Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Evening Cross Country Race Recap

scenic hills that look nicer than they actually are

Saturday I ran a 5k in the evening, less than 12 hours after running a 5k that morning. This was different from last month when I ran two races 12 hours apart on two different days, since I got a decent night's sleep in between the races. This time I rested and dozed off for a few minutes, but I definitely went into this race already tired.

This was a tough race, but I liked it. I liked the course, which was a mix of fields and woods, which is my favorite. It felt quite reminiscent of my favorite high school cross country races, except those were flatter. There were a lot of hills on this course and some of them were steep, which made for a challenging course.

But as I keep saying, if I were better trained, it wouldn't be so bad. One of these days I'll actually have the time to spend more time on the treadmill, but I can only do so much in a day and the treadmill is losing out to other things more often than not. It's not permanent, so I'm not stressing about it too much.

Running two races on Saturday was a first for me. I didn't get enough sleep Friday night, so I went into the morning race tired. I managed to doze a few minutes after getting home, but not for long. I had thought about working on a project, but in the end just decided to rest and read a book.

The first half mile or so was pretty rough (it had a long steep hill that didn't help), but after that I settled in and it wasn't so bad. I walked the up hills and jogged the down hills like I usually do.  The first mile was through fields and past a small vineyard, then most of the second mile was double track through the woods. The double track was quite nice- smooth with very few rocks and roots, so I didn't have any problems with it. The third mile took us back around close to where we started, with the finish line at the bottom of the hill we'd climbed at the beginning. Pretty nice ending, and much nicer than ending on an uphill.

My heels were bothering me again. They bothered me a bit in the morning race too, but this time was bad. Bad enough I actually took my shoes off for a stretch of grass in the third mile. This is the third time it's been an issue and I've worn different pairs of socks each time, so that's not the source of the problem like I initially thought. The best I can figure is it's a combination of the surface of my orthotics (some sort of fabric that's getting worn) and tying my shoes too tightly. I don't like slipping around in my shoes, but after I put my shoes back on I loosely tied them and didn't have as much of a problem. It's about time to replace my orthotics anyway, but they're pricey and I'd rather spend the money on other things. I think I'm going to have to give in and do it anyway though- the burning pain is pretty unbearable.

I ran 3.04 miles in 43:17. That was a 14:13 pace, which is a lot slower than my morning 5k pace. I blame all the hills in this race. The faster second mile was the trail through the woods :)

1st mile: 14:14
2nd mile: 13:25
3rd mile: 15:15

12th race in 2016


Month
Event
Time
January
New Year’s Day 5k
33:01
February
Frostbite 5k
37:37
February
Mud Run
1:35:37
March
4k Walk
33:19
March
March 5k
33:49
March
Pi Day Virtual 5k
1:01:30
March
Obstacle Race
44:06
April
Glow Run
35:16
April
April 5k
41:15
April
Evening Run
34:59
May
May 5k
35:18
May
Evening Cross Country Race
43:17
















24th race towards my 40 by 40 goal



Date
Event
Distance
Event Type
1.
July 2015
4th of July 5k
5k
Pregnant
2.
August
4 Mile Fun Run
4 miles
Road Race
3.
September
All Terrain
5k
Mixed surface
4.
October
Hill Valley Half
13.1 miles
Virtual half marathon
5.
October
Corn Maze 5k
5k
Corn Maze
6.
October
Kilted Trail 5k
5k
Kilted race
7.
November
Trail Half
13.6 miles
Trail Half
8.
November
Turkey Trot
5k
Road Race
9.
December
Veteran’s 5k
5k
Mixed surface
10.
December
Army Virtual Marathon
26.23 miles
Virtual marathon
11.
January 2016
New Year’s Day 5k
5k
Road race
12.
February
Frostbite 5k
5k
Cross country race
13.
February
Mud Run
4.8 miles
Mud run
14.
March
4k Walk
4k
Walk
15.
March
March 5k
5k
Road race
16.
March
Pi Day Virtual 5k
5k
Virtual 5k Walk
17.
March
10 mile race
Not applicable
Water stop volunteer
18.
March
Obstacle Race
5k
Obstacle run
19.
April
Glow Run
5k
Glow Run, 1st of 2 races in 12 hours
20.
April
April 5k
5k
Pushing jogger, 2nd of 2 races in 12 hours
21.
April
Evening Run
5k
Evening run
22.
May
10k Kayak Race
10k
Kayak race
23.
May
May 5k
5k
5k, 1st of 2 races in same day
24.
May
Evening CC Race
5k
Evening cross country, 2nd of 2 races in same day