The PR drought is OVER. It’s one of those PRs that I’m not going to jump up and down and get too excited about, but I felt a huge weight come off my shoulders today in the Run for the Dream 8K as I pushed myself to a new best time of 37:51:31.
Tag Archives: races
Win a Run for the Dream entry
Disclosure: Run for the Dream is providing me a race entry for an 8K. All opinions about the event are my own and I am not being compensated in any other way.
On May 31 and June 1, an 8K and half marathon — Run for the Dream — will run through Historic Williamsburg and finish at the College of William & Mary.
As I was looking for a non-half marathon to run before summer, the 8K portion of this race captured my attention a while ago.
It’s an opportunity to possible go for a PR, but also test where I am heading into the summer months. Since Williamsburg is just an hour away from me, this race lined up perfectly with my race schedule.
The race also benefits An Achievable Dream and Paralyzed Veterans Racing. An Achievable Dream operated two schools in the Newport News area with plans to expand to Virginia Beach. Paralyzed Veterans Racing is made up of military veterans who were either injured during their service or after their honorable discharge.
Read more about both groups below.
About An Achievable Dream
An Achievable Dream (AAD) operates two nationally recognized K-12 schools in partnership with a public school system. Dedicated to the belief that all children can learn and succeed regardless of their socioeconomic backgrounds, and that education can break the cycle of poverty, AAD offers a quality education in a nurturing environment, the opportunity to develop meaningful relationships with caring adults, and the chance to take part in engaging enrichment activities during both the academic day and hours spent outside of school. Read more >
About Paralyzed Veterans Racing
Paralyzed Veterans Racing is a team of competitive para-cyclists. The team races within the United States Handcycling Federation’s sanctioned events and numerous other competitive and recreational events ranging from Marathons to MS 150s. Read more >
Enter to win a race entry to either the 8K or half marathon simply by leaving a comment below with what your current running dream is. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a PR or completing a certain distance, or a short-term or long-term goal … dream big or small!
Entries are due by noon ET Thursday, May 8. A winner will be drawn at random and contacted by email that afternoon.
(Please note that the contest is over and the winner - Josh - has been notified)
No words for Blue Ridge
I don’t have the words to explain how awesome the Blue Ridge Half Marathon weekend was again this year.
With so many different people I know — former co-workers, friends from high school, #RunChat friends, several other bloggers and an unusual amount of Iowans (hi Josh, Angie and Theresa!) — taking part in it, the race itself has felt like just a small part of the weekend for a couple of years in a row.
The race, though, is what we all talk about before, during and after. It’s crazy. It’s nuts. It’s brutal. It’s painful. It’s rewarding. It now has Peakwood in addition to Mill Mountain.
Take everything you could imagine about a race, both good and bad (and everything else in between), and that’s what the Blue Ridge Half Marathon has become. I could only imagine what doing the full marathon would do to me.
On the way up Mill Mountain, in just the first three miles, I told my friend Josh (not the one from Iowa) that if I had any small desire left to do the full marathon, it was already gone.
Now I’m not so sure.
The Blue Ridge Half (and full) Marathon toys with my emotions. It has for 4 out of the past 5 years. Actually, even the one year I couldn’t run after an injury it messed with my mind because I missed it so much.
If you happened to come here looking for some kind of race recap, I apologize for my lack of finding the right words to explain it.
It’s just one of those race weekends that you have to experience yourself to fully understand why I have this reaction.
Sham Rocked VII
I went for a PR, had that pace going for 6 miles, but I just couldn’t quite hold it together to get there for my 7th Shamrock Half Marathon in Virginia Beach.
And I’m perfectly OK with that.
A year removed from my personal worst Shamrock, I rebounded to improve my time by 6 minutes from 2013 and also came less than 3 minutes from a PR, set in 2012.
After nearly a year and a half of races that left me feeling underwhelmed, I’m excited to finish today in 1:43:10, my 3rd fastest half out of 20 since 2007.
