Yesterday I ran my fastest 5k. I am still getting over the sting of being in the 45-49 age bracket, it really doesn’t seem possible. At least I can take solace in the fact that I did indeed, run my fastest 5k. As soon as the throng of humanity is released at the start line, I take off. Maybe not as fast as some, but much faster than I would ever run on my own.
I will preface by acknowledging that a 24 minute 5k is not an impressive feat for many people. People like the rest of my family. My 12 year old ran a sub 21 minute race, the rest of them were even faster. For me, a woman of experience and wisdom, a sub 25 min 5k seemed impossible 2 years ago so to set a goal of sub 24 was like auditioning for Star Search! Dare to dream!
She might be wearing Hokas.
This winter, I took a break from races. I started feeling my wanna-be next hammer-toe start aching after my Christmas Town Dash 8k in December and decided to give myself a break. I still ran, but tried to find the warmest part of the day and took it pretty easy. I’ve picked it up slightly in the past month, averaging around 15 miles a week at a comfortable pace. Speed has not been my focus. I was apprehensive going into this 5K as my “comfortable” pace is easily 1 minute to a minute and a half slower than my last 5K pace. Towards the end of last year, I wanted to break the 24 minute mark for a 5K, I was somewhere around a 24:20 in my best race.
Yesterday, I ran a 24:04. I did not meet my goal of being sub 24 but now I really believe that it is possible. Sometimes we need to rethink the purpose of a goal. It’s not a failure if we don’t meet the goal, it’s a failure if we don’t give it our best shot.
If I can keep getting faster, despite my advancing years, I am inspired to think of all of the other things I can get better at. Or learn. We are never too old to learn new tricks!
So why is it that I run so much faster in a race? Am I just a lazy runner the rest of the time? I am assuming that adreneline has a lot to do with it. Running 5-6 miles vs 3.1 could help as well. Either way, I don’t particularly enjoy running fast so it would be difficult to force myself to run at race pace when I am not being pursued by my rivals.
Two things I am loving right now. My shoes and my socks! I am on the second exact pair of these Topos, they have a wide toe box, zero drop and they look nice! Unlike many wide toe-box shoes, you won’t look like you stole the bowling alley rejects.
Not a Hoka
I find that my socks make a huge difference, I tend to get large callous build up near my bunions and my little toe gets rubbed my any seams. I found these oddly named, Thirty48 socks. The ones I tried are ankle cut compression socks with a tab back. These socks are made for left and right feet specifically. I found they greatly reduced the friction I had been experiencing. If you have bunions and like a zero drop, try these shoes!
Pretty colors. Also not a Hoka.
I like these socks so much that I have been hand washing them. Really my only reason for doing so is that I will never remember to keep them out of the dryer! I don’t want them to shrink! This is a huge commitment from me, I don’t own anything that is hand wash only and have never taken anything to the dry cleaner. These socks are worth it! These are best socks I have found for running with bunions!
I have mixed feelings about 2020. While I do not enjoy being part of a pandemic, having my business shut down or depriving my children of any semblance of socialization, I did enjoy the time we spent together.
Since we only ran a few races, we had extra time to train and I stepped out of my comfort zone. Speed training sounded like something for much younger people. Even my quarter mile intervals improved my 5k time by minutes. My last race of the year, my splits were 7:53, 8:01 and 7:55, significantly faster than any of my times last year. I didn’t necessarily run further, though I tried to mix in some longer runs with regularity.
If you want to improve your 5k time, I can’t emphasize enough the importance of speed work. I dread Wednesdays because I am a lazy runner, but I feel so much stronger when I am done.
Much like 2020, we have to get through the bad to experience the good. Here is hoping that 2021 is better for all of us.
It has been a busy week. Especially busy now that it is dark at 5 PM and I have my pajamas on by 6, so much to do in so little time.
I was having a streak, I even took some photos (terrible of course) of several from scratch pumpkin pies I made. Though I am not a good baker, I do make everything from scratch, no mixes here. I took these precious little pie pumpkins and transformed them into crust-less pies! Why crust-less? Because otherwise I will be listening to the rumblings of a certain someone in my family who avoids extraneous gluten. I don’t particularly care about crust and as I would be making it from scratch, thus increasing my chances of disaster, I am happy to skip it.
Riding high on the victory of my past pies, I flew too close to the sun and literally melted my pumpkin wings. Note to self, if your pie needs 5 or so minutes to be fully set in the middle it is not wise to step outside to do a little hedge clipping.
