I cannot believe this race was nearly a week ago. It seems like just yesterday I was whining about having a night time race. As the saying goes people always need something to whine about, I do really enjoy the Memorial Scholarship. It’s in the beautiful location of the Botanical Gardens (not to be confused by the other beautiful location in my area of Mount Trashmore). The other favorite part is that I can honestly say about 95% of my running friends from the area do this race. So really what’s not to enjoy about the race?
I will say though that waiting until 6:30pm to race is it a bit nerve wrecking and you it’s just on the back of your mind all day long.
I got to the Botanical Gardens pretty early and immediately got my bib and beer bracelet. I like my beer bracelet because it shows a. I’m 23 and not to be confused with high schoolers and b. I can drink beer.
I had planned to use this as a perfect marathon workout. Run a double digit run in the morning, start the race (with the warmup) having about 13 miles on my legs and then make for a 17-18 mile day.
All of that I did.
My easy run in the morning felt okay though my legs were pretty sluggish. I had cross trained the day before (not run)so I wasn’t surprised that I wasn’t feeling the greatest and my legs were stiff.
The race started in the parking lot and immediately bottle-necked onto a narrow path. I’m somewhat claustrophobic so having so many people so close was a little bit unpleasant for me. My legs did not feel good at all and I saw quite a few females in front of me. I looked down at my watch at exactly .68 into the race thinking we MUST be at least 1 mile plus in…then immediately thought dear god this is not going to be pleasant if I’m already staring into my watch. My first mile was 5:48.
The second mile went around quite a few different bends and loops and reminded me of a track. Nothing was really a straight line but I was able to run the tangents pretty well and pass a few people. At this point I came across a close knit cross country pack of males. I always find it weird to pass or be passed by a heard of people at once. The coach was pacing the kids as well chanting and motivating for them to hurry. My second mile was a 6:06.
The third mile I just kept reminding myself (as hard as it was) one more mile to go. I honestly had no thoughts of pace or time and had no idea what I was going for. When I saw the clock, once again in the 18:XX, I was flabbergasted. How did I manage an 18:52 5k after all those miles when just 3 days ago, a sub 19 minute 5k seemed unreachable. My last mile was a consistent 6:07.
A good friend and great local running Ally captures some pretty awesome shots at the end.
I then proceeded to finish and head straight towards the table with fresh watermelon. I am pretty sure I ate at least half of it. After chatting, take a few photos with friends and eating more watermelon I decided to do a cooldown. Sadly I missed everyone else who cooled down directly after the race, so I had to run solo. It gave me time to reflect on what a solid race I had and that I was nearly at 19 miles for the day.
So with that is my first marathon workout and another great race. The positives are that it was my second fastest 5k to date and was done after nearly 14 miles on my legs and at night. The negatives are…well I felt terrible but even though I had a fast race I’m now hungry for a tapered 5k and I know that there are none that fit into my schedule for a very long time.
Questions for you:
Have you sandwiched a race into a long run?
What is the perfect time of day for you to race?
Hollie, I always love reading your posts! Thanks for including me! 🙂
Seriously Theresa seeing you is always a highlight in any regards!
Dude. Quite simply: you rock.
Thank you Emily!
I agree with Emily. Great race Hollie! I would be on cloud nine if I were you!
You go girl! This sounds like an awesome race and I hope it gave you confidence for your marathon!! I love when you talk about seeing friends I think that always makes for a better and more fun race for you! Oh and I love a good beer bracelet too it shows our age since otherwise we look too young!
Awe thanks Shannon, your support means the world to me. Do you remember when that guy taking our photo did not believe either of us were 21? I want to say it was at Bakers Crust! HAHAHA.
I have never ran a race at night, so I’m not sure if I would like it or not. I tend to try and move around a lot during the day so I don’t know if my legs would feel as fresh at night. Go girl on your second 18 minute 5k! Beast mode! 😉
My legs are much more stretched out at night but I just kept thinking about it all night. Thank you Lauren you are awesome. 🙂
I’m really sorry I missed this one Hollie. Sounds like a great turnout. I am definitely a morning runner when it’s a little bit cooler.
I’ve definitely sandwiched races in middle of long runs, 5k’s half marathons and other ones. It’s a good way to get the miles and and some speed in the feet. I’ll say it AGAIN- super proud of you…and ridiculously jealous of your times….marathon training is doing great things for you:)
Way to go on your 5K and such a great time after running that morning. I actually want to do that for my next night 5K- run that morning then run the 5K that night. I feel like I’d do better that way, at least a short morning run, you know? You’re such a rockstar for sandwiching it into your long run when most people would just not do the long run because they have a race.
My best races are morning… definitely morning. I like it early but not super early, 8 AM is just right!
Congrats! I actually love using races in the middle of long runs (or before or after). It helps get the mileage done and there is lots of other runners and water and crowds (sometimes)!
It’s funny how things like this work out sometimes. I remember being in high school and feeling like complete shit during swim meet warmups, sure I was going to bomb my race only to pull some great time out. Just goes to show how unpredictable things can be. Great time, btw!
Wow, awesome job!! I’ve done that a few times in marathon training- although not with a 5k. But for a half marathon, I’ve added 2-3 on either side to make it a 20 miler. You were flying!!
I have never sandwiched in a race with a long run and my favorite time to run is like late morning- so that I can wake up a little. I think this just shows that you are getting faster! The marathon training is doing wonders for your 5ks! I’m so happy you got another sub 19 min 5k! Congrats!
I am so crazy proud of you Hollie, seriously. Two sub-19 5ks during marathon training, and this one on tired legs in the evening? Just amazing. Also I love that you and your dad run so many races together!
You are such a rockstar! The half-marathon I did last summer was an evening race, and it was a complete disaster; those night-time events are tough … especially in terms of eating throughout the day. 😉
Nice job! We’ve used a race as part of our workout and then added a little at the end to make it our scheduled miles for the day. We usually just find races that are the exact distance (or close enough to it) and use those as training runs.
Get it! That’s so awesome!
Evening races are incredibly intimidating to me. I don’t run well late in the day, but that’s probably a good reason to try one.
um I wish I looked like I was flying when I was running like you! you take the best race pictures
Awesome race! Amazing you did that on long run legs!!