Good Mission Monday Night!!
Bryanna here – I had meant to post a race recap from my race at the beginning of December, but with my busy week I hadn’t got to it yet. I had another race this past weekend, so I will share a quick recap from both of them. This post was intended for this morning, and now it’s almost time for bed and I am still not finished with it. Let’s just say a million things have distracted me today.
Before I run to the race recaps, Mariah and I will be more intentional with our posts here and will be sharing our goals for 2019 in the next few weeks. We are excited for 2019 and all the new changes on the blog and in our lives. Stay tuned.
Chocoholic Frolic 10k Recap –
I started December with a 10k race without the stroller. It was my first race without the stroller and my first 10k back post baby #3. I haven’t been tapering for races, as I am increasing mileage and gearing up for some half marathons planned beginning of next year, and my main goal of a marathon end of June. With this, and a baby who doesn’t sleep through the night, as well as 2 other kids that can’t seem to sleep through the night, racing has been a challenge.
I feel so tired most days, but I have reminded myself that this has been the case since I had kids, and it’s not going to change any time soon. I was excited to race competitively and to see where my fitness is. My goal for the race was sub 39 minutes and to try to take an overall female finish. The race has two loops with some incline, but not bad. It was windy in the last stretch of the race, which is every runners dream!!
I had a negative split with the race, running the second part of the race faster than the first. My pace was faster as the race progressed. I felt like I was going slow and like my legs weren’t quite warmed up, but after mile 3, I eased into a comfortable pace. I ended up first in my age group and first overall male and female with a new PR of 37:13. So close to that sub 37 time!! I am coming for you sub 37 time.
Here’s what I learned:
- I am not a fan of the shorter distances – My legs seem to take too long to get into a good grove. My pace increase after each mile and I have more slow twitch muscles fibers for those longer distances.
- 10k’s hurt too!! – I hate the 5k because it’s a painful race, but the 10k can be a painful race as well.
- Shorter interval workouts – I have never trained specifically for a 5k or 10k event, so it would be interesting to see what I can do if I had race specific workouts planned.
- I have work to do – I am happy with where my fitness is at currently, but at the same time I feel I should be doing more. I know we can be our own worst critics, and that is probably more true than not currently. I always seem to be dissatisfied with my results even though it was a PR and another win.
- Hard to push with a strong lead- It can be mentally hard when there’s no one to chase and you have a strong lead. I will be honest in saying I didn’t push throughout the entire race, because I knew I had a strong lead and I wasn’t motivated to keep pushing knowing there wasn’t a need too. Racing against the clock requires a deeper determination and motivation that I have been lacking in this post-partum journey
Overall it was a fun race and surprised to have another personal record in the books at only 4 months post-partum.
Candy Cane 10k
Next up was another race pulling the Kidrunner. First 10k pace with a stroller and it was a beautiful day for racing. Another surprising race day as well.
The most irritating part of this run is how they try to shove the strollers in the back and how walkers and little kids start up front. Almost every race is like this in Texas, and it makes stroller running a little more challenging. I typically start as close to the front as possible, and enjoy the sneers and looks from the other runners. The walkers and kids cut the stroller off, resulting in the stroller flipping and a guy help to flip it back over before I could take off again. It wasted a good 5-10 seconds of my time and more time spent weaving through the walkers & runners to get to the front (and a lot of off roading). I wish race directors and other runners would recognize not all stroller runners are noncompetitive.
Rant over! I had a pretty consistent, steady effort and was faster as the race progressed. This race was a little more challenging with all of the tight corners and the U-turns, which slowed me a little bit. Also, the head wind wasn’t fun in the stroller. The KidRunner is much easier to handle in races and offers a smooth race too. I would rather pull the kids then push them.
We ended up first overall male and female. which was a very pleasant surprise. I held the lead from mile 1 on and tried to increase the lead as the miles progressed. It was an out and back which is never fun on tight trails/roads with a stroller, as you have to weave through other athletes on the way back. I was following the lead bike, and he was doing his best to keep runners to the right and left.
I wasn’t entirely motivated for this race and woke up not wanting to go, but I toed the line and the legs knew exactly what to do. It ended up being a fun race and I was happy to share it with my family. Racing with our Kidrunner is more fun and easier as well. You have to invest in one!!
Hope you all have a great week!!
Until Next Time Be Whole and Be Fit