Sort of a mini-race report, this morning I checked out a local 5k, the Anacostia Parkrun.
Parkrun is a series of free weekly events set up by volunteers, and we're lucky enough to live very close to one. I've always wanted to try it, but I was deep in my Princess training, then recovering from injury, so the timing never worked out. But this morning I woke up to 60F with sub-40F dew points, quite nice for racing in April. T+D at race start was 101, which is a little higher than I prefer but it was overcast and windy. That helped keep things comfortable.
I ran an easy pace from home to the starting line and mixed in a couple of strides, but I had to run faster than I planned because I left home too late. Whoops!
I haven't done any speed work since I trained for Princess and I've focused entirely on short and easy running as I healed, so I really had no idea what to expect. I decided to use my 5k pace from my Princess training, which was 8:09/mile, and see how far I could go. 26 people participated today, a small field but seems pretty average for this particular race. I definitely started too fast and had to slow down once I cleared the starting line, but I felt pretty good throughout my first mile and was happy when my watch buzzed 8:05 for mile 1. Not too far off pace.
The course is an out-and-back across the Anacostia River Trail. The first half was pretty uneventful overall as I focused on not burning myself out. I didn't realize I was running with a tailwind until the 1st place runner passed me on her way back to the finish and breathlessly warned me about the wind. And she was right - when I turned around at the halfway point, it took my breath away in a way I wasn't expecting. I allowed myself to slow down to about 8:20 while I got my bearings. At that point, I noticed I was catching up to people ahead of me, so I focused on passing runners one by one. And in doing that... my watch buzzed again for mile 2, 8:06 pace. Still pretty quick!
Early in the second mile, I passed one final runner. The fatigue really caught up to me at the 2.5 mile marker. There was no way I was catching the runner ahead of me - too much distance to close - but after glancing behind me, I couldn't see anyone anywhere near me. I slowed down to about 9:15/mile and cruised until I spotted the finish line. I thought about trying for sub-25:00 if I had anything left in the tank, but mile 3 buzzed at 8:32 / 24:43 total, and I knew sub-25 wasn't happening today. I crossed the finish line at 25:29, good enough for 4th place. The winner crossed in 23:09. It looks like today's field was a bit slower than average, as there are usually 1 or 2 sub 20 runners each week, and my time would have placed me around 8th-10th most weeks. But I'm not complaining.
After the race, I slowly jogged the 1.75 miles back home, the perfect cool-down distance and time.
Turns out, racing is fun! I didn't know what I would have today. I knew I had lost fitness thanks to my injury, but I didn't know how much. 8:14/mile average pace is not too far off from the 8:09 I trained with, so I think it went pretty well all things considered. I'm also choosing to believe my carb loading from downing a pizza for dinner last night and chasing it with a frozen banana daiquiri gave me the push I needed.
). We owned a horse training, lesson and boarding facility and I part time homeschooled an autistic child (he’s graduating this year 
). At one point I had 15 horses. These were show horses which required way more care than your average barn. I am also gone 1-2 weekends a month to horse shows and this won’t be changing for the foreseeable future. It was super early runs for me or the treadmill squeezed in during the day and tons of hotel treadmill miles. I failed a lot at getting my runs done in the beginning, but eventually I developed a routine. Kids can help with chores no matter their age 
