Athlete’s Closet March 5K

Posted in Race Recaps by Annie T

Last Saturday I ran the final 5K in the Athlete’s Closet Winter Series. After a lackluster finish at this event in February my goal was to beat my previous course-best time of 23:47 from January. I worked hard during the weeks leading up to Saturday’s race and I was fired up and ready to run FAST!

Unfortunately I did not get a chance to better my official course time. Just before the race began the race director announced that the course had to be cut short due to snow and ice on a section of the road. 😞 On the bright side, he reminded us, we’d all get automatic PRs for running a 5K “minus a little bit” so at least I had that going for me! 😉 Ultimately the shortened course really wasn’t that bad but I’ll admit, I was sad to miss my chance at an official course PR after a month of hyping myself up!

Even with a short course I could still try to run my fastest pace of the series. I couldn’t remember exactly what a sub 23:47 5K translated to in terms of pace so I focused on trying to stay in the mid-7:30s. The first mile ticked by feeling relaxed, controlled and, dare I say it… easy in 7:22. 7:22!!! Whoops, a little TOO fast. But I felt good so I rolled with it. The second mile chirped by in 7:47 and I reasoned that I was pretty much on target with an average pace right around 7:35. With less than a mile to go all I needed to do was hang on…

According to Garmin I slowed down a ridiculous amount on the final uphill stretch (I think that’s a technological glitch… I have no recollection of that!) but I still managed to squeak through the finish in 21:48. The race distance was 2.85 miles and my average pace was 7:39. Was that good enough to beat January’s pace…..?? It turns out that YES, it was!! If the course had been the full length and IF (big if) I had kept up the same pace, I was on track to run a 23:42 5K… 5 seconds faster than my January time on this course! Woohoo!

Seconds before crossing the finish line. I think I’m preparing my fingers to turn off my watch. Photo credit: Athlete’s Closet.

My finish time was good enough for 10th place overall, 3rd place woman and, for the 4th time in the race series, 1st in my age group. 😄

Before the race I promised myself that if I ran fast I could buy my first-ever pair of trail running shoes. I think 7:39 pace qualified as fast so a few hours after the race I picked up these beauties:

Brooks Cascadia 9s. They’re last year’s model which means that they were on sale! I took them for a spin on Sunday at Ridley Creek State Park and they were nice and comfy despite the treacherously slippery slush and snow. My GSP trail-trotting buddy approves!

Trot trot trot

Piper approves of my new shoes

The next race that I’m registered for is the final Pickle Run on March 28th. I have a feeling that that won’t actually be my next race though… I’m pretty sure that I’ll be signing up for either a St. Paddy’s Day 5K this weekend or a 10K trail race on the 21st. Or both. We’ll see! 😄

Miles since last post: 62
Days since last post: 13
Avg. Daily Miles since 7/18/13: 4.84
2015 MILES: 329.2

Past Races:
• February ’15: Athlete’s Closet February 5K (2/7), Pickle Trail Run #2 (2/21)
• January ’15: SRA New Year’s Day 5K (1/1), Athlete’s Closet January 5K (1/3), Pickle Run #1 (1/17)
• December ’14: Jingle Elf 2 Mile (12/5), Brian’s Run 5 Miler (12/7), Athlete’s Closet Holiday 5K (12/14)
• November ’14: Trinity Berwyn 5K (11/1) [PR], Metal Run 5K (11/8), Seven Summits Turkey Trot (11/27)
• October ’14: Martin’s Run 5K (10/5), Fueled Up & Fired Up 5K (10/18), Bark in the Park 5K (10/25)
• September ’14: Talk 5K Trail Run (9/13), Run A Muck Trail Race (9/20), Haverford Township 5K (9/27)
• August ’14: Riddlewood 5K (8/3), Radnor Red Steeplechase (8/17), Pickle in the Streets 5K (8/28) [PR]
• July ’14: Cam’s ‘Moonlight’ 5K (7/10), Swarthmore Independence Eve 8K (7/18)
• June ’14: Radnor Conservancy 5K Trail Run (6/1), Media 5 Miler (6/20)
• May ’14: Elwyn 5K (5/3), Run for Victory 5K (5/18) [PR], Rocky Run 5K Trail Run (5/30)
• April ’14: Las Vegas Security 5K (4/3/, Rick’s Run 5K (4/19), St. Tim’s 5K (4/26)
• March ’14: Athlete’s Closet March 5 Miler (3/1), Color Out Cancer 5K (3/30)
• February ’14: Athlete’s Closet February 5K (2/1)
• January ’14: Athlete’s Closet January 5K (1/4)
• December ’13: Athlete’s Closet December 5K (12/14), New Year’s Eve YMCA 5K (12/31) [PR]
• November ’13: Trinity Presbyterian 5K (11/2), Turkey Trot 5K (11/28)
• October ’13: Fueled Up & Fired Up 5K (10/19), Oy Vey 5K (10/27) [PR]
• September ’13: Run-a-Muck 5K (9/21)
• The Challenge Begins: 100 Mile iPad Mini Challenge (7/23/13)

