St Patty's Day 5 Mile Run

Saturday morning I woke up to pouring down rain. Not what I wanted to hear the morning of a 5 mile race. I was contemplating not going to the race.. Since moving from Washington to Idaho I have become a weather wimp :(

I had to remember to suck it up and out run the weather!

I knew I would regret it if I did. So I got up and started to put my outfit together.
Everything laid out the night before...

I decided to go neon with lots of shamrocks!

And after it was all put together...

I was going to wear my black headband with some shamrock stickers on it but I thought a hat would be a better choice with the rain. Luckily I had the perfect sticker for the hat.

When I got outside it had stopped raining.
Once I got to the race I was worried I would be cold in a skirt but it wasn't too bad. My hands were freezing more than anything. I didn't think to bring gloves and they usually warm up after a mile so I was just ready to run!

Cold legs but they warmed up when the race started.

Last year I ran the 5k but this year I wanted to run the 5 mile course. It was on the greenbelt so I'm very familiar with the course already. Both courses are flat expect for an arched bridge you cross.
The 5 mile race started at 10am before the 5k race (they had a kilted mile race that started right before the 5 mile race too as did the kids mile race). I didn't really have a finish time goal in mind. I wanted to have fun but also keep under 9 minute miles.

Once the race started I had to do a little bit of weaving since I didn't start right at the front but nothing bad. I put on my music and just settled into the run. At almost a mile in we loop around to the start area and the 5k started right after we did (they were on the road section we were on the greenbelt section) so it was fun seeing all the speedy people up front.
Mile one passed relatively quick. Split of 8:35. The pace felt good and not like I was going fast. Miles 2 and 3 were both 8:30 pace. I was feeling good and not like I was pushing the pace or out of breath but my mouth was dry for some reason and I was wanting some water. There was a water stop ahead so I grabbed some water and took a few sips and took off again. Mile 4 was 8:40 pace. I wanted to pick up the pace for the last mile and was slowly picking off people ahead of me. I was surprised at how good the pace was feeling cause I haven't been doing any type of speed work and most of my runs have been over 9 min miles. Right before we cross the bridge we merged with the 5k people so the bridge got a little packed but I tried not to slow down just weaved around people. I sprinted into the finish line with mile 5 at an 8:05 pace.

Garmin time was 42:25  8:28 overall pace
Official time was 42:32 8:30 overall pace
9th place out of 37 in my age group

They don't post overall results online so not sure how many people ran but I know they said about 1200 signed up, I don't think that many people showed up to run it though.

I had these lovelies waiting for me when I got home...

I was happy I got up to run this race and didn't wimp out cause of the weather. My shin held up fine. It seems the faster I run the better my shin feels during a run. It's a little sore still the day after but nothing too bad. It's not 100% better but I'm ready to up my mileage and hope it holds up fine. Maybe I just need to run all my miles fast?! :)

There was so many St. Patty's Day race reports and so many PR's it was fun reading them. I guess this officially starts the racing season!

I leave you with a picture of my little leprechaun...

Registered for a race and shin splints

I'm officially signed up for the Seattle Rock n Roll Marathon!

On leap day there was an great deal for Rock and Roll events, $29 off. I had to register for Seattle RnR!

If I could only choose one race to run a year this would be the race. Not because I love the course, cause this year they changed it so I really have no idea what to expect, or because I kind of feel like Washington is my home even though I only lived there for 3 years (yes I miss it there but I do love Idaho). I would choose Seattle RnR because of Wear Blue Run to Remember. It's more than just another race I get to add to my list or medal I get to hang up. Every step means something. Every step honors a Soldier that is no longer here with us. Every step puts a name to a face so that we may never forget. Every step honors the service and sacrifice of the American Military.

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I am hoping I didn't register for this race prematurely. If anything I can always drop down to the half but I would rather run the full and drop my spring marathon. I'm hoping that won't be necessary though.

I did get in 3 runs last week. A 3 miles on Tuesday (outside), 3 miles on Thursday (treadmill) and 8 miles on Sunday (outside). On my Tuesday run I felt a little bit of soreness, but it would go away and then come back. It wasn't painful to the point that I needed to stop or anything. I iced and compressed and took the next day off to see if it felt any different. Honestly I didn't really feel much but just a slight soreness going up and down stairs, same on Thursday.

On Friday I decided to do some cross training so I spinned for 30 minutes then did around 20 min of walking lunges with 12 lbs weights, squats with 12 lbs weights, 15 lb kettle bell swings. Then I did 10 minutes of stretching/foam rolling. When I woke up Saturday my whole lower body was SORE!! My butt was even sore! I decided to wait to do a longish run on Sunday which worked out perfect cause Cambry text me that day to see if I wanted to get together for a short run. And it was also 60 degrees!!! A beautiful and welcome changed from the cold weather we have been having.

View of downtown Boise

Cambry and I met at the Train Depot and ran to downtown Boise and back which was exactly 3 miles. We just talked and enjoyed the sun. I did feel soreness in my shin when we first started out and we stopped and stretched at the lights. At about mile 2 I didn't feel much soreness anymore.
After she left I went down to the greenbelt and ran 5 more miles. I would only feel soreness in my shin after I would stop and start running again. I did wear my compressing socks (with a running skirt, yay for skirt season!!) and I also wore some k-tape.

I'm not sure if the compression socks or k-tape helped but today the only time I feel any soreness is up and down stairs. I did take today off but tomorrow will try another run on the treadmill and see how it goes.
As of now I am just trying to figure out how to jump into training. If all my runs this week go ok I will attempt a double digit run this weekend.

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Here's another picture from my 8 mile run yesterday.

There was a photo session going on but I had to get a pic of the depot :)

Hope you have a great week!