:30 

Mile 22: 7:29

Mile 23: 7:34
Mile 24: 7:37
Mile 25: 7:46
Mile 26: 7:35

After the Race
I was a little disappointed to learn that my final kick wasn't enough to go sub 3:15, but a PR is a PR. And at the age of 46, I'll take it!

Once I recovered for a few minutes, I talked to the race director. He said my time was good enough to win my age group and handed me an age group award and a Boston Qualifier t-shirt. The results weren't posted yet (and they still are not posted as of right now, Sunday morning) but he said he had to wait until all the 50K and 100K results were finalized to publish them. I did not ask what the winning female time was because I assumed she was faster than 3:15:12.

Final kick towards the finish

When we got back to the hotel room, we looked at Greg's photos and found the bib number of the woman who was in first place. I Strava stalked her and saw that she ran a time of 3:18:50. Three minutes and 38 seconds slower than me. Sigh. I probably would have won if I had started on time. That stung.

I've never won a marathon before and I am fairly confident I would have won this one, although there is no way to know for sure. That's why gun time is the official time because you have to be able to see who you are racing to truly race against them to the best of your ability. If we started together we likely would have run together or near each other because we had similar splits. I believe that we both may have run even faster if we had started together. Competition is a huge motivator. 

But that's the point - we could have both run totally different races if we had been together. But we will never know and that is why gun time is king. And my stupid error lost me what was probably a likely win. It's my fault. I've learned from it.

WAIT WAIT WAIT ---- THIS JUST IN! 

It's now 8:35am on Sunday and Greg just got a result notification. The results are posted! My official time is 3:15:11.

I just learned that the 3:18 woman did not win. There were a few fast women behind her and one of them must have passed her in the last stretch. The winning time was 3:13:57. So I guess I would not have won with my time. But I would have had two women to run with and compete against. 

And as it turns out, the race used Chip Time as the official time, so I was officially second place. 

Final Thoughts and Key Takeaways
My biggest takeaway here is how I handled the mishap at the start line. I did not get emotional or frazzled. I focused on what I needed to do and that was to start running as soon as I could get my jackets off. I stayed positive throughout the race and I didn't mind running alone. I turned it into a fun game.

My second biggest accomplishment was how I handled those final miles when I knew a PR was on the line. I fought really hard and I did not give in to the pain in my hamstrings. 

I think I could have run sub 3:15 if I didn't need to stop to fuel due to numb hands and if I had been able to access all of my fuel. So in that sense, the cold weather slowed me down due to numb and useless fingers. And if I had started on time and was competing against the 3:18 runner and the 3:13 runner, I might have had even more motivation. But I did the best I could in the situation that was dealt to me.

My 3:15:11 is a PR by 23 seconds and we are making a cake tonight! It beats my 3:15:34 from Rehoboth beach exactly six years ago. I can't believe it took me six years to PR in the marathon again. WOW. 

I qualified for Boston by 29 minutes and 49 seconds. I was so close to getting the men's BQ of 3:15:00.

I was self-coached and I only had 6-8 weeks to train depending on when you consider my training to start and end. If I had it to do over again I would have incorporated more Fartlek and shorter intervals. I lacked high-end speed and I think those workouts would have helped my legs in the final miles. I sacrificed those shorter workouts because I had such a limited amount of time to train.

I was officially the 2nd female finisher out of just 21. I placed 11th out of 73 overall runners, which means that nearly 50 people were a no-show. That's almost half the registrants!!

My official half marathon split was 1:36:55 so I ran a positive split by 1:21. My plan was to negative split, but if I have to positive split, that's pretty good and it shows I didn't leave anything out there on the course. 

I hope that I can finally break into the 11xxx bib numbers for Boston. I have received 12xxx bibs for the last three Bostons. In 2024 a time of 3:15:11 would have been enough, but maybe not in 2025. Times are getting faster. 11 is my lucky number.  My dream bib is 11111.

My knee/shin was totally phantom taper pains. I had zero knee or shin issues during the race.

Greg was such a great cheerleader and photographer! I saw him seven times!

This race affirms my love of running in really cold weather. Even though the sub-20 degree temps impacted my ability to fuel and made me unaware of my late start, I would still prefer these conditions over anything that got into the 50s. My outfit worked well and the only thing I would have done differently is used warmer heavier gloves under the mittens instead of the thin gloves. 

Up Next
Next up are some shorter races and then Boston 2025!

That Turkey Trot Though!

I am running out of creative titles for Turkey Trot race recaps. (I am waiting for a warm year so I can use "Too Hot To Trot" - which would be a decent consolation prize for unfavorable weather.) Onto the race report.

This was my 15th Virginia Run Turkey Trot! I started running this course back in 2006, and have run it every year since except for 2019-2022 when they stopped holding the race due to lack of volunteers. My backup race, Ashburn Farm, is actually a faster course and holds my 5K PR of 19:41. But I'm more interested in tradition than PRs (shocking, I know) so I still opt for Virginia Run now that it's back in business!

As I just posted a few days ago, I have been training for a marathon and my build has been quite intense. Because I had to fit a lot of work into just seven weeks, I sacrificed VO2 max work in exchange for lactate threshold work and long runs. I figured I could probably run around 20:00-20:10. 

Before the Race
The forecast called for steady rain so I planned my outfit accordingly the night before: short sleeves, long fitted shorts, arm warmers and a hat. But when I woke up, the rain seemed to have stopped and the hourly forecast was showing light rain. My outfit was already laid out, but I decided to abandon it in favor of short shorts, a fitted crop top and no arm sleeves. 

