I Won!

So Saturday was the Valentine's Day 5K. I haven't been doing speed work but I've recently done some races and I've done a lot of good tempo runs. My PR is 19:42 and I certainly didn't expect to run that but thought I might be able to do 6:30 pace. The course had a lot of ice left on it after a recent snow storm. It was warm Friday and Saturday so most of it had melted off but you certainly had to be careful. I went out slow as there was a considerable amount of snow and ice in the first half mile. Once we got to clear trail it was down to me and 2 college girls. We ran to the first mile marker together just a little slower than 6:30. I left them at that point and was all alone from there on. It got tough at the end but I was able to do a 20:09. Not too bad and it was exactly 6:30 pace like I was hoping. The race is held on a narrow wooded trail. In order to alleviate congestion, the women ran first and then the men. It was great to finish first in front of such a crowd! Brian came in 4th place in the men's race so we easily won the married couples division.


Darwin checks out my hardware at the awards ceremony.

This is only the third race I've ever won and it is the first race I've won since having Darwin. I will say that victory is sweeter when you get to carry your child with you to pick up your award. I really feel like I have it all now. I am a mom to a wonderful son and my running is pretty much where it was before I got pregnant. Life is good!

Grand Prix wise I picked up first place points and I'm now on the top of the leader board. That is somewhat misleading because the second place girl has only done two races and I've done three. Only 10 of the 20 races count toward your score so sometimes it takes the whole season for the leader board to shake out and accurately show who should really be on top. It is still very cool to see my name in the lead position.

15K

For the first time in 2 years I got to run the River Trail 15K. This is a race that Brian and I started directing in 2009. We took it over from another club. They didn't feel like they could continue to put it on and we loved it so we took it over as a fund raiser for the Grand Prix series. Brian and I do the behind the scenes, ahead of time work together but only one of us needs to actually direct the race on race day. The first year we did it, I was 6 weeks pregnant so it made sense that I stay behind while Brian ran. Same for last year only this time it was because I had a 3 month old and wasn't ready to race 9.3 miles. This year, it was my turn. After the track run, I felt that I could run a strong race. I did 8.6 miles that day just under 7 minute pace. Since the 15K was only .7 miles longer and it didn't have grueling mental aspect of going around and around the same track, I decided to try to break 7 minute pace once again.

Leading up to race day, we got hit with snow. The night before the race it was still snowing and we weren't sure what would happen on race day. We postponed the race from 9am until 12pm. At 10am the course looked pretty bad. I thought we would have to cancel. Luckily, the temps kept rising, the sun came out and some volunteers shoveled off bridges for us. The course ended up being almost perfect and the weather was beautiful.

I went out just a little slower than 7 minute pace and used the first few miles to gain speed. It was tough, as a race should be, but I was able to keep it up. I finished in 1:05:01 which was 6:59 pace. It was exactly what I was shooting for. I ended up third place overall for the second time this year. This is my best start to a Grand Prix series ever. It is also a 4 minute PR. I am very happy with my running right now. Next race up is the Valentines Day 5K next week. I have only been doing tempo runs and not speed work so I'm not sure what I can do. I think I'll go out at 6:30 pace and see what happens. My 5K PR is 19:42 and I certainly don't expect to run that. I ran a 20:38 on the track in December so I'd like to do better than that. Brian and I get to compete in the couples division so we are hoping for a win! Last time we ran it as a couple I was pregnant but we still won easily.


Here I am as I head for the finish line.