5K

in it to win it (5K recap)

October 7, 2012 by Kristy 13 Comments

On Saturday I ran the Strides for Scholarship 5K for the second time. Last year I ran it for fun with my then 10-year-old niece. I loathe 5Ks but last year I ate the most amazing vanilla-frosted donut after the race. So the good outweighed the bad.

I also wanted to win the race – be 1st overall female. It’s rare that you find a small 5K – not in Bumblefuck, PA – where that opportunity presents itself. For some reason this race is relatively unknown despite a large running club just down the road.

I was nervous. I say all the time that I’d rather run 20 miles than race a 5K. 20-milers are within my comfort zone; 5Ks are not. But sometimes you need to push outside your comfort zone.

I warmed up for a mile and did some strides. I could feel the nervousness in my legs. They splurged on chip timing this year but I still made my way towards the front and took off.

M1 (7:00) – In hindsight this was probably a little too fast. I should have kept the pace around 7:10-7:15. I was in the lead though!

M2 (7:36) – Horrendous. Just past the mile 2 marker, a girl zipped right past me. Damn. I tried to stay with her and put some pressure on but my legs didn’t have enough kick. She ended up finishing 19-seconds ahead of me.

M3 (7:21) – I redeemed myself (somewhat).

22:30 (7:15 avg pace)
Overall: 7/85
Female: 2/41
AG: 2/9

My sister, sister-in-law, and 2 nieces ran the race too. We pretty much cleaned up when it came to the awards!

Sister: 2nd in AG
SIL: Almost 5-min PR from last year!
Nieces: 2nd and 1st in AG
*All coached by me!

Everyone had a great race and my vanilla-frosted donut did not disappoint!

Congrats to everyone who ran Chicago, Steamtown, Portland, or any other race I’m forgetting. Fall racing season is officially here!

Did you race this weekend?

Fartlek Fun

September 30, 2012 by Kristy 14 Comments

My Saturday began with 15 miles in cool, crisp Fall weather. I came home, ate, showered, and headed out to Malvern to cash in a Groupon for a 75-minute therapeutic massage.

The massage was heavenly. I don’t like half-assed massages. If I’m getting one, I want my muscles to be kneaded and worked on. A hurts-so-good massage.

What I didn’t expect was a lecture after the massage. I was told my neck and shoulders were a “hot mess”. This isn’t news – every time I get a massage I hear about my tight and knotted neck and shoulders.

I was then told that I shouldn’t run as much as I do, although I never told her how much I run. She told me it was unhealthy to carry around so much stress. I told her I wasn’t stressed by anything in particular. She kept doing this…

Do I walk around like this? Run like this? (via)

Maybe she has a point (but not about running too much!). I politely listened, smiled, and thanked her. Now I’m hyper-aware of my apparent shoulder shrug syndrome.

On Sunday I did a fun little fartlek run I saw here. I’m tired of my same old tempo and progression runs. This was a perfect way to prep for my 5K next weekend.

Although I misread the workout – it was supposed to be 2 minutes “on”, not 1 minute – it was challenging without being too taxing.

2 mile warm up
5 continuous miles of 1 minute “on” followed by 1 minute “off”. My “on” was a well controlled sprint, focusing on my form (shoulders down!).
2 mile cool down

Your heart rate during the “off” portion never returns to “easy run” heart rate which makes this workout so great. Very similar to decreasing your rest intervals on the track. Try it! Side note: for marathon training I would increase the “on” portion to a few minutes at HM or 10K pace.

Ever do fartleks?

Like getting massages (is there anyone that doesn’t?!)? Do you have shoulder shrug syndrome like me?

November Race Goals

November 3, 2011 by Kristy 13 Comments

I have 2 races scheduled so far in November: a 12K on 11/12 and the Philly HM on 11/20. I’m mulling over running this Turkey Trot for fun on Thanksgiving Day. And I’m scoping out a low-key 5K in early December. Low-key = not many fast runners, so I have a chance to place in my AG. I have no shame.

Back to the 12K and HM. The only reliable, recent race time I have is my 1:19 finish at the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler in April. Since the 12K is a little under 10 miles (7.45) and the HM a little over, this should be a good predictor. And…bonus, I know my speed has improved since April 🙂

My goal for the 12K is to start just under 8:00 pace and drop it down from there. I know I’ll be hating life early on from oxygen deprivation. I don’t want to be too balls-to-the-wall about my pace in the beginning cause I’ll just end up crashing. It’s an interesting distance, 7.45 miles. It’ll be a PR regardless of time since the 12K distance is new to me.

For the HM, I want a sub-1:45. I won’t be happy with anything in the 1:45 range. Plain and simple!

I’m itching to race again but also dreading these races at the same time. The way I see it, there are essentially 2 types of race day pain: the marathon pain (my-legs-hurt-I-can’t-go-another-step-please-make-this-stop) and oxygen deprivation/lung pain. Personally, I’ll take marathon pain any day. I hate when my lungs are screaming and I’m in that “no talk” zone. Case and point why I would rather run 20 miles over a 5K.

Any November races? I know many of you are doing the Philly HM or Marathon! I hope to see you there!

Which race day pain do you prefer: marathon pain or oxygen deprivation/lung pain?