I got dressed and we left the house at 7:05, arriving ten minutes later. I love how close this race is to my house! Greg is unfortunately still dealing with the injury he's had for over two years, so he did not race. Instead, he played the role of Instagram videographer, cheerleader, and gear holder. 

The rain had picked up on our drive so we sat in the car until it was time to warm up. I had picked up my bib the day before so I didn't have to worry about waiting in line in the cold rain. We got out of the car and I immediately started running. I had a light rain jacket over my outfit and was very thankful for that! I warmed up two miles during which I took a Maurten caffeinated gel. My energy was high and I felt mentally ready to put out a hard effort. 

About 5 minutes before the race started I handed my jacket to Greg along with my hat. The rain had mostly subsided and was now light enough for me to be hatless. It was 46 degrees, no wind and fully overcast. I give this a 9 out of 10 on my weather scale. Very favorable racing conditions with the rain being very light. The only downside was wet pavement which meant I needed to be more cautious with my footing. 

Mile 1: 6:34
The race started and I went out confidently. I was hoping to run around 6:30 for the first mile and then have miles 2 and 3 be faster based on the elevation profile. Two women bolted out ahead of me so I was in third place. I stayed relaxed, didn't look at my Garmin and told myself to run really hard. About halfway through the first mile I was able to pass one of the women who was ahead of me. I was now in second place. 

Mile 2: 6:40
During the first mile I thought it might be possible to catch the first woman, but she solidified a strong lead during the second mile. Even though mile 2 has a significant hill, it has less of a net gain overall so it's objectively faster than mile 1. I typically run this mile faster or at the same pace as the first mile. When I looked down and saw that I had run 6:40, I was discouraged, but vowed to keep the effort hard.

Mile 3: 6:30
This is the fastest mile of the race and I usually crush this mile! Knowing that it was a fast mile perked me up and gave me the energy to really fight for it. But now my legs were not cooperating. Even though I felt like I had more energy and my lungs could do more for me, my legs were heavy and I couldn't get them going as fast as I wanted to. I was still in second place, and I didn't want anyone passing me during this fast mile. 

My final 0.14 miles was a pace of 5:50 according to my Garmin, so I had a little something left in my legs, but it felt like I didn't have the power that I normally have. 

After the Race
My Garmin clocked me in at 20:32, which was a far cry from the 20:00-20:10 I was hoping for. And shortly after I crossed, another woman crossed! She told me she had been trying to catch me so I am glad I didn't ease up during that last mile.

I heard the announcer say something about me running a time of 19:51, and I knew that was wrong. They did not have a finish line clock, which I assume was because it was raining. Even still, I knew my time was not 19:51.

The rain was starting to pick up again, so I decided I would run my cool down to the car and leave. Normally I like to linger post race and talk to other runners, but I wanted to get out of that rain as soon as possible.

Results issues
When I checked the results online, my time was 19:51. So I waited until later in the day, figuring they would be corrected. I was also listed in the results as the 3rd place female, with the woman who crossed after me coming in second. While she may have had a faster chip time (unknown due to result inaccuracies) the top three finishers are determined by gun time according to USATF standards. This rule is in place because runners should be able to see who they are racing against. If someone starts a minute behind you and you don't know they are there, you can't possibly "race" against that person. Age group awards, on the other hand, are often done by chip time. 

The race results list gun time and chip time - but both of these are the exact same for all runners. So it looks like true gun time was not listed for anyone, just chip, in which case they should remove "gun time" because it's not gun time. What baffles me is that they clearly they recorded gun time-- so why not publish it? 

Ultimately, my time was corrected to 20:25 which still feels too fast compared to my Garmin, but that's the official result.

Having a clock at the finish line and using gun time for the top overall three finishers is the best practice and eliminates this kind of confusion.

Final Thoughts and Key Takeaways
I have to admit I was a little disappointed in my time. I do think I ran the fastest race I had in me, but I thought 20:00 was totally realistic for me going into the race. The more I think about it, I guess it makes sense. 

My natural strength is endurance, not speed, and if I don't train that system regularly, I struggle at anything faster than 10K effort. Over the summer, I trained specifically for the Firecracker 5K and ran a time of 20:28 on a hilly course on a hot day. I was doing 400m intervals regularly as well as 1:00 Fartleks. That type of training has been mostly absent during the past seven weeks. 

Further, my legs have been feeling flat/stale for the past few weeks due to the high mileage. I packed a ton of mileage into a short timeframe and I realize this is not the ideal setup for a 5K. I suspect if I had a few more days of rest and easy running leading up to the Turkey Trot my legs would have had more power. 

I ran a time of 19:58 on this course 9 days before running a 3:15 marathon back in 2018. And now I am hoping to run a 3:12 marathon! But this is not apples to apples because that previous training cycle included more VO2 max work. My marathon pace runs back then were not nearly as fast as they are now. 

Overall it was a fun race and good mental toughness practice. The results are wonky, but mine are correct because I did finish 2nd and my time was 20:30. 

This was my third fastest time on this course out of 15 so I can't really complain at the age of 46!

Now it's time to seriously taper (rest day today) so my legs bounce back for December 7.

Update at 3:30 on Friday:
The results have been updated and now include both gun and chip time. The overall three women are ranked in order of gun time. However, I am credited with a chip time of 20:25, which seems too fast given my Garmin time of 20:32 and starting at the front.

I'm Running A Marathon Soon

On Saturday, December 7, I will run my 35th marathon: the Tidewater Striders Marathon in Chesapeake, VA.