The scorched earth pie began simply. Microwaving chunks of pumpkin until soft. Easy, right? All went well until I decided to use my food processor not just to puree the pumpkin but to blend my entire batter. It was at this point that I realized that I do not have one of those food processors in which one can blend soups and liquids. It leaks out of the bottom. After I cleaned this mess up and poured the remains into my pie pan, I popped this beauty into the oven. After about 40 minutes, I decided it needed about 5 more minutes to fully set. So I left it in for another hour while I pruned hedges on a glorious fall day.
“Oh my god, the pie!”
Apparently, virtual school makes it impossible to smell burning pumpkin pie. My children were oblivious to the disaster as I walked into the kitchen, realizing that I had left the pie in the oven.
I didn’t realize how blurry this was until now. Probably from the steam.
The saving grace of this pie, baked for well over 2 hours, was that it was crust-less. If there had been a gluten engorged crust to this particular pie, it would have turned to ash. Instead, the custard caramelized. My son actually said he preferred my burned pie to the others. That’s not really saying much. There’s a sound bite for you, “this burned pie tastes better tha n my other pumpkin pie, follow me for more recipes!”
Breaking News, middle aged woman runs faster than she did before.
Two earth shattering things in my running world. I am wearing new shoes and I ran a 24:44 5k on Saturday, a sub 8 min pace!
The Hokas helped me recover from a foot injury, specifically a plantar plate tear. The rocker bottom allowed me to run without pressure on this healing area. On the other hand, I felt that the cushion contributed to some hip flexor/psoas pain. I have been using some Pilate and yoga strength training to work my glutes and to stretch my psoas. The Hokas helped me recover from a foot injury, specifically a plantar plate tear. The rocker bottom allowed me to run without pressure on this healing area. On the other hand, I felt that the cushion contributed to some hip flexor/psoas pain. I have been using some Pilate and yoga strength training to work my glutes and to stretch my psoas. Doesn’t that make me sound like a gym rat?
Interestingly, foot pain has been my Achilles heel. I have bunions and high arches and I have been using an arch support in my running shoes. After listening to this podcast with guest, Irene Davis, PhD and with my reading on trigger points and muscle attachments, I decided to increase my foot flexibility and strengthen my arches. After several weeks of these exercises, I took out my arch supports. The first few runs I felt like I was getting blisters below my bunion. After that, I could feel my ankles getting stronger and much more range of motion in my toes.
I ran in minimalist shoes before, the Merrell Arc 4. I was running in these when I had the plantar plate injury. Though I was running in Hokas, I believed in the mechanics of the minimal shoe. I have started running in the Altra Escalante and have been pleased with results. By focusing on proper form, especially a midfoot/forefoot strike pattern my feet feel strong. Picturing my daughter’s beautiful running form, particularly the leg extension. There is a more natural rhythm that I am falling into when I am focusing on my foot strike and leg extension which leads me to a faster pace!
This weekend, I was shocked when my phone clocked my first mile at a 7:50! I kept each mile pretty consistent and finished with a 7:53 average pace, something I did not think would ever be possible. I did this with new shoes, no arch supports and a kick ass playlist.
There is a metaphor in here somewhere. Sometimes the things you think are helping you are actually holding you back. Had I not decided to begin this foot exercise regimen and to cast aside the shoes I had been running in somewhat successfully, I would never know the glory of running like a slow motion Olympian. Sometimes you have to break it all down to rebuild it better. We are never too old to learn some new tricks.
Loyal readers, I know there has been much anticipation about yesterday’s 5k. Despite the chilly temps and a looming full moon, I actually had a great race!
My time was close to but not quite a PR, I was most proud of my negative splits. Still even prouder that I can use “negative split” in a sentence. I ran each mile slightly faster than the one prior with an average pace of 8:07. This comes naturally to me as the irrational fear of not being able to finish the race keeps me from starting out too fast. I will not fall into the speed trap.
At one point I did see someone from our local run club taking photos, I smiled and waved. Smiled and waved. I smile and wave through most of my races, I smile and wave at the course marshals, at spectators. I thank the marshals and the water attendants. I like to think that even though I am not the fastest runner, I am the most pleasant and polite runner. The Miss Congeniality of road running! Or the psycho smiling woman, you choose.
When our run club posted photos on facebook from yesterday’s race, they did not post my smile and wave photo. Instead, I have a pretty scary and miserable looking picture, I didn’t even know there was a camera in the vicinity. Clearly I was unaware of the camera… “Hoka on line one, they want you to be the new face of running!”
I think we have a clear winner for my Christmas card photos. I had better lift my feet a tad more if I am going to clear that speed bump!
