Tag Archives: broad street

Broad Street 10 Miler (1:02.51)

May 11, 2018 By in Running, Running Reads, Training Tags: , , , , , 3 Comments
Broad Street 10 Miler (1:02.51)

This year, Broad Street wasn’t about my running my fastest.  After PRing in the half marathon this February, I haven’t trained as consistently over the past few months.  Life has gotten away from me, and small things have popped up here and there.  I am still in shape, but am I in PRing shape?  No.  That’s okay, and you can’t be in peak performance all of the time.

Anyway, this year Broad Street was about my finishing happy.  I DNSed last year because I was burned out. I could have run, but I would have been miserable. I knew I had made the right decision when I spectated the end and had no sadness at all.

This year I was determined to finish healthy, happy, and with a smile.

I did all of that and even had a consistent and solid race.

Each year, both my dad and my father in law come up for Broad Street.  Both are avid runners, and my dad has been running far longer than I have.  Everything up to race day went without a hitch.  My dad got my bib at the Convention center.  We got to the stadiums around 6 and made it to the start line around 7.

broad street 10 miler

I was seeded bib F143.  I tried to use the “seeded bathrooms”, but the volunteer told me my bib was too high (I.E., I was too slow).  There wasn’t really a point for me to be seeded I guess. I started exactly where I did when I ran every other year in the red coral.

I didn’t have time to wait again to use the bathroom, and when you are surrounded by 40,000 other people, there isn’t anywhere to go.  I rarely start any race having to use the bathroom, but I didn’t have a choice. I respect that there were faster athletes, but it didn’t make it easier to start a race needing to use the bathroom.

The race started right at 8 am, and we were off.  I told myself 1,000 times to run my race.  Time didn’t matter, but finishing happy and strong did.  I wasn’t sure what I was capable of.  I thought faster than the 1:05s I ran a few years ago but slower than my PR of 1:01.59.

My plan was just run my own race. I saw many people I knew storm by me, but I was in my own world.  The first mile of Broad Street always gets out fast anyway.  I ran a 6:15 and I thought, I think that’s half marathon PR pace but I would not be able to sustain that.

I saw a couple of friends during the second mile that zoomed by me. I thought, dang I’ve run fast in races with them before, and they are just floating by.  No big deal though. The next few miles went without much excitement.  I ran a 6:15, 6:16, 6:15.

By the time I knew it, we were doing the one turn in the entire race, around City Hall.  That is when I saw a few people in front, I knew I was going to reel in.  The humidity had started to get to me. It was forecasted to rain during Broad Street but never did.  The weather had spiked over the week from 40 to 60 and humid.  I wasn’t as prepared for it.  It was by no means bad weather, but was it wasn’t whether we were accustomed too!

Around city hall, I saw my good friend and coworker (thanks TJ) which motivated me.  The small turn in the race makes mile 5 fly by.  I think it breaks up the course well and by the time you know it, you’re over halfway done.  I ran mile 5 in 6:19.

During the next few miles, I focused on reeling people in.  It gave me the motivation to keep plugging along. I hit mile 6 in 6:10 and mile 7 in 6:11. I didn’t purposely run faster, I just did.

The heat and humidity hit me during the next few miles.  I was still enjoying myself, high fiving kids, etc. but I did not feel “on top of the world”.  My stomach was in knots because of the heat.  I always take Gatorade/electrolyte aid on course for anything more than a 10k.  I had been taking the on-course aid.

The last three miles, I traded back and forth with local runner Bryan.  I recognized him from other races, and we later chatted afterward. Around mile 7, I told myself, my goal was to run under 63.  Not a race PR but still a strong race for me.  I just needed to hold on.

broad street 10 miler

The last 3 miles were a bit of a blur.  I ran as fast as my legs would take me.  My legs never felt great, or loose during the race but they didn’t feel awful either.  Finally, we hit the Navy Yard at 9.75, and I began smiling.  I knew I was almost home and almost done.

broad street 10 miler

I powered to the finish and actually passed someone!  (In case you don’t know, I have the world’s worst kick).  I crossed in 1:02.51 and 35th female overall.  Apparently, I was beaming after the race and don’t even remember this.

broad street 10 miler

Thoughts:

I’m happy with how Broad Street went. It wasn’t my fastest or my slowest, but I was able to run a strong and consistent race.  I smiled the entire way.  It was nice to see so many friends along the course as well as after.  Even in a 40,000 person race you always see someone! Both my father and father in law had great races as well.