Why I chose this race
I came down with Covid at the end of July and I took the entire month of August off, except for three very short/easy runs in which I thought I was recovered. Those three very short and easy runs likely caused me to sink further into post viral fatigue, so I wasn't able to resume running again until the middle of September. At that point, I came back with run-walks to be 100% certain that I was well enough to run again. In total, I took seven weeks off of running. This post has all the details!

Having been through post-viral fatigue before, I knew that once I was out of the woods, I could train at full intensity. I ran 36 miles the week of September 23rd and 44 miles the week of September 30. I was back! Based on experience, I know that I don't need a really long training cycle to run a strong marathon. I just need an intense training cycle - jam-packing a lot of quality into 6-8 key weeks. As a coach myself, I don't recommend this approach to other athletes, but it's worked for me in the past. 

An ideal time to run a marathon would have been right around Christmas/New Year's - but there are no marathons within driving distance at that time of year. So my options were to go a bit earlier or a bit later. I quickly ruled out January because I didn't want to get on an airplane, so early December it was. My options within driving distance were Rehoboth Beach and the Tidewater Striders Marathon. Rehoboth is my PR and I didn't think I could replicate the magic of that day, so Tidewater it was! 

The Tidewater Striders marathon is a small race which currently has just under 100 registrants. However, there is also a 50K and 100K occurring at the same time, so it will feel slightly larger. I am familiar with the course because I set my 10-mile PR on that course back in 2021. The course is pancake flat! The downside is that it's two out-and-backs with little crowd support. And that's not much of a downside considering I will see Greg multiple times!

Training
How ready am I? Here is a graph of my training:

Thankfully everything went smoothly and we were blessed with ideal running weather throughout most of October. I did encounter quite a bit of wind on my 3 longest runs, but I still powered through it. And it could be windy on race day! As long as it's not hot, then I'm good to go.

My longest run was 21.5 miles, and I also ran a 20.4 miler and an 18.5 miler. (For some reason, I liked to be between the whole numbers this cycle). My goal marathon pace of 7:20 has felt very manageable and almost too soft, while I have struggled to hit paces below 6:40 for some of the faster workouts. I'm chalking it up to tired legs.

Shoes
When I ran Boston, I wore the ASICS Metaspeed Sky shoes. They were fun and fast, but not as responsive as I would like. I've decided to go back to adidas- my go to brand of womens running shoes. I typically race in the adidas Adios Pro 2. The "3" came out a few years ago but I stocked up on version 2 because of the higher heel drop. I was really hoping the 4th version would come out before this marathon but it's scheduled come out later in December. 

Just as I had decided on wearing a pair of the adidas Adios Pro 2, I had the opportunity to purchase a pair of the adidas Pro Evo 1. These shoes were released in very limited quantity, and they are almost impossible to find. Plus, with a price point of $500, I had determined that they were too expensive. But then I realized that I hadn't spent any money on running shoes this year because I received so many promotional pairs. When you look at it that way - why not splurge on them? The driver of the high price is the materials and the fact that they weigh less than 5 ounces yet have a full stack height.

I haven't tried them yet (they should be arriving in a few days) but I will do 1-2 short runs in them to make sure they work before race day. That's more than I did when I ran Boston in a brand new pair of ASICS! Let's just hope they fit because they were not available in the next size up.

Goals
My main goal is execution: to stay mentally strong and nail my fueling and hydration. Timewise, I am shooting for a PR (sub 3:15) but ideally closer to 3:12, maybe 3:10 if the shoes are truly that magical! (Although I don't want to give all the credit to my footwear.) Now I need to focus on resting, recovering, not getting sick, and picking out my race outfit. 

If I can pull this off, it will be the world's shortest training cycle ever! But I am relying on the endurance that I have built up over the years, not just in the past six weeks.

Ode To My Running Routes

We're moving. And perhaps the biggest change with moving won't be the house itself, the mortgage payment or the commute. But the running options.

When searching for our new home, we found plenty of houses that we loved but that were, as I called them, "land locked." My definition of "land locked" means the only way out of your neighborhood is a narrow two-lane road that is not safe to run on. These houses were automatic deal breakers. Our new home will be run-able, but as I stated above, the running options will be entirely new and different. 

But in this post I don't want to talk about our future neighborhood. I want to wish a proper farewell to our home of 15 years, the home that got me outside every day instead of on a gym treadmill Monday through Friday. 

Here are the top 10 things that I LOVE about my running routes today, that have been part of my daily routine for 15 years. 

10. Variety. From my house I can run in multiple directions and through multiple neighborhoods. Even though I do tend to get bored of my same routes, there are places I can go if I really want a change.

9. Fresh Pavement. Within the past year, they paved my neighborhood with smooth asphalt and they did the same to almost all the roads I run on. There is nothing like fresh, smooth asphalt!

8. Safety. I run mostly on neighborhood roads and I have never once feared for my safety. I often encounter other runners and walkers. The roads are generally well lit. I typically don't run on thru-streets so the only cars on the road are those people leaving their homes in the morning.

7. Flat, Hilly, or Mixed. I can make my runs as hilly or as flat as I want them. There are some routes that are mostly flat, and some routes that are quite hilly. I usually choose the flat routes for easy runs. Those routes are not entirely flat, but the hills aren't very long or steep.

6. Wide Roads.
If you've ever watched one of my Instagram videos, you know that I run mostly on neighborhood roads. And there aren't many cars. This is thanks to the roads being wide. There is enough room for cars to be parked on both sides of the street AND for two cars to be driving on the street passing each other, AND for me. So imagine a scenario where you have cars parked on both sides of the road, and there are cars coming from both directions. Well, there's still plenty of room for me to run. The roads are that wide.