Strides For Scholarship 5K

October 3, 2011 by Kristy 13 Comments

10/3/11
6 miles / 52:50 / 8:48 avg pace

On Saturday, I ran the Strides For Scholarship 5K with my 10-year-old niece, Sarah. My sister-in-law, Desiree, also ran the race. This was Sarah’s second 5K. She told me she wanted to beat her previous time of 28:19 (which is pretty impressive). We also wanted to beat any 10-year-olds we saw out on the course. Sarah is pretty competitive 🙂

It was a beautiful and cool morning. This was only the second year for this race and there weren’t that many runners – maybe 50 at the start line? We later overheard someone say they had about 70 runners pre-register. This was by far the smallest 5K I had ever done.

The course was interesting. We ran around a local community college. The school is big but it was odd to dodge between students going to class. Sarah was a trooper. She asked if we could slow down a bit during mile 2. We slowed down for maybe 5 seconds before she announced “OK, I’m good. Let’s go”. We pushed during the last mile to get that PR but fell short by about 10 seconds. Our official time was 28:30. Sarah did amazing and everyone cheered for her.

My sister-in-law ran a great race too and came away with a huge 1-minute PR!

We hung around for the awards ceremony knowing there was a good chance Sarah would get a medal. The look on her face when they called her name for first place female, 12 and under, was priceless! She was shocked. I doubt that medal left her neck all day Saturday.

I was probably more shocked when they called my name for 3rd place female in my age group. Really?! Like I said, small race. I’ll take it though!

The post-race food spread was ridiculous. More like an ultramarathon rather than 5K. Starbucks, muffins, doughnuts, bagels, tomato pie, juice, etc. The race Ts are nice too. I can actually wear it in public.

The overall female finished in 23:22 (exactly my current PR from a hot and steamy Memorial Day race). Hmmm. I have no shame in entering a small 5K just to see if I could have a shot at first overall female. Agree or disagree? In Philly, the competition is tough. There are so many fast runners. The only way for me to place in a 5K or 10K is to seek out the smaller races.

Fantastic Friday

September 16, 2011 by Kristy 6 Comments

TGIF, indeed! I have a 3-day weekend ahead of me and I could not be happier. I must confess that I did take off to register for the Boston Marathon on Monday. Let’s hope I’m registering at 10am on Monday and not sulking!

DSCN1731 — I caught a glimpse of a rainbow outside my house last night. Good omen for Boston registration?!?!

This week has been hell at work. All day meetings from Tuesday to Friday. I am so looking forward to this weekend.

Tonight, Matt and I are going out to dinner to celebrate my BQ. I told you I would milk this for as long as possible!

I found out there is a 5K on Saturday morning right in my neighborhood. My initial thought was to race it (seriously). I mean, my legs feel fine. And by fine I mean they don’t hurt when I walk down the steps and get up from a seat. I finally came to my senses and realized “racing” a 5K was not happening. Kara suggested running with Hawk. The race website said they welcome strollers and pets so me, Matt, and Hawk are going to walk the 5K.

DSCN1516 — As long as it doesn't interfere with my nap schedule

And then Sunday is the Team RTLR Half Marathon! I have lots to look forward to this weekend.

You still have plenty of time to enter my giveaway! I will pick 3 winners on Monday, September 19. If you don’t use Twitter or Facebook (or already follow me on Twitter and Facebook), leave a comment anyway and consider yourself entered!

Team Run The Long Road 5K

May 29, 2011 by Kristy 6 Comments

I know many of you were just dying to know what I had planned on Saturday 😉 Well, the wait is over…

For the past few months, I have been training my friends Trish and Heather for their first 5K. They chose a small (or so we thought) 5K in Medford, NJ. Trish and Heather trained their butts off through the winter and could not have been more excited for their first race. Word got out to other friends and family about the race and before I knew it, we had a Team Run The Long Road!

I cannot express in words how happy and excited I was to have an entire team of runners (some newbies and some veterans) together on a beautiful Saturday morning. This is exactly why I’m a running coach. I love to see beginners fall in love with running and push themselves to run further then they ever could have imagined. I always say that the world would be such a nicer place if everyone ran. Mushy, I know, but so true.

Of course we ordered Team RTLR shirts for the occasion. I have to say a very special thank you to Sandy (Trish’s co-worker) who designed a RTLR logo for our shirts. She is ridiculously talented and the logo looked amazing. That’s the Philly skyline in the background!

Team RTLR: Amanda (a Main), Catherine (niece), Karyn (sister), Desiree (sister-in-law), Heather (a Main), Trish (a Main), Aidan (nephew), and Sarah (niece).

Back view:

And look who made a surprise appearance?! Mom and Dad Run the Long Road!

I must say that I had the BEST running partner for the 5K…my 10-year-old niece Sarah. This was her first 5K!

Me with the soon-to-be 5Kers, Trish and Heather.

Getting ready to line up…

And we’re off! I carried my camera and was able to get some action shots of Sarah.

It was a hot and sunny day but everyone did great! Sarah and I ran a 28:19. I was so impressed…she’s only 10! Trish and Heather did a fantastic job. They did a practice run on the race course about a month ago and managed to shave 5 minutes off that time. 5 minutes on a hot day?!?! Amazing. Way to go girls!

Go Team RTLR…we did it!

The first time 5Kers. I know they were all thinking, “when’s the next race?” 🙂

And….I just happened to see Carl Lewis! Pretty cool, right? I had to wait in line with a bunch of kids and may of had to throw an elbow or two to get ahead but he autographed my bib and posed for a picture.

It was a great way to kick-off Memorial Day weekend! I’m so proud of my team. Thanks girls for making it a wonderful day!