Kimmswick 5K!!

RUN 3.1 miles in 22:44 for a 7:20 m/m pace
     OA 7th out of 213
     AG 2nd out of 57
SWIM 600 yards with some extra

A Bee 2.0 PR, which is only 1 mind and 40 seconds off my previous PR of 21:05. YAY!

SO found this race and wanted the apple pies awarded at the end. Big 10 pound Mile High Levee Pie for the OA's, smaller versions for the AG 1st place, and mini pies for the 2nd and 3rd AGs. The course wound through the small town, lots of turns and two turn-arounds to disrupt the pace. A few hill pops, short inclines that shook up the pace in both up and down.

I went into this hoping to get done under 25 mins. I also went into and through this fasted on just part of a clemmie orange about an hour before the race. So a few tests here! Can I run in under 25 mins, and can I sprint fasted? And I had some left hip pain yesterday and this morning. Not pain really, an ache on the lateral area. From Thursday's run?

I stuck to JHs strategy: run beforehand to get completely warmed up, do a few spin ups to get the HR into 5K level. I started 20 mins before the start time with a walk then an easy jog. This felt soooo sluggish and I began wondering how this was gonna go. I ran the beginning and end of the course to map out some landmarks. My spin ups didn't feel all that good, I kept doing more and another and gradually things got better. But still wondering, how was this gonna go down?

I lined up at the start behind the guys looking to sprint off the line, and ahead of the people picking their playlist on their phones. Ugh. Put the phone down, or move back in the field.

The first mile had a slow uphill early, stayed strong on it, then out to the turn-around (hi SO!) and past the 1 mile sign (not a 7 mile sign as I thought earlier) at 7:17 pace. I had no good idea of where I was in the field, but I kept feeling the urge to slow down. Instead I focused on getting my form solid, focus on form, focus on form. When I did that, I could feel things get easier and faster.

Mile 2 through town and out to the next turn around, I got the impression I might have caught up to SO, haha, likely not. 2nd mile in 7:41 m/m. Really feeling the effort, but not feeling the urge to stop. It's supposed  to hurt and be hard!

Mile 3 was mostly a loop through what was maybe a park, or a farm, or a combo of both. Early in this loop I passed a female that passed me earlier, the goal became to hold onto my lead. Past the horses and the river, barely saw them! Now the effort was really getting hard, still not 100% but 90% maybe? Oooh the drama as I look back. Pace was 7:25, and HR was maxed out at 180 something.

The garmin measured the last lap to the finish at 6:49! And max HR still. In the last blocks of the run I came up behind a guy in all black, slowly passed him, and encouraged him. He picked it up and we paced, he surged and I pushed to catch, then he really surged and dropped me. Whoop he really took off . High-fived and thanked me after the finish. :)

This last stretch was all-out max effort. I really had nothing left, this is a rare feeling. After the finish, I couldn't breath, SO handed me a water and pushed me to drink, but I couldn't. It took some time for me to recover, I couldn't breath or think. YES!! I kept walking, and after some time a friend from Frontrunner's found me-- KS! She told me about her femur stress fracture injury (!) and her return to running. Like me, on the return in a new form. She joined us for the lunchbox post-race meal. SO got my turkey sammie. I couldn't have eaten anything even if it was safe for me. In fact, I didn't get my appetite back for hours.

We collected our pies (KS got 1st, SO got 2nd with 20:23, I think I can catch him with some more training, hehe) and headed back to STL for a swim. I did a 600 to bring me up to 6000 for the week, He showed me the ankle drag drill and in the 2nd or 3rd try I managed to not let go before he hit the wall. First time I couldn't get my head up to breath, 2nd time I almost made it to the wall, 3rd time a success. He pushes me, I like it.  Then a few rounds in the lazy river. That doesn't count as training.

I'm terribly happy with how this went. Held on to my form, hit the pace goal and more, and left nothing more I could have given at the end. WHOOP!!!