5. Perfectly Placed Hills. One of these wide roads is a hill that's about a quarter of a mile long. It's perfect for hill repeats. My hill repeats usually last 60-90 seconds and this hill is the perfect grade and distance. It's not too steep but it's definitely a hill. This hill is located about a mile and a half from my house so it's perfect to run the warm up and cool down there and back. There is another hill that's about twice the distance that I use for my 2-minute hill repeats. It's similar to heartbreak hill. It's not incredibly steep but it is long. Finally, there is an area that's almost completely flat but has one hill in it. A common workout of mine is tempo/hills/tempo so I can run the tempo on the flat portion and have the hill for the hill repeats in the middle.

4. Plowing in the Winter. They are very good about plowing my neighborhood and the surrounding neighborhoods. If it snows overnight or in the morning, I know that road will be plowed by the middle of the day. Last winter we had a few periods of heavy snow and I only had to use the treadmill a few times. There was one winter when Greg and I needed to do a long run before leaving on vacation. Our neighborhood was not plowed but we found one about a mile away that was plowed and it was a big loop we ran 14 times around.

3. A Track. I can run to my local track in 2.3 miles. Sometimes I drive there and sometimes I drive halfway there, depending on how long I want my warmup and cool down to be. But it's nice to have a track that's open to the public that is within running distance. I also have a group of friends who runs on this track most Tuesdays, which is nice. 

2. Ending at Coffee. I live less than a mile away from a plaza with a coffee shop, a smoothie place, and a grocery store. I like to finish my runs there and walk home with my coffee or my smoothie. Or even pick up some groceries afterwards!

1. The Perfect Tempo Neighborhood. About 2.5 miles away from me is a neighborhood that's mostly flat (just a few inclines and declines) and it goes on, and on, and on, forever. It's perfect for tempo runs and marathon pace runs. Sometimes I run to it, and other times I drive there so I can use my car as a water station. The roads are wide, there is no through traffic on most of them, and it's well shaded. I think this is what I will miss most of all. 

Many of these things will also apply to my new neighborhood, but in a different way. I think the biggest difference will be narrow roads and a generally hillier topography. Narrow, hilly roads instead of wide, flat roads. I am sure I will get used to it! There will also be things about the new area that will be better than my current area. 

We still have a bit more time left to enjoy our current house which we will miss dearly! Every time I run I take a moment to appreciate how "lucky" I got with this particular area in terms of running route options.

If you are looking to move to a different area and you are an avid runner, it's worth thinking about these things and really sizing up the running landscape before choosing a new home. 

Back at it with a 10K

In my last post I talked about how I took 7 weeks off from running: 2 weeks with Covid, followed by 5 weeks of post-viral fatigue.

Getting Back Into Running
Once I was confident that I was out of the woods, I was able to ramp up my training fairly quickly. I spent the week of September 16 testing the waters with frequent walk breaks during my runs. By the end of the week I was up to 5 minutes running, 1 minute walking with no problems whatsoever. 

The following week (September 23) I removed my walk breaks and ran a total 36 miles. I felt energized and strong. On top of that mileage, I included strength training nearly every day. As a 45-year old woman, I know that I need to continually strength train to avoid loss of muscle mass. 

By the end of the month I started adding speed work back into the equation. I paced a friend in a 5K at an average pace of around 8:00, helping her set a new Master's PR. Speed work was quite humbling - I was nowhere near my previous paces! I stayed positive and patient, having faith that I would eventually return to my previous level of speed with enough hard work. 

Suffice it to say that by the time October 20 rolled around, I was not optimally prepared to run a 10K. But I did it anyway!

The Fall Classic 10K
I decided to run this race because I enjoy racing and I hadn't done it since July 4th. Plus, I purchased a 4-pack of races from Potomac River Running and I still had two races left to run. Bonus: the weather was absolutely perfect. When I signed up for this race two weeks ago I decided I would do whatever I could without getting frustrated by my lack of speed and use it as a fitness test. 

Between recovering from my illness and racing the 10K, my only speed workouts were:

• 3 x 1200m at marathon pace + 2 x 400m
• 6 x 800m + 2 x 400m
• 3-mile tempo run 
• 13.1 miles including 3 x 2 miles at marathon pace (7:14)
• 3 x (1600m + 400m) on the Monday before the race

That's actually a lot to pack into three weeks. Kind of like cramming for an exam. But my body handled it well. 

Before the Race
I had a very casual attitude towards this 10K. Since I had only invested four weeks of training into it, I knew I couldn't realistically expect a fast time. I mainly just wanted to discover what I could do and the curiosity was somewhat of an experiment - devoid of emotion. My sports psychologist always said that being emotion-neutral was a good thing, and here was a perfect example of that.

I ate a handful of almond butter pretzels and a banana about 2 hours before the race along with a big chug of water. I hadn't even fully finalized my race outfit the day before! What a shocker! I settled on my Senita shorts because the design and color were autumnal. And the last time I raced in Senita shorts they worked out really well for me. I matched it with a black tank top and black arm warmers. 

I really wanted to wear my brand new Mizuno Wave Rebellion Pro Beta shoes because they are zebra print! But with a 4mm drop I decided not to risk irritating my Achilles. I will need to test them out during a workout first using my heel lifts. I settled on my trusty adidas Adios Pro 2 shoes with a friendly 8mm drop.

We arrived at the race site and I got my bib from the running store. I ran into several friends while getting my bib and it was so nice to be "out" in the running community again! I couldn't find the porta potties so I used a Starbucks bathroom. Then I started my warm up. 