12Feb2015

Athlete’s Closet February 5K and a Renewed Need for Speed

Posted in Race Recaps by Annie T

Last Saturday I ran the third of four 5Ks in the Athlete’s Closet Winter Series. Coming off of a month of slower trail runs, time in Vegas and really no speedwork to speak of, it was not surprising that I finished Saturday’s 5K much slower than my January 5K time from the exact same course.

I started out a little too quickly (ok, a LOT too quickly!) and then faded pretty significantly towards the end of the race. I felt OK the entire time (well, until I looked at my watch after mile 2 and saw 8:11!) but I just couldn’t make my legs go any faster. My finish time of 24:00 was 13 seconds slower than January’s AC 5K but, surprisingly, was still good enough for 3rd woman overall and top in my age group. I guess we’re all getting a little slower as winter drags on!

Despite my lackluster performance I left the race with renewed determination. I want to beat my course best time of 23:47 during March’s Athlete’s Closet 5K and I know I can do it! I drove home feeling excited by the prospect of resuming speedwork (crazy, right??!) and found myself looking forward to picking up the pace on training runs. The final Athlete’s Closet 5K in on March 7th and I am going to be ready for it!!

I have four weeks to work on my speed. I kicked things off Monday with 5 miles on the treadmill while watching Seven Years in Tibet.* Then things really got going on Tuesday with my first speed workout since before Thanksgiving: 6 x 800m intervals on the treadmill with 400m jog recovery in between. 3:42, 3:41, 3:37, 3:35, 3:32, 3:25… I CRUSHED this workout with a better average pace than I ever ran on the track last Fall. After a nice cool down I climbed off the treadmill more determined than ever.

*Side note: I last saw Seven Years in Tibet when I was 13. It was SO much better to watch now! Fascinating 1940s history plus young Brad Pitt.

I don’t have a specific training plan per se, but between now and March 7th I plan to do at least three more speedwork sessions (maybe a 400-800-1200-1200-800-400 ladder? Bring it on!) as well as a few tempo runs and some easy miles on the trails. Today, however, will be as close as I get to a rest day – I’m taking Piper hiking after work! 😄

Miles since last post: 87.1
Days since last post: 18
Avg. Daily Miles since 7/18/13: 4.85
2015 MILES: 196.6

Past Races:
• January ’15: SRA New Year’s Day 5K (1/1), Athlete’s Closet January 5K (1/3), Pickle Run #1 (1/17)
• December ’14: Jingle Elf 2 Mile (12/5), Brian’s Run 5 Miler (12/7), Athlete’s Closet Holiday 5K (12/14)
• November ’14: Trinity Berwyn 5K (11/1) [PR], Metal Run 5K (11/8), Seven Summits Turkey Trot (11/27)
• October ’14: Martin’s Run 5K (10/5), Fueled Up & Fired Up 5K (10/18), Bark in the Park 5K (10/25)
• September ’14: Talk 5K Trail Run (9/13), Run A Muck Trail Race (9/20), Haverford Township Day 5K (9/27)
• August ’14: Riddlewood 5K (8/3), Radnor Red Steeplechase (8/17), Pickle in the Streets 5K (8/28) [PR]
• July ’14: Cam’s ‘Moonlight’ 5K (7/10), Swarthmore Independence Eve 8K (7/18)
• June ’14: Radnor Conservancy 5K Trail Run (6/1), Media 5 Miler (6/20)
• May ’14: Elwyn 5K (5/3), Run for Victory 5K (5/18) [PR], Rocky Run 5K Trail Run (5/30)
• April ’14: Las Vegas Security 5K (4/3/, Rick’s Run 5K (4/19), St. Tim’s 5K (4/26)
• March ’14: Athlete’s Closet March 5 Miler (3/1), Color Out Cancer 5K (3/30)
• February ’14: Athlete’s Closet February 5K (2/1)
• January ’14: Athlete’s Closet January 5K (1/4)
• December ’13: Athlete’s Closet December 5K (12/14), New Year’s Eve YMCA 5K (12/31) [PR]
• November ’13: Trinity Presbyterian 5K (11/2), Turkey Trot 5K (11/28)
• October ’13: Fueled Up & Fired Up 5K (10/19), Oy Vey 5K (10/27) [PR]
• September ’13: Run-a-Muck 5K (9/21)
• The Challenge Begins: 100 Mile iPad Mini Challenge (7/23/13)

