What do you do when two races you want to run are on the same day at different times? Why not register for both! On Saturday I ran in the Moix 5k in Conway at 8 am and the Arkansas 10 Miler in Little Rock at 5:00 pm.
Race #1- Abi and I arrived in Conway a little after 7 am. I had plenty of time to get my packet and warm-up. Temps were in the upper 50’s and it felt much better than it did at this race last year. It’s been a while since I’ve raced a 5k and I really just wanted to see where I was speed-wise going into the summer. But if I’m being honest a big reason I registered for this race was the $250 gift card to Dick’s Sporting Goods that went to the overall winner. These kinds of prizes come in handy when you have 4 kids who all need athletic gear.
Race
The starting line was basically me and a bunch of teens- all of whom I was old enough to be their mom. Younger runners tend to start fast which was the case here. I had to really make myself slow down.
There were two young girls in front of me but I knew neither would finish under 18 minutes which was pace they started the race. I passed one around the half mile and the other just before the mile. From this point on I tried to catch the high school kid in front of me but he was able to maintain his lead. I ran even splits for the first two miles (5:55, 5:55) but started to fade in the last mile (6:05). Last .10 was at 5:01 and I finished in 18:24.
Overall I’m really happy with how this one went. I think this is my fastest 5k since the fall of 2016? I had big plans for last summer but plantar fasciitis took over so right now I’m especially thankful to be heading into the summer healthy. Hopefully I can stay that way! I’d love to run sub 18 this summer at Firecracker Fast 5k and maybe with some 5k training I can get there.
After the 5k Abi and I made a semi-quick trip to Target and TJ Maxx. That girl loves to shop!
We got home around 12:30 and I knew Natalie was coming at 2:30 so I didn’t have much time to eat and get ready for race #2. I made myself take an ice bath to help speed up 5k recovery and it actually wasn’t that bad. I also had some scrambled eggs and plenty of water. I knew it would be hot for the next race and I needed to be hydrated.
Race #2- Natalie, and my girls and I arrived in Little Rock around 3:30. We stopped by Fleet Feet Easy Runner so Natalie could pick up something and then we headed to Rebsamen Park for the 10 Miler.
It was around 84 degrees and SUNNY when we warmed up. We only did a mile and I was planning to start easy considering the heat.
Race
The start of this race was much different than the 5k. I think everyone was a little nervous about the heat. Right before the race I looked up my splits form last year and I planned on using the same race strategy. Even though it is a 10 mile race you really cannot run this around 15k or half marathon pace- not with the current race date/ time of day. When temps are in the mid 80’s you need to make adjustments and after two years of negative splitting this race I think I found a good strategy. At least it’s one that works for me. Basically I start 10-20 seconds slower than marathon pace and make a game of trying to negative split each mile. I did start a few seconds faster this year than last year but it was still over 10 seconds slower than my Little Rock marathon pace. I think there were at least 7 guys in front of me in the first mile and one by one I was able to pass them since I started this way.
When I hit the 5 mile timing mat there were 2 guys in front of me and I had kept all my splits in the 6:50’s. My goal was to keep the second half splits in the 6:40’s. There were a few spots I really had to focus but for the most part it felt doable. It was definitely more of a tempo effort even though splits were a little slower than marathon paced. With about a mile to go I could tell I was gaining on Jeffrey (the guy in front of me) and I passed him with a half mile left. Then I realized how close I was to the lead guy. He was only about 30 seconds in front of me and slowing down as well. I kicked it in as much as I could in the last stretch but couldn’t catch him. This was one of the few times I really wished the race would have just been a little longer. I should have probably picked it up a little earlier than I did but that’s ok. Always better to finish strong than having faded too fast.
My finish time was 1:08:09 which is actually over a minute faster than last year.
After the race Natalie and I kept the cool-down short and slow.
She had paced it well and finished 2nd female but we were both worn out from the heat. We were also pretty hungry so we stopped by the Blaze on the way home for pizza. The girls were excited about that too!
All in all a good race day. The 10 miler was definitely the tougher of the two since it was so hot (and I’m just not acclimated yet).
And lastly- crazy weird coincidence but both of my race bib numbers were the same- 69. What are the odds?!!