About 10 minutes before race start I had a caffeinated Maurten gel. Then I finished my warm up (1.9 miles total) and lined up at the start.

Weather
As I mentioned earlier, the weather was perfect! 39 degrees at the start rising to about 42. Sunny. No wind. Crisp, fresh fall air. Heaven! This gets a 10 out of 10 on my weather scale. When I lined up at the start line, one of my friends suggested that I ditch the arm warmers and I did. I stashed them near a cone at the start line and retrieved them after the race.

Goal and Strategy
My goal was to run under 43:00 minutes which I thought roughly lined up with a pace of 6:50. That was my half marathon pace last spring on a flat course so I figured I'd be doing great to run that same pace on a hilly course with only four weeks of training under my belt. I had run this race before so I was familiar with the elevation profile. I decided I would go out conservatively, hang on during the two middle miles which were net uphill, and then really drive it home during the final two miles. I definitely did not want to crash and burn so a strong finish was a must. 

Miles 1-2
When the race started, a bunch of women took off ahead of me. Usually when I run these local races I am in the top 5 women right out of the gate. But not this time! There were two women running side by side about 5 seconds ahead of me for the first mile. I could have easily run up to them and run with them but I held back for fear of going out too fast. Plus, I like to run my own race. 

I found a steady rhythm and settled into it. I expected to see Greg about a quarter mile out but I didn't see him. I kept looking and looking for him but he was nowhere to be seen. When I passed the first mile marker I realized that I must have somehow missed him. That seemed impossible for a race of this size, but maybe there was sun glare or maybe I was too focused on passing someone at that point. Oh well! I didn't dwell on it too much. 

My splits were 6:50 and 6:53, which I was happy with.

Miles 3-4
This is the toughest part of the course. Both miles are net uphill. My legs did not have a lot of power and the hills made me feel REALLY out of shape. I had also ramped up my weekly mileage quickly (50 the week before) and my legs weren't properly tapered. I did not look at my watch during these miles because I thought that would be totally demoralizing. The women who were 5 seconds ahead of me during the first two miles were now more like 15 seconds ahead of me so I gave up on catching them. I did pass a few people during these miles, though! Both miles clocked in at 6:56.

Miles 5-6
Now it was time to really push but instead of digging deeper and asking myself to give more, I let the downhills do the work for me. I simply didn't have the motivation to go deeper into the pain cave when I was already quite uncomfortable. 

During the 6th mile, one of my friends passed me and I didn't even try to stay with her. She had mentioned at the start line that she was running a progression run and I wanted to stay steady and not try to speed up. I do think I was physically capable of it, but I didn't have the motivation to actually do it. I guess I didn't feel like I was really racing. The whole thing felt like a test/experiment and I wasn't in my normal race mode.

BUT, during the last third of a mile, I saw I was gaining on another woman and I DID start to close the gap pretty quickly. I caught her just in time to cross the finish line at the exact same time as her. However, she had started 2 seconds behind me and her chip time was 2 seconds faster. That's okay, though - she was fun to chase down! 

Mile 5 was 6:46 and mile 6 was 6:41. The final 0.3 was a pace of 6:23 according to my Garmin. 

My official time was 42:59. I attained my sub-43:00 goal! This was the perfect time for me because I honestly wasn't motivated to go much faster than what I set out to do. I won 1st place in my age group and was the 7th overall female.

After the Race
I re-united with Greg and he said he didn't see me at the beginning of the race. He thought maybe there was a 5K that he confused for the 10K. Or maybe I didn't start. But for some reason we missed each other. And that seems so odd! This was not that large of a race. Especially considering I was able to spot him just a quarter mile into the Richmond marathon!

I retrieved my arm sleeves and ran a 1-mile cool down with my friends. Then I hung out and chatted with a few people before the awards ceremony started. Definitely a fun morning!

This morning I ran for about an hour and my legs didn't feel like they raced yesterday. They were tired, but not at all sore. I guess that's a good thing in terms of my fitness, but not a good thing because it shows I didn't run it as hard as I could have. 

Final Thoughts and Key Takeaways
I'm generally pleased with this. I did exactly what I thought I could do, but without the motivation to exceed that goal. It was really awesome to be back into the racing scene and to connect with so many other runners. 

I compared my heart rate from this race to my heart from the 10K I ran last February when I PR'ed. My average heart rate at the February 10K was slightly higher. That's exactly what I expected because I know I ran that race at a higher level of effort. Good news for my fitness, but not as good news in terms of my ability to push myself yesterday.

I think I could have kept going at that same pace/effort for another mile (like when I ran that 7-mile 10K last winter!) but it was a struggle to run any faster. This tells me that my endurance is strong but I need to work on my speed. My endurance didn't take as much of a hit from that 7-week hiatus as my speed did. But hopefully after another 4 weeks of sharpening things up I can be closer to where I was last spring. 

The Dreaded Time Off

It’s been a while since I’ve written a blog post, July 4th to be precise, and this may be my longest break from blogging since I started in 2006.

Budapest, Hungary

Greg and I traveled to Europe during the last two weeks of July. We visited Prague for a few days, and then took a river cruise from Passau, Germany to Budapest, Hungary. We stopped in Vienna, Austria and Bratislava, Slovakia along the way. The trip was incredible, and we managed to run most days. I brought 7 pairs of shorts and 7 sports bras and all of them got used!

My favorite place to run was Budapest because they had an entire road blocked off for pedestrians right by the water. It was nicely paved (as opposed to the cobblestone of Prague and Passau) and it ran right by the Parliament building.