6Jan2015

Athlete’s Closet New Year’s 5K

Posted in Race Recaps by Annie T

On January 3rd I ran my second race of 2015, the Athlete’s Closet New Year’s 5K in West Chester, PA. After a fast race on New Year’s Day my plan was to show up, have fun, and stay relaxed. The verdict? I ended up running a comfortable, happy race and still had enough gas in the tank to totally crush the finish with a huge spurt of speed, putting down a new course personal best time in the process. Oh yeah!

It’s no secret that I tend to go out way too fast in the first mile of a 5K. On New Year’s Day when I was trying to run a PR I completed my first mile in 7:15. Yikes!! During Saturday’s “fun, relaxed” race, by comparison, I went out in a much more practical 7:34 and, not surprisingly, felt significantly better during the second half of the race. I felt so good, in fact, that in the last mile when the course began a long uphill climb I was able to pass a man who had been holding steady in front of me for the first two miles. It feels strange to say it, but after all of my hill running I may actually LIKE hills now!!

My relaxed first mile really paid off in the final stretch of Saturday’s race when I made the last turn back onto Isabel Lane. The finish line had not yet come into view but what WAS in view were the two runners ahead of me. The first was a man who had previously been running with hill guy. He was pretty close to me so I figured that I could probably catch him as we closed in on the finish. The second runner was a woman in neon yellow who was way, WAY ahead of me. Normally I never would have considered her to be within reach but something suddenly clicked in my brain and I found myself utterly determined to catch her. I picked up my pace and watched the space between us disappear. In a blur I saw someone warning her I was coming but then I shifted gears again into what felt like a full out sprint. I blew through the finish with a second to spare. What an exhilarating way to end a race!

Photo credit: Athlete’s Closet

Matt and Piper stayed at home on Saturday so the photo for this recap was just going to be an in-the-car selfie BUT, as luck would have it, one of the race organizers from the Athlete’s Closet captured the above photo just before the finish. Perfect timing!! I was surprised to see how calm my facial expression looks in this photo considering how hard I felt I was running!

My next race will be the Pickle Run in Ridley Creek State Park on January 17th. Like the Pickle Run that I did in August, this will be a fun prediction-style race with no watches allowed. Hopefully I can match Saturday’s relaxed first mile pace without my Garmin’s help!

Miles since last post: 22.6
Days since last post: 5
Avg. Daily Miles since 7/18/13: 4.86
2015 MILES: 27.2

