This year running wise it has never been so sweet. At the
end of last “racing” season I was so tired of training well for half marathons
and then having such sucky races. After the Akron half marathon I swore I would
“never” run a half marathon again. I knew that was a lie but I seriously was
done with that distance. After some thought though I decided to run one more
half marathon two weeks later since I was conditioned and hoped for a better
run to get that bitter taste out of my mouth. I ran the towpath half marathon
with the second best post baby time (even though it was still nowhere where I
thought I was capable of running) and “retired” from the half marathon distance.
I decided that 2016 was going to be the year of the 5 and 10K PR year! Looking
back that was the best decision I ever made!
I continued running for fun and ran one more race on Thanksgiving and
had a great run for me, since I had no expectations, and the day after
Christmas started a running streak which has continued up through the end of
this year.
In March I ran my “favorite” 15K, the Shamrock 15K, which is
the “hilliest 15K around”. The race starts at Woodridge HS and you run down
Quick road (and when I say down it’s all DOWNHILL!!!) and then run on
Akron-Peninsula Rd for a mile (ish) and then start the climb back up North
Hampton Rd. No real expectations other than run it fast than the year before
(1:30). I always tend to start fast and slow way down and had been practicing
negative split running but decided for this race to just run like a bat out of
hell at the beginning and to see what would happen. I ran the first 4 miles all
under 8:30 and got to the start of the hills. The first hill is such a DOUSY I
decided just to walk up that first hill, catch my breathe and try to run the
rest of the way. That mile was my slowest
(10:18) and I started back running thinking I’d slow down but somehow I
never did, miles were between 9-9:15! Actually at one point I thought about
walking knowing I would get a PR on this course so that 2017 I would get
another PR but I just laughed at myself and pressed on with a time of 1:23:31
(almost an 8 minute PR!) 9 months later and I am still shocked about this!
I decided for my 5K to be a night race since I had always
wanted to do a night glow one. There was one on near my birthday called “AkRun
and Crawl: After Dark”. It was on the towpath and I figured it might be an
“easy” place to PR (post baby as I feel like I’ll never get back to a 23:30
5K). My last 5K was a few years ago and it was a 27:31 so I thought I would try
for under 26 minutes. Who knew running in the dark was so much fun. I didn’t
start my running app on time and the race wasn’t chipped but I was pleasantly
surprised that my time was 25:00 (I’d say take 5 seconds off since it took a
few seconds to get across the finish line). By the way, “racing” a 5K is really
really hard as you pretty much run as fast as you without throwing up!
Over the summer I ran another race, 2nd year in a
row for the Shawshank Hustle, with my good friend Shelley. We also have a
competition (I won both years haha) but it’s difficult race with a big hill and
it’s been HOT both years! But we both ran better than the year before…I took 7
minutes off from the year before. Also my running group friends decided it
would be fun to do relay races for the Akron marathon this year. We had 20
people decide to run so we made up 4 groups of 5 runners. My team “Furious
Pigeons” ended up winning the whole race in just over 4 hours (literally 4
seconds and we would have been 3:59:59). I ran the 4th leg which was
3.6 miles in just over 30 minutes. It was a lot of fun and I’d run the relay
again.
I guess it was in August when I decided to run the Towpath
10K for my 10K PR. I was running the towpath a lot and during just training
runs I was close to my PR (55 flat) and thought I had a chance at a PR. A week before the race, I think, I asked my
buddy Cathy if she’d pace me for the 10K. She signed up and worked on how fast
we’d have to run the whole race (even if she thought I had told her that I need
to be under 54 for a PR!) Race morning was crisp and I was so excited (and
nervous) at the start. Cathy was nervous too, I think! We knew we wanted to
start right at 9 minute miles and get faster each mile. Every mile she’d ask,
how I was doing, and each mile just got a quieter response…”This is awesome” to
“ehhh”. I think it was mile 4 when Cathy
started to get concerned that it was going to be close. We were still cruising
and the splits were getting faster but my breathing and lack of even answering
questions with “yes” or “no” where gone. Somewhere in the middle of mile 5 I
became unglued and was ready to be done. About .35 of a mile in the race I did
just that. I stopped in my tracks and said “done!” Cathy looked at me
bewildered and was like “move your @$$!” It was just enough to make me mad and
get moving again. I crossed the finish line in 53:40! There was no way that I
would have been able to do that without Cathy. Just no way!
Totals for the year 2016
I am not sure what this blog is really going to look like in the next few months but I am thinking I will write mostly about my marathon training (yes I am going to be running my second marathon in Canton come April 30th. I couldn't pass up the $26.20 price!) and maybe a little bit of health stuff as I am still trying to lose a few pounds (I was able to maintain my 25 pound weight loss this year)! Oh and the only "injury" I got this year was an overused back so I might talk a little but about how I am going stop that from happening. And there will be more pictures I promise
I will leave with my favorite race picture (Towpath 10K)