We kept our runs short and easy for the most part. 6 miles was the longest we ran, and we frequently stopped for photos. The goal was to use running as a way to explore the cities by foot and to maintain our fitness as opposed to building fitness. I spent all of June and the first half of July consistently logging workouts and long runs, so this would be a little cutback before marathon training started upon my return.

We used public transportation to get around the cities: busses, metros, trains and even a funicular to a high point in Linz, Austria. These were typically crowded, and I knew my risk of catching some type of illness was increased by this. But we wanted to see as many things as possible and public transportation was often the quickest and cheapest way to do it.

Sure enough, the morning we flew back home I noticed that my throat felt raw. It wasn’t that bad so I assumed it was probably a cold or something. And the rest of me felt totally fine – I wasn’t abnormally tired. I tested negative for Covid upon my return. Two days after arriving home, I had trouble getting out of bed. My sore throat was gone and I had no other symptoms other than body aches and fatigue. Shortly after, Greg and I both tested positive for Covid. This was my third time getting Covid, and every time I’ve gotten it on international travel. I automatically assumed I would need two full weeks off. But that would be okay. I’d get right back into running and still be able to run Indianapolis Monumental as planned. 

I waited 15 days and I felt mostly better so I went for a very easy 2-mile run on August 13. My legs felt slightly wobbly and a bit like jello. But otherwise, my energy level was normal. Greg and I celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary on August 14 by going out to eat. I felt perfectly fine. Because that run went well, I upped it to three miles the following day, and three miles again the day after that. But after the third day, I started feeling abnormally tired again. I realized I had tried to come back too quickly! Suddenly I was back in bed, having a hard time moving around with major body aches. My typical post-viral fatigue. Unfortunately, I have far too much experience with this!

Well, it took me an entire week of being couch/bed ridden until I finally started to feel somewhat normal. And by somewhat normal, I mean normal enough to take a slow 12-minute walk. This time, I vowed not to resume running too quickly. There would be no way I’d be ready for the Indy Monumental Marathon in time, so I started thinking about Philadelphia (two weeks after Indy) and a small marathon in Chesapeake, VA in early December. But I didn’t want to put any pressure on myself to recover in a particular time frame, so I was fully aware that I might not be able to run another marathon in 2024.

My spirits were high the entire time. Of course I didn’t enjoy post-viral fatigue, but I knew that stressing about it would only make matters worse. I tried my best to ignore it. Well-intended family members kept reaching out to ask me how I was feeling, and I appreciated their concern, but at the same time, I didn’t want to “monitor” my recovery. I wanted to simply rest, not focus on the illness and trust that I would eventually feel better. I didn’t want to analyze every body ache or every moment of dizziness. Fast forward to this week and I think I am 100%. With post viral fatigue you can never be too sure. And you need to be WAY out of the woods before you start running again. My rule of thumb is at least three 100% days in a row until I start running. I just passed three days and I might start run/walking to test the waters tomorrow. Or I might give it a few more days still. It’s not worth making the same mistake as I did in mid-August and getting set back another three weeks. 

For anyone struggling with post-viral fatigue or “post viral syndrome", my main symptoms are jelly legs, body aches, dizziness. I am not tired in the traditional sense of being sleepy. I was like that during the first two weeks of illness but that’s passed.

Here’s hoping you see another blog post from me soon talking about my comeback!

I beat the heat - again!

This morning I ran my 11th Firecracker 5K. I started running this race in 2010 when it first launched, and have run it most years since, with a few exceptions for injury and illness. I even ran the virtual race in 2020! The first time I ran this race back in 2010 my time was 23:21. Since then, I have gotten significantly faster.

If I'm in good shape, my goal is usually to set a course PR. My distance PR is 19:41, and it's not realistic to beat that in the summer heat. Turkey Trots are for distance PRs. Firecrackers are for course PRs. 

This year, the time to beat was 20:57 from 2022. Before today's race, I went back and read my race report so I would know what mile splits I needed to beat. 6:40, 6:28, 6:44. It seemed perfectly doable to beat these splits given my recent track workouts. But I run my workouts at around 6:00am in the summer, before it gets too hot. This race started at 8:00am.

Before the Race
I felt really confident going into this race. I slept really well the night before the race and didn't wake up in the middle of the night like I have been doing recently. The last time I ran a 5K, I ran it on several nights in a row of horrible sleep, so at least I had that going for me today. 

I ate a handful of almond butter pretzels two hours before the race and then got dressed. We left the house at 6:45 for a start time of 8:00.

We arrived at 7:05 and my first order of business was to find a bathroom. I had already picked up my bib a few days before, so I didn't have to worry about that. I always try and get my bib before race day if possible because it's one less thing I have to worry about on race morning. I can simply get there and start warming up right away. 

I saw my friend Laura at 7:30, which was right when I wanted to start my warmup. We ran about a mile and half together and then I took my Maurten caffeinated gel 15 minutes before race start. I drank a few sips of water and splashed water all over my back and chest. I ran a few fast strides and then headed for the start line. At the start, I chatted with a few other runners, some of whom I knew from Instagram. 

Race Weather
It was 77 degrees at race start with a dew point of 67 degrees. About 50% cloud cover. I debated not wearing sunglasses but ultimately I decided I wanted them. Even though the relative humidity wasn't nearly as high as it could have been, it still felt quite humid. I would give this a 2 out of 10 on my personal weather scale. 77 is a really high race temperature, but the 67 dew point saves it from being a 1. I was certainly at a disadvantage from the 71 degrees and even lower dew point from the 2022 race. As a tease, it was about 15 degrees LOWER than normal on Monday and Tuesday mornings. 