Past Races:
• January ’15: SRA New Year’s Day 5K (1/1)
• December ’14: Jingle Elf 2 Mile (12/5), Brian’s Run 5 Miler (12/7), Athlete’s Closet Holiday 5K (12/14)
• November ’14: Trinity Berwyn 5K (11/1) [PR], Metal Run 5K (11/8), Seven Summits Turkey Trot (11/27)
• October ’14: Martin’s Run 5K (10/5), Fueled Up & Fired Up 5K (10/18), Bark in the Park 5K (10/25)
• September ’14: Talk 5K Trail Run (9/13), Run A Muck Trail Race (9/20), Haverford Township Day 5K (9/27)
• August ’14: Riddlewood 5K (8/3), Radnor Red Steeplechase 5K (8/17), Pickle in the Streets 5K (8/28) [PR]
• July ’14: Cam’s ‘Moonlight’ 5K (7/10), Swarthmore Independence Eve 8K (7/18)
• June ’14: Radnor Conservancy 5K Trail Run (6/1), Media 5 Miler (6/20)
• May ’14: Elwyn 5K (5/3), Run for Victory 5K (5/18) [PR], Rocky Run 5K Trail Run (5/30)
• April ’14: Las Vegas Security 5K (4/3/, Rick’s Run 5K (4/19), St. Tim’s 5K (4/26)
• March ’14: Athlete’s Closet March 5 Miler (3/1), Color Out Cancer 5K (3/30)
• February ’14: Athlete’s Closet February 5K (2/1)
• January ’14: Athlete’s Closet January 5K (1/4)
• December ’13: Athlete’s Closet December 5K (12/14), New Year’s Eve YMCA 5K (12/31) [PR]
• November ’13: Trinity Presbyterian 5K (11/2), Turkey Trot 5K (11/28)
• October ’13: Fueled Up & Fired Up 5K (10/19), Oy Vey 5K (10/27) [PR]
• September ’13: Run-a-Muck 5K (9/21)
• The Challenge Begins: 100 Mile iPad Mini Challenge (7/23/13)

1Jan2015

SRA New Year’s Day 5K

Posted in Race Recaps by Annie T

1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi, 3 Mississippi, 4 Mississippi.
THAT’S how close I came to beating my 5K PR this morning!!

I kicked off my 2015 with the S.R.A New Year’s Day 5K in Swarthmore, PA. The weather was sunny and brisk and the race was well organized with a great turnout of around 220 runners. The course was fun and relatively flat, starting and finishing with laps on the Swarthmore College track.

I really wanted to run a new personal best in this race. As the opening line of this post indicates, I did not quite get my PR, but I feel confident saying that I put forth the absolute best effort that I was capable of today. Although my official finish time of 23:36 was 4 seconds short of my PR from November’s Trinity Berwyn 5K, I think this was still my fastest 5K pace ever (Trinity might have been a little short) and I certainly FELT like I was running my hardest the while time! Apparently my new Garmin heart rate monitor agrees… I averaged 192 bpm and maxed out at 202 bpm in the final 0.1 miles… I have no idea what my max heart rate is but that’s probably pretty close!!

The first mile of the race included a lap around the track and a gentle uphill and before I knew it my Garmin was beeping a 7:14 first split. Good start! As the second mile began I focused on my cadence, quickly getting my feet down on the pavement, especially when I started to feel a little tired. The second mile was over in 7:46… not quite where I wanted to be but my second mile tends to be my slowest.

I knew that if I was going to beat my PR I would need to maintain around a 7:30 pace. My first two splits averaged out to exactly 7:30 but I was feeling a little discouraged (and a lot tired) at the start of mile 3. I kept focusing on my cadence (which apparently worked… I averaged 179 steps per minute throughout the whole race!) and tried to stay strong. I saw Matt and Piper cheering me on by the college field house at the 21 minute mark and entered the stadium at 21:47 with a lap to go. I knew at that point that I wasn’t going to quite get my PR but I still ran that last quarter mile as hard as I could. I crossed the line with an official chip time of 23:36, just 4 seconds shy of my goal.

Overall today wasn’t easy. I stayed strong, I ran hard and then I ran even harder when I felt like I was already going as fast as I could go. Although I would have loved to start the new year with a PR I still feel very proud of my effort in Swarthmore today. Oh, and my 23:36 finish was good enough for 7th woman overall AND 2nd place in my age group! I got an awesome wooden medal with downtown Swarthmore etched on it (so cool!!) which is probably my favorite piece of race swag yet. (Except for maybe the 150 gallons of heating oil that Matt and I won in a race raffle in September, that was pretty good too. 😜)

SUCH a cool medal!!

This is going to make a good xmas ornament next year.

My next race is Saturday (I guess I should stop drinking beer and start re-hydrating now??) when I tackle the Athlete’s Closet 5K course in West Chester for the 5th time. I’ll see how I feel by then but that race will probably end up being a little more laid back than today’s speedy tour of Swarthmore!