The moral of this story is, even if you think you are having the race of your life, smiling and waving at your fans, there may be a perspective that is different. I could choose to dwell on this photo or I can decide that my image of a strong, healthy, happy young runner is in fact the reality.
Now, to stretch my psoas, a muscle I never even knew existed before last year. Sore ass I knew but not psoas.
I have heard of people becoming born again virgins. Can one have a born-again PR? Let me begin by saying that I have run in a handful of races since the “Corn Teen” of 2020.
not me
The first two were tiny and shy, unsure of what to do in this Covid landscape. One was through the ground of mental hospital on an insanely (poor taste?) hot day. It was a race to promote mental health so there is that irony. Another was the slightly chaotic, very wet and very disappointing 8k that I was unprepared for written about here.
I didn’t think I liked running in races, I am not especially fast, except compared to women of a certain age. Typically, I spend the first mile freaking out that I won’t be able to finish and that they will find me curled in the fetal position when they “sweep” the course at the end. The second mile I am cursing my idiotic ideas and vowing to never race again. “This is the last race I will ever run in, I will only run for fun from this day forth!” By the 3rd mile, I see the literal light at the end of the tunnel and I tell myself the faster I run the faster it will be over. It doesn’t help to think that when I am finishing mile 2, my much faster son has finished the race and is snacking.
Is it me or is that last 0.1 unnecessary? Is it not the longest 100 meters on planet Earth? Do the laws of physics cease to exist? I always forget about that damn 0.1.
Not running in actual races has made me slow. Not even particularly steady, but significantly slower. I thought I would be ok with this but I am not. There is still some life in this old girl yet.
Back to my PR goal of running in the 25’s for my next 5k. Well, I was looking through our local run club results and the results from the last Turkey Trot we ran in Florida and found that I have already done this, more than once! I have no recollection of this, I thought my time was in the 26 range but no, 25:10 is my PR and I see no way that I am capable of running this time in 3 days. That’s something like an 8:06 pace, a pace which is perilously close to what I consider a “sprint.”
But do I look good?
On a positive note, I have been stealing the running sunglasses my son got for his birthday often enough that he finally yelled at me and I bought my own. Like everything I do and buy, I spent way too much time analyzing and being “frugal”. Ordinarily I buy whatever sunglasses are available from TJ Maxx or Marshalls, the idea of buying sunglasses without trying them on seemed foreign. How would I know if they were distorted or if I looked like a cast member from Dynasty?
I settled on these and I love them, the Tifosi “Swank.” The matte finish is so much better for sweaty faces. Having the bright polarizing lens means I don’t have to keep pulling my glasses up and down depending on the tree canopy above, allowing me to leap gracefully over the rocks and roots on the trail. They look pretty cool, at least as cool as I am willing to look. Though more expensive then the 9.99 glasses I usually buy, they are not ridiculously expensive.
In case I didn’t like the Tifosi’s, I bought these Knockarounds. I liked these too so I am keeping them both! They are a little less fancy than the Tifosis but they are still much better than my usual sunglasses!
The pair of Goodrthat my son has are nice too, I wasn’t as crazy about the mirrored lenses but they have a great lightweight feel and ample but not overly dark light blocking.
All three of these brands, Knockarounds, Tifosi and Goodr have fun colors and remind me of the Swatch watches I so loved as a kid. I am coming full-circle, I will be the old lady trying to chase her best 5k time wearing some crazy sunglasses and checking my time on a swatch non-smart watch. Maybe a perm and bangs to complete my teen look?
We can at least all agree, I will be wearing ugly Hokas.
While I may not be able to run a 25:15, my goal is still to see a 25 in front of my time. I have been doing at least one speed workout a week, which I hate. I can feel a difference when I run faster, my legs hurt and I sound and look like Cujo on a hot day. Speed is not my friend. The one thing I have learned is to never say never, maybe I will like speed workouts someday. After my lobotomy.
Next, I will regale you with spooky tales of my pumpkin pie.
Apparently I will only run rainy races this year. At least it was cooler than the last race and I was prepared to run in wet conditions.
This time, I tried to find a course map. The link to the race page went to an email address so that didn’t quite work out for me. I underestimated the hills, my phone told me there was a nearly half a mile of ascent but my speed training carried me through!
We all ran hard, I think in part to make up for our lackluster performance at the previous race. I was most proud of my daughter, she had a PR and ran a 23:20 ish which was 40 seconds faster than her prior PR. It was an out an back course so I got to see both of my kids as they sailed through the back half!