Mile 1: 6:27
My plan was to run this mile around 6:35, but with 5K races, I usually run purely based on effort so the goal pace is more of just an informational benchmark. It felt like the right amount of effort. Hard - but sustainable for 20 minutes. When my watch beeped and I saw my time, I hoped I hadn't gone out too fast, but my body was telling me it was the right effort. During this mile, I repeated one of my favorite mantras in my head: "Relax and push forward".

Mile 2: 6:23
This is a net downhill mile and it's always super fast. I could have pushed harder here, but I didn't want to go all out knowing that the third mile would be uphill. I wanted to save something for the last mile. Mile 2 is the calm before the storm. It's fast, doesn't hurt THAT bad and has a lot of shade. When I saw that my split was 6:23, I knew that as long as I didn't fall apart, I would get my course PR of sub 20:57. 

Mile 3: 6:40
This mile was so HOT! There wasn't as much shade as there was during the second mile and the uphill is killer. It's not all that steep but it starts at 2.5 and is one steady climb with no reprieve. It always feels super long and never-ending. I really powered through this with all the mental stamina I had in me. I reminded myself that it was less than 7 minutes and I could do anything for that amount of time. 

Last 0.16: 5:58 pace
I was really running out of gas here, and of course this section is a continuation of that hill. I was really surprised when I saw my pace afterwards. I would have guessed much slower based on how I felt. 

My official time was 20:28, which is a course PR by 29 seconds. 

After the race
It took me a looooong time to feel normal again. It felt like my heart rate was not coming down and I was still hurting for like 3 whole minutes after I was done. I ran that race HARD. The temptation was to sit down but I know it's better to keep walking around rather than to stop completely. 

I reunited with Greg, who had been cheering for me at around mile 1.2 and the finish. After I recovered, I had the opportunity to chat with some runners who recognized me from Instagram and that was really awesome. Two of them even told me that they registered for this race because of me! It feels awesome to motivate people to get out and run. 

I placed 1st in my age group and I was the 20th female finisher out of 652. There were 10 women who ran under 19:00. Very fast field today!

Final Thoughts and Key Takeaways
I really love this 4th of July tradition. 1500 people came out to run this race and everything was so festive. I got to see so many of my friends and talk about my favorite topic- running! I really love being part of the running community.

Surprisingly, I ran this race faster than both of my 5Ks in May: the Greenway 5K  (20:40) and the Lawyers Have Heart 5K (20:37). Both of those races have flatter courses the weather was much cooler. I have been consistently doing speed work and long runs of 10-12 miles so apparently it paid off. I ran 176 miles in June, which is a strong training month for me. 

Just like in Boston, I was able to "beat the heat" and run my fastest Firecracker ever! If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know that I am heat sensitive and the heat has always impacted me more than most other runners. This is the first summer where I do not feel like I am at a disadvantage against other runners. Sure, it's still hard to run in warm weather, but it doesn't suck the life out of me like it has every previous summer.  

In the spring of 2023, I mentioned getting diagnosed with hypothyroidism, and it's taken a full year for my doctor to get my thyroid levels in the normal range. I finally tested normal in March of this year. Typically with hypothyroidism you are cold (not hot!) and I was worried that treating my thyroid would make me even warmer. But it did just the opposite. Because my thyroid wasn't working properly, and hadn't been for many years, it wasn't able to regulate my temperature.

Last summer, my easy pace was around 9:00-9:15. This summer, my easy pace is 8:20-8:35 and it honestly feels easy. What a difference it makes when your body can regulate temperature! I used to feel completely drained when the dew point rose above 68. And now, I tolerate it pretty well!

Up Next:
I'll be keeping the training on the lighter side in July and then officially starting my marathon build up in early August. I am planning to run Indianapolis Monumental. 

Thanks to Greg for being so supportive!

The Fastest Mile of My Life

I raced my second-ever road mile over the weekend at the Loudon Street Mile in Winchester, Virginia.  My first attempt was four years ago at this same race. My time was 5:57.6. 

Why Race A Mile?
Why race a mile? Why drive over an hour to run for six minutes? Why pay money to run a mile? What's so hard about a mile? 

These are all questions I have been asked regarding this race. I decided to race this mile because I love a running challenge and I wanted to try and beat my time from 2020. Plus, I often get asked how fast I can run a mile, so I figured I should have an up to date answer.

As for driving over an hour for a six minute race, think about all the gymnasts who travel across the country or across the world to do a 10-second vault. Or the sprinters who travel worldwide for a 20-second event. My sister takes my nieces all over the USA to compete for 3 minutes in cheer. The duration of the competition is totally irrelevant to the travel time. The two are un-related. 

If that's the case, then why don't I travel farther to run 5Ks and 10Ks? Simple. Because there are plenty 5Ks and 10Ks to choose from that are relatively close to my home. I have so many options locally, that there's no need to travel. But mile races are rare. I honestly don't understand why. They're much easier on race directors. Maybe I do understand why, though. Perhaps it's because the participants don't view it as a challenge. Many people run 5Ks to cover the distance. If the distance were reduced to a mile, they probably wouldn't be as attracted to it.

The next question. Why pay money to run a mile? Easy. You aren't paying to run a mile, you are paying to compete in a running event. 