Miles since last post: 83.8
Days since last post: 18
Avg. Daily Miles since 7/18/13: 4.86
2014 TOTAL MILES: 1773
2015 MILES: 4.6

Past Races:
• December ’14: Jingle Elf 2 Mile (12/5), Brian’s Run 5 Miler (12/7), Athlete’s Closet Holiday 5K (12/14)
• November ’14: Trinity Berwyn 5K (11/1) [PR], Metal Run 5K (11/8), Seven Summits Turkey Trot (11/27)
• October ’14: Martin’s Run 5K (10/5), Fueled Up & Fired Up 5K (10/18), Bark in the Park 5K (10/25)
• September ’14: Talk 5K Trail Run (9/13), Run A Muck Trail Race (9/20), Haverford Township Day 5K (9/27)
• August ’14: Riddlewood 5K (8/3), Radnor Red Steeplechase 5K (8/17), Pickle in the Streets 5K (8/28) [PR]
• July ’14: Cam’s ‘Moonlight’ 5K (7/10), Swarthmore Independence Eve 8K (7/18)
• June ’14: Radnor Conservancy 5K Trail Run (6/1), Media 5 Miler (6/20)
• May ’14: Elwyn 5K (5/3), Run for Victory 5K (5/18) [PR], Rocky Run 5K Trail Run (5/30)
• April ’14: Las Vegas Security 5K (4/3/, Rick’s Run 5K (4/19), St. Tim’s 5K (4/26)
• March ’14: Athlete’s Closet March 5 Miler (3/1), Color Out Cancer 5K (3/30)
• February ’14: Athlete’s Closet February 5K (2/1)
• January ’14: Athlete’s Closet January 5K (1/4)
• December ’13: Athlete’s Closet December 5K (12/14), New Year’s Eve YMCA 5K (12/31) [PR]
• November ’13: Trinity Presbyterian 5K (11/2), Turkey Trot 5K (11/28)
• October ’13: Fueled Up & Fired Up 5K (10/19), Oy Vey 5K (10/27) [PR]
• September ’13: Run-a-Muck 5K (9/21)
• The Challenge Begins: 100 Mile iPad Mini Challenge (7/23/13)

14Dec2014

Athlete’s Closet Holiday 5K

Posted in Race Recaps by Annie T

Yesterday morning I ran the Athlete’s Closet Holiday 5K, the first of four races in the Athlete’s Closet Winter Series in West Chester, PA. I ran this series last winter and had fun (despite the 10° temperature for January’s race!) so I signed up again for the whole series this year.

As usual, Matt and Piper came along to watch — race-spectating is a great way to socialize and tire out a puppy! Matt and Piper went for a walk during the race and, much to Matt’s surprise, they discovered a paddock full of llamas right in the middle of an otherwise normal suburban neighborhood street!! Piper and the llamas seemed equally fascinated by one another… the llamas trotted right over to the fence to check her out and Piper watched cautiously from the other side of the street, blurting out a few tentative “woofs” to see what they’d do (the llamas didn’t care). Matt brought me over to the llamas to show me Piper’s reaction after the race was over. Very funny!

But back to the race… I remembered from last year’s races that this 5K course isn’t particularly exciting or easy. It zig-zags out through hilly neighborhoods, loops around a bit and then zig-zags back to the finish. I find the constant turns to be disorienting (I never know which direction I’m pointing until I get back to the road where the finish line is) but after running this course three times last winter I at least have a better idea of when to expect the next hill.

The first mile of the race flew by in a quick 7:29. The second mile suddenly felt a lot harder and crept by in a sluggish-feeling 8:11. But then my legs redeemed themselves during mile 3 when I was able to pick up my pace up a long hill (passing 2 people!) and then finish strong with a final split of 7:57. After running two races last weekend I went into this race just wanting to have fun and stay relaxed and with a finish time of 23:55 I think I certainly accomplished that goal!

I’ll be capping off 2014 with two final events: a fun, 3 mile prediction run at The Running Place next weekend and then the New Year’s Eve 5K at the Upper Main Line YMCA. Last year I ran a PR at the New Year’s Eve race and I’ve already set my sights on a new PR there this year!