Questions for you:

What is the biggest race you’ve run?

Have you ever raced a 10 miler?

Training Recap: Warm Weather and 10 Milers

May 7, 2018 By in Running, Training Tags: , , , , , 1 Comment
Training Recap: Warm Weather and 10 Milers

Last weeks of training went well.  My goal was to run Broad Street, something I didn’t do last year.  I knew I wasn’t in the same shape as when I PRed at the Phoenix half and honestly that is okay.

Monday: 6-mile hike at Cattus Island Park
Tuesday: Easy 60 minutes run
Wednesday: 12X400s 400 recovery average 87 seconds
Thursday: Easy 60 minutes run
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Easy 60 minutes
Sunday: Broad Street 10 miler 1:02.51

 

Wednesday: 12x400s average 87 seconds

My workout went well.  I do all of my workouts on the road right now because of the limited Availablity of local tracks.  I ran 400 and jogged 400.  I felt good during the entire workout and was pleasantly surprised with how fast I was able to run.

Broad Street 10 miler (1:02.51)

I’ve run faster Broad Streets and I’ve run slower.  I kept a very even pace the entire time.  All of my miles were between 6:10-6:19.  I smiled, I side fived kids, and truly enjoyed myself.  That was not something I could do last year and I’m proud of how I ran the race.  I’ll have a full recap later in the week.  Both my dad and father in law had great races as well and it’s been great having my entire family here.

Other then that, it was a good week.  While I’m not in the same shape as I was when I ran the Phoenix half marathon, I am in good shape.  I’m looking forward to just running shorter races from 5ks to 10 miles until the fall.

Posts of the Week:

April Training

Broad Street Last Minute Tips (I guess too late now LOL?)

Making Strides 5k (19:08)

Questions for you:

Have you ever run a 10-mile race?

What is your ideal running temperature?

Training: Finally Feeling Good

April 29, 2016 By in DailyMusings Tags: , , , , , , , , , 22 Comments
Long time no talk right?

I haven’t posted as much on Fridays lately but I thought with a race this weekend, I thought I would update on my foot and personal life.

saucony a6 me run

A photo of me holding shoes must mean I’m back again right? 

After stopping my run two Sundays ago (because of pain above my 3-4rd metatarsal), I was positive I had a stress fracture or at least a reaction.  What else is up there?  There is lots of bone and a few nerves and muscles that connect.  The pain felt similar to the precursor of when I had my 2nd metatarsal fracture.

By Tuesday, I was in Dr. Kemonosh’s office.  My mentality was “if they could do deep tissue work, it couldn’t possibly be a fracture, right?”  One of his associates, Craig, did various tests including bending my toes and feeling each bone.  He was pretty sure nothing was broken but he told me to get an X-ray to be sure.  I wanted to know too!

In my opinion, injuries are awful but not knowing kind of injury is worse.  The x-ray came out clean.  Long story short, I had a pinched nerve between my toes from wearing too small of racing shoes and possibly too small/tight of socks.  It’s embarrassing considering I work at a running store and know my foot size but since removing them out of the equation I’ve been fine.  I’ll have to purchase bigger racing shoes.

So what is coming up?

Last year, I gutted out Broad Street and it was the first time for a few months I felt good.  For my newer readers, I ran the Phoenix full marathon and finished with an injury to my butt, hips and hamstring.  I got married, went on a honeymoon and came back at the end of April.  The ART and rest allowed my muscle issue to sort itself out.  I ran Broad Street 20 seconds slower than when I was in my ultimate fitness in 2014.  Moving on, this April I ended on a good note again.

I must like the end of April! 

So 300 words later, where am I now?

My foot is back to normal, and I am going to race Broad Street.  Since I’ve been resting the last two weeks, I’m not sure how this race will go.  I don’t feel “well rested, tapered and recovered,” I feel like my legs forgot what running is.  Since I’m able to run healthy and be motivated to run again, I don’t have any complaints.

That’s all I have.  My parents, as well as my inlaws, are both coming into town to also race Broad Street, so I’m excited to see them again.  It’s going to be a busy but fun weekend.

Posts from the week:
How to Train with Your Significant Other and Strengthen Your Marriage
5 Secrets to Buying Running Shoes
Saucony Kinvara 7 Review
Blogger’s Guilt

Thanks for stopping by!