What's so hard about a mile? If you aren't a runner, this is something you won't understand. It's hard because it's intense. In order to race it at 100% effort, you need to be super uncomfortable for the entire duration. The goal isn't to "complete" the mile, but rather to run it as hard as possible. This goes back to my above point. Many people are attracted to 5K races because there is an obvious achievement in covering 5 kilometers on foot, particularly running the whole time. With a mile, that achievement may not seem as significant. 

Goals
My "A" goal was to break 5:50. I was confident I had the physical ability to do it, but I wasn't sure if I could pace it properly or maintain the intense level of discomfort that it required.

My "B" goal was a PR, so sub 5:57.

My "C" goal was under 6:00.

Before the Race
Greg and I left the house at around 6:40 for a race start time of 8:40. I had my pre-run snack in the car: almond butter filled pretzels. I didn't want to eat too much because I wanted a mostly empty stomach. I was sure to have a big dinner the night before.

I decided to wear the New Balance Super Comp Pacer. Not to be confused with the Super Comp Trainer (which has a high stack height and is meant for long runs). The two shoes are basically opposites. The Pacer weighs in at 5.2 ounces for my size 6.5. It's low to the ground and extremely responsive. Not a lot of bounce, but there is a carbon fiber plate. I wear these shoes at the track when I am running anything shorter than mile repeats. I like to get the feedback from the ground so the bouncy/cushy super shoes are not my preference at high speeds.

It took us 70 minutes to get there, and we arrived at 7:50. I got my bib and went to the bathroom. Greg and I then scoped out the course to find a good location for him to be. We found a good spot about a tenth of a mile before the finish, where he could stand on an elevated platform and have a good angle for photos. I then started my warm up. 

I almost missed the start of my most recent 5K so I was keenly aware of the 8:40 start time and what the current time was. I did not want to be scrambling again. I warmed up to the start, which I knew was less than a mile away. I took my gel 18 minutes before the start so that the caffeine would kick in just when I needed it. I drank more water at the start line and used the bathroom again. I then did some strides and dynamic stretching. I was a little worried about my hamstring because it had seized up 5 days prior during a track workout, causing me to stop the workout. But thankfully it felt like it was 100% during my shakeout run the day before the race.

Race Setup
This race was divided into heats based on predicted finish time. The "fast men" started at 8:30 and the "fast women" started at 8:40. And then there were additional mixed-gender heats for the rest of the runners, organized by time. 

My heat had about 25 runners in it and the cutoff was under 6:00. When I registered, I entered a predicted time of 5:50. 

I lined up at the very back of the heat, which was still pretty much on the line because there were so few runners. I chatted with some of the other women and we talked about what our goal times were. I really loved that this was an all-women heat and that it would be a true "race". Part of me felt like an imposter racing against these elite women, but my previous mile time was 5:57, so I legit made that cutoff. 

Weather
It was about 68 degrees, completely overcast, and humid. Given that fact that this was only a mile and it takes about 10 minutes for the humidity to zap me, I determined it was very good. On my personal weather scale, I give it an 8 out of 10 (if this were a longer race it would be more like a 4-5). But my weather scale is defined by how much the conditions impact the race. And in this case, the conditions didn't impact the race that much. Rain, however, would have really taken the score down because part of the course is on a brick surface and I can see that getting super slippery. 

The First Half
The race started and everyone bolted out. The women who said they wanted to be around 5:50 must have gone out at a 5:30 pace or faster. But I did not want to get caught up in that. My plan was to run my own race. I went out hard, but I made sure to not make it feel like a sprint. I would save the sprint for the second half. The course had quarter markers which were really nice, and they came up SO FAST. 

When I passed the halfway point I looked at the clock and it read 2:59. I was running so hard that I didn't have the headspace to analyze it too much. I knew that if I just repeated that then I wouldn't set a PR. Thankfully, I knew I would be able to speed up a lot, just like I did back in 2020. 

The Second Half
There's an incline from about 0.3 to 0.6 and then a nice drop. I'm a very strong downhill runner, so I sprinted downhill and by the time I got to the bottom I had caught up with the women who said they wanted to run around 5:50, and started to pass them. They clearly noticed and did not want me to pass them, so they sped up even more. 

I decided not to focus on them and keep my eyes squarely on the finish. The goal was to stay as strong as possible and kick with everything I had. 

I ran the second half in a time of 2:48, which yielded an official time of 5:47.1.

When I crossed the finish line, my legs and arms were on fire. They burned so much and I felt like they were just going to fall off! That was such an intense second half, at a pace of 5:36. The graph shows the course elevation and how my pace changed relative to it.

Looking at the graph above, you can see that my pace decreases at the elevation increases, and then my pace increases and the elevation decreases. I wonder if that 4:56 at the top of the graph means I was running that pace for a few seconds!

When the results came out, I realized that I placed second in the 45-49 age group. One of the women who I caught up with and passed, passed me at the very end and won the age group by 0.6 of a second! 

Final Thoughts and Key Takeaways
That was really fun! I am so glad I did this and now I want to go back next year and aim for sub 5:45. 

• I PR'ed by over 10 seconds and celebrated by having PR ice cream cake with Greg.
• I beat my A goal! I knew I had the physical ability, but the question mark was execution.
• After having logged 33,772 miles in my training log, my 33,773rd mile was faster than all of them at the age of 45.
• I missed winning my age group by 0.6 of a second. Even though I was racing/competing, I wasn't focused on the competition. I was running my own race. Usually that is the best approach, but yesterday was the time to actually compete and gain motivation from the runners around me.
• If I had to do it over again, I would have been slightly more aggressive in the beginning and then more competitive with the women around me at the end. But generally I am very pleased. 
• I really love running in briefs!

Next up: more 5Ks!