#DoublePRWeekend, Part 1 - Renegade Santa Run 5k

Renegade's Santa Run is one of my favorites - fun crowd, well organized community event. Yeah, there are a lot of kids, but they are really well behaved and play nicely. This event is home to my current 10k PR, and (spoiler!) my new 5k PR.

This year, #1 ran with me, instead of The H. We headed out at 7am for the 8am start, and parked down the street. This ended up being not quite enough time for us - we still had to pick up our bibs, and then hit the restrooms, and it just didn't give me time to warm up like I would have liked. Note to self, next year get there a bit earlier.

I anticipated cool weather. HOWEVER, about 20 minutes before the start, it got freakishly HOT, and windy. The wind was hot. I don't know how else to explain it. It was not my most favorite, really. 

Anyway, the 5k course runs in kind of a figure-8 shape down the Peters Canyon trail...

Like I sad last week, I had some goals for this race:
A: 25:45ish, 8:18 pace

B: PR - 27:38, 8:55 pace

C: Don't puke and/or die

Because I'm dumb, I did a long run last Sunday (15 miles), followed by a hard hard HARD speed workout on Tuesday, and nothing else. So that was pretty great and relaxing on the legs. 

The race started right on time, but because I was running late, I snuck in somewhere towards the front-ish, and hoped that it wasn't in the mix of kids running super fast. 

Mile 1 - 8:22. This mile felt good. I tried not to be overly concerned with my garmin numbers, and run on feel, and I felt like I could certainly sustain this pace.

Mile 2 - 8:30. Well. That didn't last very long. This was at the turn around, and suddenly we were running into the hottest wind in the universe. 

Mile 3 - 8:54. This was terrible. Lol. 

Last .1 - 7:50. Out of the wind, THANK GOD. 

26:27, 8:32 pace. Not too shabby, good enough for 5/60 in my age group!

Look, it's me dying!

for real, why do I do that with my head?!

 Anyway. It was hard, and hot, and hard, and windy. And hard. Running fast is hard.

#1 also ran a PR, so it was a good day to be us. (Not so much to be Gabby, who melted down and couldn't wait to bail out of that race.).

The race is really great, and we have really enjoyed the event the last two years. I was hopeful for an AG placing this year, but it was a bit of a faster field than last year - I think because the race is just growing a bit? The course is a little congested right at the start, before the turn onto the trail, but after that it cleared up a bit - this could just be where I ended up in the 5k, but I didn't have any trouble navigating. The course is a nice mix of mostly pavement, with some dirt trail the first half. I love dirt, so that's great for me. 

Registration prices start at just $25 for the 5k, $35 for the 10k, and $15 for the kids run - this includes a great medal and long sleeve cotton tee.

so cute and sparkly!

They have awards 3 deep in each age group, plus a costume contest - the costume was a big source of stress for me. I originally wanted to be a Christmas tree. After I constructed it, it was NOISY and JANGLY and would have made me insane. On my second trip to Target, I found some foam snowflakes, and a new costume was born. I spent Friday night sewing snowflakes onto my tank and Team Sparkle skirt, and was the hottest snowflake EVER. 

It was tons of fun, can't wait to tackle it again next year!

Three Things Thursday

1. I have a crazy plan for this weekend. First, it involves this....

2. Which I'll wear Saturday for.....

Where I hope to PR the 5k FOR REAL THIS TIME. I had a goal kind of picked out, and ran it by the smartest bunny I know, and since she thinks it's reasonable, I'm going to give it a shot. I have been doing a decent amount of speed work, and it's all been going pretty well.

(My current *real* PR is 27:47 from July 2012; the Vet's Day race would have been a PR, but since it was not anywhere close to a real distance, I'm not counting it).

My super lofty, man-I-hope-I-don't-puke goal: 25:45 (8:18 pace)
Goal B is to just PR: 8:55ish pace
I have no goal C. If I fail, I quit.

JK, my C goal, as it always is in a 5k, is don't puke or die.

#1 will be running, as well, and I tried to tell her it would be HILARIOUS to toe the line like it's a cross country race....

So far, she has declined.


3. Anyway, after Saturday's fun, I plan to try my hand at....

Yeah, yeah, I wasn't going to race this, but theeeeen I snagged a free bib from Run, Eat, Repeat, and now I'm going to! Yay, free.

So after I got that bib, I thought..... man, it would be kiiiind of fun to PR TWICE IN ONE WEEKEND.

Wouldn't that be FUN???