I did very little speedwork this winter, I missed a few runs because of snow and I’ve certainly had much less sleep in the past several months with a baby who still won’t sleep through the night.
I was pleasantly surprised that I could hold my PR pace for so long today — after the turn back toward the finish and hitting some wind, my legs just didn’t have enough to keep that pace. I knew heading in that even getting close to a PR would be difficult, and now I’m leaving my favorite race with a renewed sense of confidence and the knowledge of what I need to do to get closer to breaking 1:40 in a half.
All previous six Shamrocks have set the tone for the year, both good and bad. Now is a great time for that tradition to continue and do some great things in 2014 …
10 Surf ‘n’ Santa 10 Miler headlines
You are not going to hear me complain about being just a couple of minutes off my 10-mile PR after running in some horribly windy, cold and rainy conditions at Saturday’s Surf ‘n’ Santa 10 Miler. I’m pretty thrilled at how well things went in the weather.
There’s nothing really to talk about, so I thought of 10 headlines for a recap that I’ll never write. I don’t really know what else to say besides it was rainy, windy and colder than forecast.
In no particular order, here you go:
- Worst weather ever
- I would have PR’d if it was sunny
- Running with one eye open
- The PR streak ends
- Live and learn. There’s always next year
- The day I started wanting to train for PRs again
- The racing season that wasn’t
- Too exhausted for beer
- 10 miles of rain, wind, cold and almost tears
- Headwind hell
Read into those and you’ll figure out that this was a crazy, crazy day at Virginia Beach. I don’t know if I’ll come back to this race and try to redeem myself or if it was a one-and-done experience, but I definitely had a great time.
A revival race?
No bib at this race, just a timing chip.
As racing has taken a back seat this year, I’ve lost a lot of interest in my personal performance. While I’ve had my share of fun and enjoyed the thrill of helping my sister get to two PRs, personal goals for me just haven’t important.
Earlier this month I thought about signing up for the 5-mile turkey trot near my in-laws’ house in Ohio. I brushed those thoughts aside until last week when I thought about it a little more. Then, finally, I signed up on Monday.
With the weather forecast full of snow, cold and wind, I figured I’d have another race to enjoy the experience and walk away satisfied that I ran something a little faster than a run through my neighborhood.
I took the approach to the start of the Warren Kiwanis Turkey Trot pretty casual — with not having much cold-weather running experience lately, running at just under 20 degrees was a bit of a shock to my system. In the first mile I noticed my Garmin acting up — before the race started it kept returning to the home screen — so I just turned it off and put it in my pocket.
I hit the first mile in a clock time around 8:45. I was probably about 20 seconds back from the timing mat at the start, so I was pleasantly happy with the first mile.
At mile 2, the clock read 16:45. I at least knew I hit that mile in 8 minutes. I had a lot going through my mind more than usual — could I get under 40 minutes for this race? Could I stop feeling like crap at the end of a race? “Finish strong” hasn’t exactly been my power phrase in the past year.
I don’t remember what mile 3 read, but I hit mile 4 at just over 32 minutes. I knew that another 8-minute mile would get me to a sub-40 minute chip time, but I really wanted my clock time to read under 40. I felt like I was just making up goals with every step, but it was working.
I picked up the pace to get to an uncomfortable level. For the first time in a long time in a final mile, I truly felt confident about my performance. I got in a zone I haven’t seen in more than a year. I really felt like I could have easily kept that pace for a few more miles.
When I glanced at the clock at the finish, I saw 39:40. I think. I know it was under 40 minutes. I have to wait and see what my chip time is, but it’ll be closer to 39 minutes.
To be only a little more than 2 minutes off my PR at this distance in the shape I’m in and in this weather, I walked back to my vehicle completely satisfied.
If I use this as a baseline for improvement for 2014, I can’t wait to see what happens when I put more dedicated effort to training for something.