Miles since last post: 21.4
Days since last post: 5
Avg. Daily Miles since 7/18/13: 4.87
2014 TOTAL MILES: 1693.8

Related Posts:
• Brian’s Run 5 Miler (12/7/14)
• Jingle Elf 2 Mile (12/5/14)
• Seven Summits Turkey Trot (11/27/14)
• Metal Run 5K (11/8/14)
• Trinity Berwyn 5K (11/1/14) [New PR!]
• Bark in the Park 5K (10/25/14)
• Fueled Up & Fired Up 5K (10/18/14)
• Martin’s Run 5K (10/5/14)
• Haverford Township Day 5K (9/27/14)
• Run A Muck 5K-ish Trail Race (9/20/14)
• Talk 5K Trail Run (9/13/14)
• Pickle in the Streets 5K (8/28/14) [PR]
• Radnor Red Steeplechase 5K (8/17/14)
• Riddlewood Swim Club 5K (8/3/14)
• Swarthmore Lions Independence Eve 8K (7/18/14)
• Cam’s ‘Moonlight’ 5K (7/10/14)
• Media 5 Miler (6/20/14)
• Radnor Conservancy 5K Trail Run (6/1/14)
• Rocky Run 5K Trail Run (5/30/14)
• Run for Victory 5K (5/18/14) [PR]
• Elwyn 5K (5/3/14)
• St. Tim’s 5K (4/26/14)
• Rick’s Run 5K (4/19/14)
• Las Vegas Security 5K (4/3/14)
• Color Out Cancer 5K (3/30/14)
• Athlete’s Closet March 5 Miler (3/1/14)
• Athlete’s Closet February 5K (2/1/14)
• Athlete’s Closet January 5K (1/4/14)
• New Year’s Eve 5K at the YMCA (12/31/13) [PR]
• Athlete’s Closet December 5K (12/14/13)
• Turkey Trot 5K (11/28/13)
• Trinity Presbyterian 5K (11/2/13)
• Oy Vey 5K (10/27/13) [PR]
• Fueled Up & Fired Up 5K (10/19/13)
• Run-a-Muck 5K (9/21/13)
• The Challenge Begins: 100 Mile iPad Mini Challenge (7/23/13)

2Mar2014

Athlete’s Closet March 5 Miler

Posted in Race Recaps by Annie T

Yesterday I ran the fourth and final race in the Athlete’s Closet Winter Series. Unlike the previous three 5K races, the Winter Series finale was a 5 mile course, making this my longest race ever! My goals going in were to be relaxed, have a positive experience, and hopefully finish in under 45 minutes. And guess what? Mission accomplished! I finished first in my age group with a 42:47!!! Woohoo!

My race day prep was a little different than usual for this 5 miler in that it involved Italian wedding soup and (a tiny bit of) champagne. Yup, I was at a wedding until about an hour before the race started! 🙂 That made for a very fun morning and it helped to keep me really relaxed since my mind was focused on family and friends rather than on the impending longer-than-usual race distance.

At 37° and sunny the weather was pretty awesome compared to this winter’s typical sub-freezing temps. I didn’t even need gloves! The 5 mile course was hilly but overall I felt great. I still have my Runkeeper app configured to only tell me my time, distance and pace when I hit 25 minutes, so I ran the first 3 miles not knowing how I was doing. Then when the app finally started reporting my stats I realized that I was comfortably running much faster than I expected and that made the last 2 miles seem even easier to complete.

Matt was waiting on the street to cheer me on at about the 4.75 mile mark (right where I turned left from Warren Rd onto David Ln) and then he was able to take the short route to the finish in time to snap a photo of me pounding towards the finish line. I was running so fast that my headphones fell out… might need to get some Yurbuds soon to remedy that!

Finishing a 5 mile race in under 43:00 was a fantastic surprise and I can’t wait to see how easy a 5K is going to feel in comparison!! Our next race will be the Pickle Run in Ridley Creek State Park on March 15th. You may remember that we were supposed to do the Pickle Run in February, but unfortunately it got postponed due to damage from the ice storm so I still haven’t gotten the chance to race in our local park! I am really, really looking forward to it!

