Heart & Sole 5K Plus Another 8 or So Miles

We are officially back from vacation  and this morning I had to be up by 6:30 am so I could head over to the Heart & Sole 5K where I was meeting Pam (another member of the We Are Athletes Racing Team) for our “long” run.  A 12 mile depletion run was on the schedule for this week and some people were running yesterday but I was away so Pam and I decided to run it today by adding miles to the 5K.

 

Our original plan was to run a mile prior to the 5K and the rest of the miles after but since we met up at 7:30 am and the race didn’t begin until 9 am we decided to run the whole course prior to the race which was a first for me.  I would always stand around before races and watch other runners run prior to the race and I was impressed that they had the stamina.  Now I am one of those “runners” because not only did I run 3.15 miles prior to the race, I ran another 5+ miles after the race.

Pam and I didn’t want to burn ourselves out prior to the race so we ran the first loop (3.15 miles) at a pretty slow pace:

The first 1/2 mile consisted of drills so that is why it was that slow but once the drills were complete we slowly picked up the pace finishing at about 8:20 am which left us with 40 minutes of rest until the start of the race.

 

The race course was mostly flat and fast, mostly in the sun and the last half a mile had a slight elevation increase.  This was an ideal course to PR on but I figured since I had just gotten back from vacation yesterday and I had already run 3 miles that this just wouldn’t be my day but I was wrong!!!

Some races I can just feel that when I set out it is going to be a good race and this was one of them.  I pretty much maintained my pace at 8 minutes a mile the entire race only slowing at the end with the uphill.  When I rounded that last corner everyone was screaming just a few seconds to be in the 24′s and I knew although I did good I would not get into the 24′s which sucked but I did PR by 1 second, unofficially according to my Garmin by 3 seconds.  I was so close to being in the 24′s I could taste it and sometime in my next few races I know I will reach that goal of running a 5K in under 25 minutes.

When I crossed the finish line and the announcer, Terry, announced my name and my racing team We Are Athletes I was extremely proud of my time which was 2 minute faster than my 5K last week.  I love being a part of this team because throughout the race everyone is so supportive of each other!!!!

My Garmin time:

My Official Time (not a chip race):

Hard to read I know but the official time was 25:11.3 and I was 9th in my age group!!!

Unfortunately my run didn’t end after the 5K.  Pam and I headed out for another loop and we were joined by 2 other We Are Athletes team members, Ann and Rob.   Ann and Rob joined us for the first lap (3.1 miles) and then Pam and I continued on for another 2 miles for a total of 11 miles for the day!!  Not quite 12 miles but close enough!!!

Here is our total run:

PLUS

EQUALS

11:26 miles total

This was my second depletion run so I only had water until after the race.  My post race fuel consisted of peanut butter filled nuggets and Cheribundi!!!

 

I had a great race and I am feeling fantastic!!!  I hope everyone had a great weekend!!!!

Did you race today???

 

 

 

Tagged as: We Are Athletes