So, my goals for Sunday are.....
A: 2:05, 9:32 pace. I honestly don't know that I'm in the right place for a 2:05 right now, because I've been doing shorter, faster runs in prep for the 5k. BUT WHO KNOWS!

B: PR. My current PR is 2:11 (9:59 pace) from PCRF back in May 2012. That seems like BILLIONS OF EONS AGO. This wouldn't take too much effort, I don't think, but I have no idea how I'd feel on a hilly course the day after maybe running a 5k hard. So we'll see.

C: If I get out there and a PR is just not in the cards, I'll run it easy and enjoy a long run with a friend. There are no losers here, so I'm sure it's going to be a swell day.


Really, it's just been soooooo long since I've raced anything, I'm excited to be back out there and am really looking forward to all of it.

Something Training, Week Whatever. PFTW

Like I said last week, my brain is confused about what's going on with training.

Let's recap my training/brain thoughts!

Last week....

Monday: rest

Tuesday: mooooore rest. Resting exhausts me. (Really, having the kids out of school made it exceptionally easy to laze around watching dumb tv with them).

Wednesday: Speed - 5 miles
800s. They were fast and hard, but I (mostly) hit my paces. Goal was 7:50-7:24, actual was 7:53, 7:49, 7:47, 7:41.

Thursday: Rest. 4 mile walk
I felt SO GOOD after the 800's, I told The H I really really FOR REAL wanted to run the Saturday half. He mocked me. I forgot, does walking count as exercise?! We did some evening shopping at Target, and I had the genius idea to walk there - a 4 mile round-trip excursion. It was brilliant, until The H purchased a very large, fairly heavy item. Dummy.

Friday: Rest again!

Saturday: Pretend run. Got through 2 miles. I woke up truly excited to run. And then it was terrible. I quit. We bought donuts and sat around instead.Spent the day so grateful for The H's mocking, and happy I wasn't running a half on Sunday, because I don't even know if I can run that many miles any more I AM THE LAMEST WHY DO I EEEEVVVVEEEEEN TRRRRRYYYYYYYYY. It was dramatic.

Sunday: Long run
12.1 really, REALLY great miles. I could have run faster, but wanted to keep it easy. I could have run longer, but there was a creeper in the gym. It was pretty much the greatest ever - how could it not be, with all of my favorite things.

So, I didn't run the half. I've always kind of thought that I was NOT a mental runner - I thought I was pretty objective about things, don't let singular bad runs throw shade at my overall training experiences, etc. I think, maybe, I was lying to myself, lol.

Without any real money on the line, it's really easy to just blow off training for something. Since I'm currently enjoying some funemployment time, my race budget is limited, and I want to keep it to real race efforts, or races I really, REALLY want to do. For whatever (probably made up) reason, I didn't feel like I was ready to PR this weekend, so I just.... didn't want to spend the money on the registration.

Yeah, yeah, it's kind of a cop out. I know anything can happen on race day, but I'd rather feel good about my chances, I guess. I'm a safe gambler.

ANYWAY.

Blah blah blah, I was a headcase and didn't run a race.

The Renegade Santa Race is in 2 weeks, so for the next two weeks, I'm maintaining focus on that as my "goal" race, because I really want that legit 5k PR - that means continuing the speed work. I'll still do a long run this week, though, because my eyes are on a plan B half at the end of the month.

Maybe. HAHAHAHA.

This week.....

Monday: easy/XT
Tuesday: 5 easy
Wednesday: XT
Thursday: speed - 10x400 (did you know 400s are my FAVORITE?!)
Friday: easy/XT
Saturday: easy/rest
Sunday: Long (14ish)

Training Tuesday - I'm terrible at making decisions

Originally, when I started this half marathon training cycle at the end of September, I built it out around a December 15th half that I was doing with someone.

The more I considered that race, though, the less I wanted to make that my "A" race. I just wasn't excited about it. It's not super great for PR'ing, and I didn't want to shell out the money for a fun run (for whatever reason, this race is far more expensive than any others in December). I picked a different, earlier, race for my goal race, and adjusted my training plan.

After CIF prelims, when I really believed we would be going to states for #1 to run, I decided that since my next choice in half's was not going to work out..... hey, why not try to PR for real at the Renegade Santa Run??

Look at this fun medal!! You can use "HEATHERDISCOUNT" for a discount!

So, last week, even though I posted a half training plan week, I decided Monday afternoon that Santa Run 5k was my new goal race. If I could PR there, I had top 3 in my AG (based on last year's results) in my sights. That might be fun!