Miles since last post: 140.8
Days since last post: 27
Avg. Daily Miles since 7/18/13: 4.91
2014 TOTAL MILES: 307.7

Related Posts:
• Athlete’s Closet February 5K (2/1/14)
• Athlete’s Closet January 5K (1/4/14)
• New Year’s Eve 5K at the YMCA (12/31/13)
• Athlete’s Closet December 5K (12/14/13)
• Turkey Trot 5K (11/28/13)
• Let’s Go Streaking! (11/21/13)
• Trinity Presbyterian 5K (11/2/13)
• Oy Vey 5K (10/27/13)
• Fueled Up & Fired Up 5K (10/19/13)
• Run-A-Muck 5K (9/22/13)
• The Challenge Begins: 100 Mile iPad Mini Challenge (7/23/13)

3Feb2014

Athlete’s Closet Run for Love 5K

Posted in Race Recaps by Annie T

Matt and I ran the third race in the Athlete’s Closet Winter Series on Saturday. Following the loss of our beautiful pup, Bailey, on Thursday night, we decided that we still wanted to race but we were also feeling completely emotionally and physically drained. As a result, the race didn’t feel particularly good, but it was definitely good for us to get outside and run.

My brother Billy (or “Bill” as he likes to be called now that he’s an adult!!) wasn’t planning on running with us but he decided last minute that he’d come and run with me for support. We all wore our “The Little GSP” t-shirts in memory of Bailey and, true to his word, Billy kept pace with me throughout the entire race. I told him at the start that he should tell me to go faster when I was plodding up the (many) hills on the course, so he did and I think it made me go a little faster.

Despite Billy’s best efforts, this was not a stellar race for Matt and me. We both finished within seconds of each other in the 26:02-ish range which is 2+ minutes off of Matt’s target time and at least 45 seconds slower than I was aiming for. At least I was able to finish strong AND I have photographic proof of it! With a few hundred feet to go I started sprinting and my step-father captured this photo. I think this may be the first photo of me in a 5K where I look like I’m actually running! (Usually I’m mid-stride with a painful expression on my face!)

Here are my RunKeeper stats for the race. Again, nothing too impressive but, considering the circumstances, not terrible either. The weather was beautiful (35° and sunny) and we had a great cheering section in the form of my brother’s girlfriend Suzanne, my mom, and my step-father. It was really nice of them all to come out to support us… thanks guys!!!

Our next race will be the Pickle Run in Ridley Creek State Park on February 15th. I’ve heard great things about the Pickle Run Series (they’re super fun AND they’re predictive, meaning that the winner is the one who most accurately predicts their time in advance!) and it should be really neat to finally run a race on our “home” course at the park. I’m looking forward to it!

Miles since last post: 75.3
Days since last post: 15
Avg. Daily Miles since 7/18/13: 4.87
2014 TOTAL MILES: 166.9

Related Posts:
• Athlete’s Closet January 5K (1/4/14)
• New Year’s Eve 5K at the YMCA (12/31/13)
• Athlete’s Closet December 5K (12/14/13)
• Turkey Trot 5K (11/28/13)
• Let’s Go Streaking! (11/21/13)
• Trinity Presbyterian 5K (11/2/13)
• Oy Vey 5K (10/27/13)
• Fueled Up & Fired Up 5K (10/19/13)
• Run-A-Muck 5K (9/22/13)
• The Challenge Begins: 100 Mile iPad Mini Challenge (7/23/13)

4Jan2014

Athlete’s Closet January 5K

Posted in Race Recaps by Annie T

Matt and I ran the second 5K in the Athlete’s Closet Winter Series this morning. This race was special for two reasons… we had our first-ever spectators/cheering squad (my mom and stepfather) AND both of our brothers ran the race with us!!! Here we are at the finish… my brother Billy (#167), Matt’s brother Dylan (#145), me, and Matt. Yay for family running together!

Billy was the first finisher of our group (15th overall) with Dylan (17th), Matt (20th) and me (23rd) close behind. Matt’s time was 25:45 and mine was 26:19… much slower than usual but we had a good excuse… the roads were partially covered in snow and it was really, really cold out. It was a mere 1°F when we arrived at the event. ONE DEGREE!!! By the time the race actually started it had probably warmed up to around 10° but that’s still pretty chilly!

I knew it was going to be cold so I tried to plan my clothing accordingly. I was wearing SmartWool compression socks, Athleta’s Relay Tights, a thin Under Armour Twisted Tech T-shirt, Athleta’s Queen’s Luscious super-soft long-sleeve half zip, the Sugoi Firewall 180 Jacket, a head band, lightweight gloves, and a neck warmer from my mom that was made out of some sort of super-breathable tech material. All of that layering paid off because I felt good at the start line and got just hot enough during the race to unzip my jacket and long-sleeved shirt and put my gloves in my pockets. Oddly my toes went numb for the first mile or so but I’m not sure if that was from the cold or from my compression socks… I’ve never run in these socks before so I’ll have to do some investigating to figure out what was going on!