Questions for you:
What are your weekend plans?
Have you ever had a foot issue?

I don’t play around with pain in the feet. There isn’t a lot down there and since I run on my toes, my metatarsals take more impact than I would like.

Broad Street 10 Miler (1:05.39)

May 5, 2015 By in Running Tags: , , , , 21 Comments

It’s not a secret that I’ve been injured off and on during the last year.  I can’t remember the last time I finished a race where I felt confident, satisfied or 100% happy with the results.  The only race in the last year (since Broad Street 2014) that has met any of my expectations would be the Icicle 10 miler in January.

I entered the lottery of Broad Street while I was still injured my with my bum butt.  I had hopes I would feel better before the race but if I didn’t, I would only have wasted about 40 dollars on the race entry fee.  Spoiler: I finished the race 100% injury free. 

My inlaws, Tim and myself headed to the race around 6:15.  My father in law and myself were running Broad Street while Tim and Greta spectated.  I was grateful they just dropped us off at the start because I know as much about taking the train as I do about technology.

My father in law, Paul and I

My father in law, Paul and I

After getting to the start, we relaxed, stood in line for the bathroom and chatted.  I didn’t warm up before the race for a couple of reasons:

  • I haven’t been doing a lot of mileage that I should or need to be doing extra miles. I’m not in the fitness I was and should save my energy.
  • With Broad Street, it’s really crowded and I didn’t want to try and weave through people.

The race:

I dropped my items off and headed to the start.  I was in the red corral and with 40,000 people running it took a while to actually get there.  After getting in the corral, they announced the race and we were off.  I didn’t have much time to chat but I also didn’t see many friends.

Despite feeling tired from lack of sleep, the first mile felt pretty easy.  I ran a 6:27 first mile.  That’s the pace I’ve been able to run 5ks recently (and felt extremely tired).  I knew I would either blow up mid-way through the race or surprise myself.  I focused on running my own race and not worrying about other people.  It’s hard to run your own race when there are dozens of people whizzing by you but I just remembered “you do you girl”…I don’t even remember where I heard that from.

I hit the second mile in 6:27 and I began to feel confident with the pacing.  My body didn’t feel great or awful, I just felt like I was running fast.  I began to feel really excited that maybe I could maintain a pace under 6:45.  I haven’t been consistently training so my primary goal was to finish injury free.  In my mind, the reach goal was a 6:45 pace.

During the third mile I grabbed water and ran a 6:33.  It didn’t feel harder but I thought I just took the race out too quickly and was starting to slow down.  Then during the fourth mile, I ran a 6:26 so I didn’t feel like I lost energy just yet.

Broad Sreet 2

The fifth and sixth miles were both blurs to me.  When I am running consistently I begin to pick people off in the second half of a race.  This was not the case for Broad Street and I began fighting to hold onto the pace.  I ran both miles in 6:33.

The 7th mile was the most mentally challenging.  In ten miles, it’s way too soon to consider yourself “almost there” but you are approaching that point.  Mentally the seventh mile felt like it took about half of the race.

Broad Street series

By mile 8 I began seeing friends.  It’s unfortunate because that is when I felt the most tired.  I didn’t feel like I was going to go into cardiac arrest but I didn’t feel good.  My pace began slowing and I ran the last few miles in 6:42.

Broad Street waving

During mile 9 I was focused on finishing the race.  You can see the stadium from a distance and by that point you just want to finish.  The last .4 is staring almost directly at the finish line.  I find that type of finish the absolute hardest…I just wanted a teleporting machine…(RnR VA Beach has a 1-2 mile stretch of staring at the finish line).

The final push!

The final push!

Several go getters powered by me in the last .1 but I lacked that kick.  I finished in 1:05.39 and 85th woman overall.  I met and surpassed all of my goals and expectations and could not be happier with the race.   I haven’t felt that good during a race in a very long time.  As I mentioned yesterday, I want to focus on shorter distances for a while.  This race gave me a lot of confidence to begin running and training again.

I even got to see a few friends post race including Liz!

Broad Street Liz

Finally, I’ve been asked a lot of why I never took my gloves off.  My fingers were cold that morning and I meant to take them off.  They are throwaway gloves from work so I didn’t have a mental attachment to them.  I delayered and threw away a jacket but started the race with the gloves.  I never felt overheated and never took them off.  They worked well to wipe away a lot of snot I had (sorry if that is TMI).  I debated taking them off but just did never did….I know such an anticlimactic story.

