"Are We There Yet 5k" Race Recap

This last weekend I ran in the Greenville First Christian Church Preschool "Are We There Yet 5k".  This race holds a special place in my heart because the 2013 running was the first race I ever trained for in my life. I purchased my first pair of running shoes 5 weeks before it and jogged it at 34:55. This year was different. The 5k took place on the morning of one of my long runs, so I swapped it out with this race which I would consider a short speed workout. The race is an out and back race around a little corner of Greenville, IL.

I got there early and took a 1.25 mile warmup jog and got ready to run. I went out at a good pace and only fell off a little. Runtastic puts my miles at 7:32, 8:17 and 8:40 with my final time at 24:56. That was good enough for 3rd place, only 2m 10s minutes behind the winner. It wasn't a super competitive race, but I feel good about my run. I ran hard and hit my target time of 25 minutes.

So what can 1 year and 900 miles of training do to you? It can cut 10 minutes off a 5k.

Rock and Roll St. Louis is this month!

In 27 days I will be standing in my starting corral at the St. Louis Rock and Roll Half Marathon. I signed up for it 4 months ago and in the last 16 weeks have put in 72 workouts with a total of just under 500 miles. I have 3 more weeks of hard training and a week of taper before the actual race. I'm feeling good about my prospects in my first 1/2 marathon. I think a goal of under 2 hours is attainable. It will not be easy, but no goal worth attaining is easy.

New Goal - Half Marathon

I've been quiet for a few weeks. I stopped Insanity for a while and have been running again. The crazy thing is, that I've been running a lot. Longer distances and more endurance. Insanity really paid off (even if I only did 6 out of 9 weeks). This culminated last weekend while I was visiting family in Phoenix and I ran 13.2 up and down South Mountain. It is the first time I managed half-marathon distance and it got me thinking. So I signed up for the St Louis half marathon event of the Rock & Roll Marathon in October.

That being decided, I needed to take my running to a different level of intelligence. I knew I couldn't just go out and run as far and as fast as I can every day and expect to be ready. So I asked a seasoned running friend for advice and he pointed me to the SmartCoach at runnersworld.com. This handy app lets you set up a training program very easily. Lets just say I'll be putting in a lot of miles in the next 21 weeks. 

Race Goal

Now I know I can finish the half marathon, so that really isn't the goal. Right now, since I'm still fuzzy about what I can do in the next few months training wise, I'm setting my goal at finishing at 2 hours (or less) I've got a lot of work to get there.

I'll be adding some more posts about some of the gear, apps and training I am doing as we move forward.