Sunday 9/23/18 was the Remarkable River Run 5k/15k and also the last race of the Remarkable River Run Series for 2018. I love running on this course because it's a flat, out and back, and it's also close to where I live. I had a goal time in mind which was lofty but achievable based on my training times. The 5k started at 7:00 am which meant I got to see the beautiful sunrise on the river and hopefully beat the heat too. 

Mile 1 6:20
Sometimes in racing you have to be adaptive and this was one of those times. I wanted to start this race fast and keep it going. Well I did not start fast at all. I just felt slow and struggled to get going for some reason. Maybe it was early, didn't warm up enough? Who knows. The fact that I couldn't run very fast meant I had to change my strategy and really maintain my pace. I knew if I slowed down any I could have a really bad finishing time. 

Mile 2  6:34
I knew after the turn I had to keep checking my watch and maintaining my pace which I did for the most part. I felt slow but I also knew I could keep the pace up for another two miles. I think I just told myself mentally there was no way I could slow down because I was already going way slower than I needed to. 

Mile 3  6:32
Well look at this my third mile was slightly faster than my second. I was kind scared of the clock at this point but was happy to see I could still make it under 20 minutes if I pushed. Having the music here really helped out, and I'm glad I discovered this tip. 

Mile .10  6:10
Once again I have to work on my final kick at the end. It needs to be 5 minutes range not the 6's. That saves valuable time on the clock. When I crossed the line, the clock was somewhere in the high 1950 range so at least I broke 20 minutes. 

Thoughts
I have so many mixed feelings about this one. Well the good news is I was able to get under 20 minutes on a bad race and not blow up on the last mile as much. The bad news is I didn't run my best and I felt off. I have to work on my speed for the upcoming races. It can be overwhelming to think of how far I am away from my goals, but these things take time and effort. This was a super, fun race. They always do a great job with organizing it and the after-party/breakfast after. 

Results
Time: 19:56
Pace 6:25
Overall: 4th out of 140
1st Overall Female

The Swag
This event also has some of the best race swag. The awards/finisher medals are superb and the shirts and super soft and pretty. 

Saturday 9/8/18 was the 17th annual Halifax Hospice 5k in Port Orange, FL. Not only was this my first 5k race two years ago, it is one of my favorites. My previous times were 23:33 and 21:06 respectively. 

Pre-Race
I changed my race strategy a bit from not having one to knowing what my splits should be around and checking my watch to make sure I was on pace more often than my usual once or twice. I wanted to be around a 6:26 pace (which would be under 20 minutes on 3.10 but this course usually runs a little longer). I wanted to clock a 6:10-6:18 first, 6:20-6:25 second, 6:30-6:40 3rd, and a fast final sprint. This meant starting out faster than usual too. 

Mile 1  6:15
Mile 1 started out pretty good. I was able to get my fast start with nothing in my way. I felt good and I felt I was going fast but not too fast where I couldn't keep it up. Checking my watch pace and speeding up when necessary really helped here. After I saw the mile 1 marker, I made sure my pace was in my goal range and was happy that it was. 

Mile 2  6:25
I am most proud of this mile. This is the best second mile I have ever had (usually my first mile is around this pace). I was able to keep my pace up and felt pretty decent about it too. 

Mile 3  6:39
Mile 3 is always a struggle but I knew I couldn't fall apart here. It was also the hottest mile and the most uphill. I am actually sort of proud of this pace too. I really tried to hold it together as much as possible. 

Mile .17  6:15
I am not proud of this final sprint. I needed it to be a lot faster because that takes valuable seconds off the finishing time. This is one major thing I need to work on in upcoming events. I am however, proud of myself for not having anything left in the tank and leaving it all out on the course. Sometimes I finish knowing I had more to give, but happily this was not the case. 

Final Thoughts
I am proud of this race. I felt like I gave it everything I had and achieved most of my pacing goals. I went out hard (but not crazy) and kept it up as much as possible. As I said before, this race runs longer so with that in mind, I feel like sub 19:30 can be achieved for the next race. Now I have a week off and a goal race after that! 

Results
Time: 20:23
Pace: 6:25 (according to watch)
Overall: 3rd out of 557
1st Overall Female out of 350

↓  The Swag ↓

This Saturday is the annual Halifax Hospice 5k race. Two years ago this was my very first actual 5k race (the first being a 4k). In honor of this I wanted to go back and reflect on this race and the past two years. Let's take a trip down memory lane. 

Two years ago I was still pretty new to running in a competitive setting and had no idea how to train. I just ran about three miles almost every day and tried to run a little faster each time. I still had a long way to go and saw improvements early on because I started out pretty slow. I didn't know if I wanted to race more or just run for fun like I had been doing. 

My goal for this race was under 24 minutes or a pace of under 7:45 per mile. Keep in mind I had no idea how to pace (still working on it to this day actually) or any of that good stuff. I don't remember what my splits were just that I got passed so many times on the last mile haha. I also remembered thinking I was nearly at the finish line when I saw it but still had another quarter mile at least to go. I finished at 23:33 (7:36 pace) and was so over the moon with happiness and won my age group. After that, I was hooked on racing and knew I would be doing this more. 

The last two years of running have had their ups and downs. Mostly figuring out how to train and what I need to perform my best was the toughest battle for me. I have made sure to enjoy every moment of it because that to me is what races are about just having fun. I look forward to this race again in two days and no matter how it goes will enjoy the process.