Anyways great Broad Street and onward to another (injury free) race.  Hopefully it’s time to put the injuries behind me. 

Broad Street 10 Miler (1:05.20)

May 6, 2014 By in Running Tags: , , , , 40 Comments

I went into Broad Street with low expectations.  I had a great half marathon Spring season.  I was in the midst of a recovery period for the month of April.  The Broad Street 10 miler is a 40,000 person 10 mile race in the heart of Philadelphia.  It runs the street of Broad Street.  As a runner or even community member living in the tristate (NY, NJ or PA) you have to do this race.

The day before the race, Justin and I went to the race expo (Justin later was 15th overall).  I hate driving in down town Philadelphia (or down town anywhere) so it was not enjoyable.  Once I met up with Justin I had a great time.

Downtown Philly with Justin

Downtown Philly with Justin

The actual race:

I arrived with my coworkers with about an hour to spare.  My watch died or broke (why is this my freaking luck…I’m working on it) so I ran it garminless.

My coworkers and I hung out, stored our bag and went into our respected corrals.

Some of my coworkers and I

Some of my coworkers and I

I didn’t realize that with my previous half marathon times I could have applied for a seeded bib (How cool would it be to be F100 or something).  It wasn’t a big deal and I started in the “red” corral or technically corral 2 behind the elites.  We were off.  I had been warned that the first mile was very downhill.  I tried to pull in the breaks as much as possible because I did not want a repeat of last weeks half marathon (take it out to fast and be uncomfortable).  I hit the first mile in 6:36 (time on the mile marker).  From what I hear I think I’m one of the only people that the first mile was there slowest.  If that was a road mile course, it should be your PR.

The second mile I settled in my groove and felt a lot smoother then last week’s half marathon.  I hit the mile at 6:24.  Spoiler: I gave up adding and keeping track of splits from the race so those are the only two I got.

The third mile was neverending.  I was pleased that my pace seemed to feel comfortable.  Unlike last week, I wasn’t continuously getting slower.  It was different to have so many people nearby.  I really liked it.  At mile 3 I knew I had a good amount in my tank and could start slowly pick woman off.  (I really don’t care about beating males…sorry).

Mile 4, I saw two men in speedos.  I chanted: YAY more people in runderwear as I ran by…it was fun.

 

Photo Credit:

Photo credit: Elliot

Mile 5, we rounded city hall (the only real turn in the race) and from that point on I knew I had some power left.  So I just kept running trying to catch woman.  Once I caught one I would lock my eyes onto the next one.  I haven’t had a race like this in a while where I felt I could really progress and pick off people.  In fact, I think it has been since last summer.

The last four miles went by relatively quickly.  Mile 6 and 7 were spent focusing on getting to 8.  For me nothing beats (except crossing the finish line) having two miles to go.  I said in another post that on P90X they say “you can do anything for 15 minutes” and that has always stuck.  Having two miles to go signifies I should have less than 15 minutes to go and I can do anything for 15 minutes

I saw my main boss as well as Amelia at mile 9 and that got me pumped  up.  I was ready to go.  Mile 9 was the first mile I felt “antsy” without a garmin.  I kept staring in front wishing the finish line would get closer.  I thought we must be done (probably at 9.2 miles).  At 9.5 (at least I think so) I heard Justin shout go!  He already had his bag and stuff so I knew he must have done well (in reality he finished close to 15 minutes before).

The final .2, there was a cluster of four females including myself trying to out kick each other.  I finished 3/4 of those females.  I just could not get my turn over speed faster.  I finished in 1:05.20 and 71st woman overall.  (I believe 11th in my age group).

I also got to chat with Danielle and Amelia.  Gosh we have been seeing each other a lot lately and it’s fabulous.

danielleandi

Thoughts: I felt good finishing.  I am happy with how this race felt.  I would love to be able to race it as a goal race one year.  In the NJ half last weekend, I was about 10 seconds per mile slower but I felt about 100 times worse.  I was getting slower and slower where as during this race I felt effortless.  I think I could have held that pace for another 5k and ran about a 1:25.30 half marathon again. Two days later and I’m actually not as sore as I thought I would be.  I am pleased and ready to start marathon training.

Questions for you:

What is the largest race you have ever run?

Have you ever run Broad Street?

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