I adjusted my training plan again, and added a lot of interval work - I'd been doing a lot of longer intervals and tempo runs, so I threw in a bunch of 400s and 800s instead.

I know, I know, I retired from 5k's immediately following the Veteran's Day not-quite-5k, but I get confused.

Since suddenly, the 5k was my focus, I did the 400s last week, and nailed it - all at my goal pace

wheeeeeee so faaaast!

.
Anyway. Then we found out we weren't going to states, after-all (pride goeth before the fall, sorry, girls, I blame myself), so the half I thought was out, was suddenly back on the table!

I had one last "long" run that I left on my plan juuuuust in case, so I set out Sunday to do it - 8 miles, middle 4 at goal pace. This should have been easy, breezy.

how I felt after.

I got through a mile warm up, 3 pace miles, and just stopped. I felt fine, I just didn't feel like doing any more.

And now, it's Tuesday, 5 days before my supposed goal race, and... I kind of don't feel like it? I looked back over my training log, and my last long run was 14 miles back on November 14 - so it COULD count, and just pretend I've been on an extended two week taper? I just feel like a loser-pants, to let one lack-luster "long" run decide that I'm not even going to bother.

I'd still really like to get a real 5k PR, so I'll keep working on that in the meantime, but to recap... maaaaybe I'm running a half this weekend, but MAYBE NOT. Oh, the suspense.

Three Things Thursday

1. Sometimes, I do dumb things.

This counts as refueling, right, because I ate it after a run?


2. Earlier this year, I ran the Run4Kids 24 hour relay event with Rose. I loved the event so much, that I believe I'm ready to throw my hat in the ultra ring......

Yeah, it's sort of a cheater course, being very flat, but whatever. 24 hours is a long time, yo.

I've not really picked a mileage goal yet - I'll do that as I get closer to the event - but drew up a training plan last night, and um... I guess that's it. I am pretty excited.


3. After months and MONTHS of not running any races, I've suddenly got #alltheraces lined up.

First, my favorites, are a few Renegade Events...

Troutman Sanders Renegade Santa Run on Dec. 14. I ran the 10k here last year for a huge PR, and had so much fun.

Dun dun DUN. iTRYathlon is back in February!! The event is open to everyone, so I think The H will be joining me in the fun (and destroying me, because he's the fastest and loves the bike, UNLIKE ME).

(PS just realized this means I need to add swimming back to my training plan. BRRRRRR.)

The Coaster Run through Knott's Berry Farm. In addition to supporting a great cause (the Speech and Language Development Center in Buena Park) AND the adorable medal, they have pie at the finish line. I love pie. I'll be doing this one with the kids.

{{For any of the above, you can register using code HEATHERDISCOUNT for 10% off}}


In addition to those fun events, I have.... these to fill in my calendar:

Nov. 11 - Veteran's Day 5k. I stumbled on this last week, and it's down the street from me. I've been wanting to fit in a shorter race to get an idea of my current fitness level, and this is perfect. I'm hoping to PR - my existing PR is 27:47 from last July - but the pace sure seems faaaaast. We'll see?


December Half Marathon - I'm waffling between a few options.

Option 1: Holiday Classic Half - this one is CHEAP, and looks like a ton of fun. I really prefer smaller, more local races, and this one is my top choice, BUT I may have a scheduling conflict this weekend. Maybe. So I'm on hold. The timing of this one is best, because I am ready to race a half RIGHT NOW.

Option 2: Holiday Half Marathon - this one is a little lot pricier, because I've been super lazy about registering, plus there are parking fees which irritate me. It's an okay time for me, but I'm not in love with it (probably why I haven't registered yet....)

Option 3: San Diego Holiday Half Marathon - this one is reasonably priced (there are discount codes floating around), and Shannon will be there, which is a big selling point! But, it's inaugural, and that makes me nervous. This is the furthest out, so I'd have more time to train, BUT it's the furthest out, so there's more time to train.....

Anyway. I'm waffling.

Of course, there's also Tinker Bell Half in January (!!!!), and a potential March marathon - 2 weeks before the ultra, so it would be a good last training run. I feel like I could pull out a giant marathon PR, so I'm considering Diamond Valley Lake Marathon in early March. Looks like a potentially boring course, but my options seem to be pretty limited (unless I go with Surf City, which I'm not excited about AT ALL).


PLUS..... I'm also on the hunt, KIND OF, for a racecation.... maybe?

Phew. That was a lot of race talk.

What's on your calendar?