Thursday, March 17, 2016

Johnny's Running of the Green 2016

Even though I raced my way through the winter, Johnny's is always considered the unofficial start of racing season in the area. This past weekend was extra special though, because it was going to be a morning full of family too. My sister and her husband planned on coming with my nephew, and Mom made last minute flight plans and was able to be there! Dad and I....we were the runners!

I always try and wear some green, as many runners do for the race. I wore my Green Saucony PE shorts with my Bergen singlet. I was eager to test out my new Tifosi sunglasses in a race, perfect sunny day for it! I left pretty early since I knew I needed more warm-up time, I ate some Honey Stinger chews and drank GenUCAN on the way. I knew it would be a long morning of running so wanted some extra fuel.

Due to training for Boston, and having raced recently it was decided it didn't make sense to all out race the 5 mile for me. The 10k PR recently, gave me good information on my current fitness level. So the plan was to run 2 x 5 mile that day. I got there and did a short warm-up, then did 5 miles around tempo pace (I wore my workout shoes for this part, the Fast Twitch) . The paces were a bit slow and it took me a while to feel "alright", but I chalked that up to my allergies and being low on sleep.

Family time with my Nephew and Dad!
I then ran a little easy back to the start area to find my family and change into my Type A6 racing flats and shed my run strong sport top. I gave dad his shirt and bib and he was ready to go. I gave him a few reminders, and told him to stay to the left so when we hit the out and back portion I could see him easier!

I found my Bergen Elite teammates and we chatted a bit before the start. Then it was pretty much time to go. My goal was to just run and see what happened, maintaining consistent effort.


Having run the tempo before the race was a good way of making sure I didn't blow out of the gates and start too fast. It's a slight uphill into headwind to start, and I tucked in with a group of guys that I knew I normally would be around.

I hit the first mile around 6:10 and made my goal to just hold the effort. I picked off some people, and kept telling myself not to do anything crazy and to just get to the turnaround point. The turnaround comes after a short uphill and then it's a hairpin turn around a folding chair (which is totally dumb, it was way better when the turnaround was 5 feet sooner...and went around the actual traffic circle...but I digress). After that, I peeked to my left to see who was coming up behind me and basically made the goal not to let anyone pass me. I think I did good in that department, and I just kept the same effort.

I spent the next few minutes staring at everyone coming at us on the left side. I didn't want to miss Dad coming back at me! I exchanged cheers and high fives with some people I knew, and then finally saw dad! We cheered for each other but totally failed and missed our side fives- but we tried! After that I used the Ford St. Bridge as another checkpoint to work my way to.
Mile 4
Once I got back on Exchange it was just, hold on and go for it. I passed a few more people and got excited when I saw my sister out in the road cheering.

Pushing in the last half mile
I crossed the finish in 31:03 which is technically an official 5 mile PR. Although, I did run a faster 5 mile time in the middle of that 10k PR recently. It's fun though, and nice to see that I can do so even on tired legs. Pretty sure I could run faster if I didn't tempo beforehand...duh. BUT, I succeeded in the goal for the day and I am looking forward to my main goal of Boston right now.

My sister came and found me after the finish and then we went back to my Mom, nephew and brother in law. I love how excited Alden gets, makes my heart melt!

I took the stroller and pushed Alden backwards on the course with Mom while looking for Dad. We just kept telling him to look for Boppa! Eventually we stopped and waited, and then got super excited when we saw him coming! Dad swung over for a high five, and then I took off running with him towards the finish. He was passing people and running really well- and certainly faster than his goal! I cannot tell you how happy him running made me!
Running in with Dad, I need to frame this!
Overall it was just a great morning all around. I got to run hard, see friends and spend quality time with family. We of course went to lunch after, and celebrated with a Guinness!

Now back to the marathon training grind, Boston is getting so close! I'm running Syracuse half two weeks prior but that will be a marathon paced workout due to how close it is.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

3 comments:

  1. I think it's really fun you found a way to work the 5 mile race into your marathon training for Boston, and that you got to share it with your dad and with your nephew :). I think you made the right call by doing the race as your second 5 miler, that way you didn't accidentally push yourself too hard and "race" without realizing it. Plus you had lunch and Guinness- can't beat that after a race.

    Hope your training has gone well this week... can't wait to see how Syracuse and Boston go!

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  2. Wait, did I read that right? Did you run a fast 5 miler before the race as a tempo, and then PR in a second 5 miler?? Dude. That's seriously amazing. You're going to tear it up in Boston!!!! Also so sweet that you got that picture with your dad!!! I can't imagine my dad running, that's such a special thing to share!

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  3. I echo what Allison said above - a five mile PR as the second part of a workout? Very nice, even if it was keeping in line with the workout! Definitely excited to cheer for you in Boston!

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