Why did I feel so much stronger in this race? I ran 2 and 3 day streaks in a row, usually I run every other day. I also incorporated some sprints into my regular run and did a track workout with my daughter. My 5k time was 26:11 which will not quality me for any product endorsements or coaching gigs, but it it a time I am proud to tell other people!
What are my next goals?
To get into the 25 minute range for a 5k. Most of our upcoming races that have not been cancelled are 8 or 10ks.
Run some races outside of the area, I like a change of scenery, it satisfies my “wanderlust gene!”. As the daughter of an immigrant and a descendant of Mormon Pioneers, it’s strong in me.
Maybe you are new to running. Maybe you ran in years past but want to try again. Maybe you just want to read a blog post on running a 5k, no judgment here, everyone needs to start somewhere. This is the story of running my first 5k.
The first question you need to ask yourself is, “why should I run a 5k.” I don’t think there is a good answer but knowing your “why” will help keep you motivated. For some it is a way to lose a few pounds, for others, a chance to spend some time away from people and devices. Since this is my blog, I will go first and tell you why I ran my first 5k.
I actually ran 2 first 5ks which isn’t actually possible but I will explain. The first was never meant to be part of a larger running plan, my son was in a Montessori preschool and as an annual fundraiser, they had organized a 5k race. I was a local business owner and was one of the sponsors, a perk of which was a free race entry. As mentioned before, my son is a natual born runner and he “trained” with me. By trained I mean he ran next to me, talking the entire time while I gasped for air. I don’t think I ever even ran 3 miles until the day of the race, this is not the way to train for a 5k!
This first of 2 first 5k doesn’t really count in my book. I did finish and may have even placed (it’s a really small race!) and I was sore for several days afterwards. There was no plan and there was no commitment.
My Second 1st 5K
My interest in running was piqued about 6 months before my actual first 5k. My son was in middle school and was in the running club. As part of the running club all of the schools in the district participated in a spring 5k that runs through Colonial Williamsburg. The race is early in the morning and spring in Virginia can be unpredictable, this year is was a very hot race morning. My son was the only one who raced that year. I stood near the start line and as the runners passed, I felt an overwhelming mixture of emotions. I was brought to tears by the ROTC and military runners leading the race, many of whom held American flags as well as the wheelchair and stroller athletes. There were waves upon waves of kids, elementary, middle and high school all running together. I guess it was the together that got me. I felt so isolated and an “us and against the world” mentality that I was envious of people who were participating as a group. I was jealous of the runners. Proud and envious at the same time. I wished that could be me.
watching the start of the race, as a spectator
“I can’t run, I hate running, the last time I ran was when they made me run a mile for the Presidential Physical Fitness Test in high school, my organs aren’t well attached to my abdominal wall and they jostle too much when I run.”
I had repeated those things to myself and to others for so many years that I truly believed them. I also thought I was in pretty good shape, not overweight and I walked a bit, sometimes I even did a You Tube yoga video!
It was in the fall 3 years ago that my son brought home the flyer for the winter race in which the school participated. In a half joking way I said we should all run it. We signed up. We paid our monies and I put on what I thought were running shoes and headed out the door.
Which brings me to me feet. I had been having foot pain, likely from a neuroma, for a few years. The only shoe that seemed to help was the Ryka Graffik, super light weight and good arch support. This is what I started running in, today, this wouldn’t make it though a month of my running but at the time, it was good enough. You don’t need fancy shoes to get out there and get started! I ran in these shoes for several months before changing to a minimalist shoe discussed here. We live in a neighborhood with many hills, out house is at the bottom of one of those hills, it is a half mile of a steady incline from our house to the top of the main road. I made it about a quarter of a mile, I have no idea what my pace was, I wasn’t tracking my pace, my time or anything I was just putting one foot in front of the other!
My family laughed a little at me, I was more out of shape than I wanted to believe (did I mention I had just turned 40?) but I walked up the rest of the hill, turned around and ran back home. Downhill. I had about a month of what I will call practice because to me training implies a plan and there was no plan, only survival. My only goal was to finish. I may not have been in the best shape but I am very stubborn and perhaps too prideful, I would finish this race.
I have suffered from insomnia most of my life, mostly due to anxiety. I was so anxious leading up to this stupid 5k, I know it wasn’t the Olympics but I was really afraid I wouldn’t be able to do it. I slept little and poorly and woke up very early. It was freezing outside, literally freezing rain, about 30 degrees and sleeting. I knew from other parents that there was a lot of standing around outside before the race so we opted to leave the kids at home and head to the race ourselves. Miserable, cold, wet, nervous. I wasn’t sure what to wear, how many layers? How do I pin on this number? This all becomes important around mile 2 when I am so hot I am trying to take off my outer layer, which I have pinned to my inner layer, while running since I told myself that I wouldn’t stop no matter what. I planned to take it slow and steady and finish this race.
