race recap: rock 'n' roll st. louis 5k
I was talking to Matt on Thursday night about when he thought I should get my last run in. Should I run Friday morning, or do I get my last run in the day before the race, on Saturday morning? I don't talk about this too often, but I really do consider Matt my coach. While I do all my programming myself, if I ever have a question about my training, he is always my go to. He's been coaching a lot longer than me and is REALLY good - he's the one who convinced me that I need to stick with 5Ks because I am much better at them than marathons (he was absolutely right). So, my personal coach told me to get up early on Friday morning and get an easy 20 to 30 minute run in and let my legs recover on Saturday.Well, I went to bed late on Thursday night (I don't remember why) and woke up Friday morning not wanting to do anything but sleep. I talked myself out of a run, knowing I could fit it in later that afternoon if I needed to, and slept for another hour. I woke up and started getting ready for work, completely regretting not getting my run in because I KNEW I wasn't going to want to get it in on Friday afternoon.But, a light bulb went off in my head: I was going to be going downtown for the #werunsocial meetup on Saturday morning, maybe I should just check to see if I could still register for the 5K and earn my Remix medal in St. Louis too. Sure enough, there was race day registration, so my decision was made.I knew that I really needed to make sure I kept my legs fresh for Sunday because THAT was the race I was training for. My goal was to take it easy on the 5K and run about 8-minute miles, finishing around 24 minutes. Totally doable and I knew my legs wouldn't be totally shot for Sunday's half.I got downtown super early to register and the ladies at the solutions table were SUPER helpful. They had computers set up and ready to go, and were able to help me use my Global Tour Pass so I was able to still race for free, thanks to my Rock 'n' Blog partnership. I ended up running back to my car for a warm-up and to drop some things off before meeting up with Steffany, Katie, and a bunch of other #werunsocial friends! I absolutely LOVE having such a great running community in St. Louis! And it was so nice to be able to catch up with friends and make some new ones, even if we only got to chat for a few minutes!
I went to the starting line with Steffany, knowing she was trying to run the pace I wanted to keep the whole time. We were RIGHT at the starting line, both of us surprised at what a small race it was, considering it was a Rock 'n' Roll race. But, I'm assuming most people were just running the half or 10K on Sunday instead of the 5K on Saturday.
Steffany took off ahead of me as I tried to stay a little conservative on my pace. I caught up with her and stayed together with her for the first half mile or so and then went ahead. All of a sudden, my competitiveness got the best of me and I really want to start passing people. So, guess what I did? I sped up and started passing people. Ugh.
The course was pretty hilly - not anything extreme, just some nice, long rolling hills that made it a little more difficult. Thankfully, hills are my strong suit and I was able to pass several people on the hills. At the turn around, I could see that I was the 5th female overall, and again, being the competitive person I am, was kicking myself that I didn't actually try to RACE this course, knowing I probably could have easily won. Darn my competitiveness!There was one girl in front of me I knew I wanted to pass, and then I just tried to keep a decently steady pace the rest of the race. While it definitely wasn't my best time (far from it, really), I was pretty happy with how I raced. I didn't go all out, but I gave enough to be slightly competitive, while still keeping my legs fresh.
Mile 1 - 7:35Mile 2 - 7:05Mile 3 - 6:49Mile 0.13 - 0:47Finish Time - 22:18Average Pace - 7:08/mile
5th Overall Female2nd in Age Group
Next year, I'm definitely RACING that one! I loved the course - a simple out and back through some nice streets in St. Louis. Some good hills and it's not a huge race where you have to be going in and out a bunch of people to find a decent spot to run.Oh, and if you have been thinking about joining one of my 3-week HIIT for Runners programs, be sure to sign up on my email list TODAY - I will be offering a HUGE birthday deal tomorrow that you do not want to miss out on! The bootcamp starts next Monday and it will be my LAST ONE of 2016! You definitely don't want to miss out on this offer!