Today’s 3.1 mile course took us on the same route as the Athlete’s Closet December 5K. It was fairly hilly with a few big, slippery uphills towards the end of the race. I tracked the run on my iPhone with Runkeeper as usual but unfortunately I couldn’t get the “start” button to work at the beginning of the race. I ended up running the first several hundred yards looking at my armband trying in vain to push the stupid button with my “iPhone friendly” gloves (which, for the record, had been working fine up to that point!). I finally got it to work about .1 into the race after taking one glove off and licking my finger before tapping the phone screen Jeez! Maybe it was too cold out? All of this excitement resulted in my splits being a little messed up since I had to manually edit the course distance in Runkeeper afterwards. Oh well!

Overall today was chilly and not quite as fast as I was hoping for, but it was really fun to have our brothers running with us and to have our very own spectators. I figure if our family was able to survive today’s frigid temperatures they can survive anything! Hopefully they will join us again for the next 5K of the Winter Series on February 1st! 🙂

Miles since last post: 16.3
Days since last post: 4
Avg. Daily Miles since July 18th: 4.84
2014 TOTAL MILES: 16.3

Related Posts:
• New Year’s Eve 5K at the YMCA (12/31/13)
• Athlete’s Closet December 5K (12/14/13)
• Turkey Trot 5K (11/28/13)
• Let’s Go Streaking! (11/21/13)
• Trinity Presbyterian 5K (11/2/13)
• Oy Vey 5K (10/27/13)
• Fueled Up & Fired Up 5K (10/19/13)
• Run-A-Muck 5K (9/22/13)
• The Challenge Begins: 100 Mile iPad Mini Challenge (7/23/13)

14Dec2013

Athlete’s Closet December 5K

Posted in Race Recaps by Annie T

Guess what? It’s snowing out again! I’ll be headed to the kitchen to make another warm and hearty stew in a few minutes, but first I want to recap the 5K that I ran this morning. It was the first in a series of four winter races sponsored by the Athlete’s Closet, a local running store in West Chester, PA. I finished in 25:27 (approximately… official results aren’t posted yet) and I somehow managed to place first in my age group!

Matt sat this race out because he’s been having some serious back pain. I missed him on the course but I still got to see him at the start and finish cheering me on which was nice.

I tried something new with RunKeeper today. Usually I have the app report my time, pace, distance, etc. every 5 minutes and every .5 miles. I realize that’s a ton of stat reporting but it gives me something to think about during the race. This race, however, I decided to do away with all of the stats. I set RunKeeper to only tell me my stats when the race time hit 25 minutes. In other words, I hoped that I would finish the race before hearing any stats! As it turned out, the finish line was within sight and I was already running as fast as I could when my phone started talking to me, so I was pretty close to my goal. After I crossed the finish line I looked at my splits and realized that this is the first time that I’ve ever managed to run my 3rd mile faster than my 2nd… woohoo!!

When the race was over all of the runners gathered at the Athlete’s Closet for cookies, water, and a quick awards ceremony. The results weren’t posted so I didn’t even know my official time, much less how I had finished relative to other 20-29 year old females. As a result I was shocked when they called my name for top in my age group. I got this shiny medal with the event name engraved on the back… cool!!

Our next race is the Athlete’s Closet New Year’s 5K on January 4th. I don’t know if it will be the exact same course, but based on today’s terrain I should probably do some serious hill training between now and then! 🙂

Miles since last post: 75.6
Days since last post: 16
Average Daily Miles since July 18th: 4.778
TOTAL MILES: 716.8

Related Posts:
• Turkey Trot 5K (11/28/13)
• Let’s Go Streaking! (11/21/13)
• Trinity Presbyterian 5K (11/2/13)
• Oy Vey 5K (10/27/13)
• Fueled Up & Fired Up 5K (10/19/13)
• Limping my Way to 400 Miles (10/3/13)
• Run-A-Muck 5K (9/22/13)
• The Challenge Begins: 100 Mile iPad Mini Challenge (7/23/13)