My husband and I huddled under the hospital carport to escape the wind and did some stretching, when it was time to line up, we left our coats near the breezeway and headed over. They had little signs for your anticipated time, I lined up in the 30-35 minute spot. I remember little about the first mile, it was kind of surreal to me, “you are actually running in a 5k, you are really doing it!” There was a a turn around near the 1 mile mark and as I headed back the other direction, I was surprised by how many people were behind me, despite my very slow pace.
I tend to run hot. I get really hot when I run. I didn’t know this yet and had put on gloves, ear muffs and 2 layers of long sleeves. Even at 30 degrees, this was too much. After the 2 mile mark, I pulled my outer layer over my head, while holding my phone and my not cordless headphones, wriggled one arm loose and discovered that I was pinned by my number to my inner shirt. I am still not sure how I undid all of this, I was able to free the pin and I must have repinned the bib, though with freezing fingers I think I only managed to get 2 back on. I tied my sweatshirt around my waist and pressed on. My husband later marvelled that I was able to do all of this while running and holding the above mentioned phone and headphones. I don’t know, as a mother we figure out all kinds of ways to get out of a jam. The good news is that all of this undressing and phone holding distracted me from the feeling that I was dying so it brought me another half mile closer to the finish line. As I made the final turn into the parking lot towards what I thought was the finish line, I was so disappointed to see there must be another parking lot loop to go as I couldn’t see the finish line. All I saw was another hill. I stopped for a second, then I heard my husband yelling, “Don’t stop the finish is just around this corner!” I wiped the snot on to my sleeve, mopped the rain from my eyes and pressed on. Though I had planned not to stop, I forgave myself, I had tried my best and finished the race. My time was a 32:35, a 10:31 mile pace. I placed 275 out of 575 runners/walkers. I was amazed to have been in the middle and impressed with all of the people coming out in this awful weather to do this thing together. I was part of the group, a crazy group of people raising money for Habitat for Humanity, cold and wet together.
I was looking back at my Runkeeper activities and I didn’t start using the ap until the week following this race. But I got right back out there and ran regularly despite the holidays and inspite of the weather.
My next race was even colder, taking place in the beginning of February 2018. My goal for this 5k was to be under 30 minutes. This race also featured a large uphill in the beginning, but as I had been running a similar hill from my house, it didn’t seem so bad, plus I got to finish on a down hill! My time for this second 5k was a 29:05, a 9:23 pace. I had shaved over a minute per mile in just over a month.
How I feel about cold weather running, I’m usually hot but I don’t want to be cold….
I tried to run every other day, usually 2 to 2.5 miles. I do not like to run on a treadmill so unless it was below 25 degrees or ice/snow on the ground, I ran outside. Being outside is probably what I enjoy most about running. I feel like an animal on the earth not a human in a cage. I know a lot of people need to run on treadmills due to work/family/weather issues but it takes much of the joy out of running for me.
My 3rd 5K,
At the beginning of this post, I talked about the mixture of joy/envy/pride I had watching that group of runners from all walks of like running in unison. This year, at the same race, on a beautiful and not hot spring day, I found my place with the people.
If you haven’t visited Colonial Williamsburg, you should. It is a unique place of living history, both in architecture and landscape. I love running here. Having a backdrop of the interpreters dressed in colonial garb next to the William and Mary students and the elementary student field trippers and tourists provides endless people watching opportunities.
The race begins adjacent to the William & Mary campus, winds through the campus and finishes on the historic Duke of Gloucester St. Williamsburg in the spring is beautiful and seeing everything come alive is invigorating. This time I was not a spectator, I was part of the messy, loud throng!
My Runkeeper clocked this course as a 3.2 (which it has in subsequent years) so I think it is slightly longer than a 5k, my time was a 27:54, an 8:44 min/mile pace. Nearly 5 minutes faster than my race a few months earlier.
The last 3 years hasn’t always been easy or fun. I have had my share of foot pain, wardrobe malfunctions and less than optimal performances. I haven’t yet run a 5k where after the first mile I am not vowing to never run again. Without fail, once the race is over, I am at the reception table picking up flyers for the next race. Running has brought me emotional peace, a sense of pride in my accomplishments I haven’t felt since my school days and shared experiences. with my family.
This is the story of my first (second first) 5k, In my next post I will give my unsolicited and likely unhelpful advice about running your first 5k!
