I had back-to-back races this past weekend.  Pure Tap 5K on Saturday at the Louisville Water Tower and Downtown Doubler 15K/30K in New Albany, IN.

The weather was great both mornings, around 60 and no rain.  Saturday was overcast and a tad humid; Sunday was sunny, but it started an hour earlier, so the sun didn’t get too hot.  Or at least it didn’t get too hot for the 15K runners.

The 5K was a big race, over 1000 runners, and the first of the Fall Runathon series.  A large number of my women’s running group MRTT/SRTT (Moms Run This Town/She Runs This Town) was there, so it was good to see all the friendly, supportive faces.  I was with a few portapotty stragglers from the group and a couple minutes before start time, after we started walking toward the start line, we remembered we needed to take some selfies (important things y’all).  Suddenly the bugler was playing the call to the post.  We hustled.

After the race we found out the race photographer took a picture of us taking a picture of ourselves.  Could be my favorite thing ever.  I’m the one in the grey top, blue running skirt.  Credit:  Marvin Young

I felt mostly good during the race.  Course was flat, down River Road, with a little swing through one of the parks there.  It was congested in the beginning, necessitating weaving through all the walkers, but spread out and got better pretty quickly.  Skipped a few intervals.  For a three-mile run, I wasn’t worried about getting tired, though maybe I should have!  The finish line was after a small incline and I could tell I was getting slower and slower with every step…or at least that’s what it felt like.  Thankfully that was only the last tenth of a mile.  I didn’t really have a big goal in mind.  I would have loved my time to be in the 28:30 neighborhood, alas not meant to be.  My time was 28:58.  Fourth in my age group though!  I’ve never really worked on speed, no speed repeats, no sprints.  Maybe I should add that in to my running schedule if I want to get my 5K speed faster.

Sunday morning was Downtown Doubler; I opted for the 15K (9.3 miles for non-runners, non-metric-familiar folks).  A few weeks ago I considered bumping up to the 30K.  Soooo glad I didn’t.  For no reason other than not wanting to train more than I had already planned.  Yes, lazy.  But I’ve been tired lately (I blame the tamoxifen) and already running a fair amount.  NO INJURIES

The course started at the amphitheater in New Albany and went down the Ohio River Greenway for a little over 4 and a half miles.  Flat and rather beautiful in spots.  We started at 7:30, so we got to watch the sun come up in front of us.  Lovely.  The out and back thing was fun–seeing all the fast people pass by after the turn around, then seeing the runners behind me after I started going in the other direction.  Lots of encouraging, fun people, including a ton of women from my group.

I used Jelly Belly Sport Beans (hereby to be referred to as runner candy) for the first time during a race.  Don’t know if they helped or not, but they sure didn’t hurt!  I kept my pace up for every mile and was able to push it at the end.  I did my usual intervals, skipping one walk every mile.  I’ve been doing that lately on training runs, and it seems to be working without making me too tired.  I’m sure it’s helping with stamina.  I’ve also been cutting my walking time short, around 20-24 seconds instead of the full 30.

TMI Alert.  Feel free to skip the next paragraph.  Everything was great except the whole GI thing.  Y’all who poop regular better not take that shit for granted.*  I sat on the toilet successfully before I left home, so I thought I was in the clear.  Around mile 3 I had that pooping feeling, but I decided I would manage.  Not much I could do about it at that point, because one thing this course did not have a lot of is portapotties.  The feeling got stronger, still no big deal, until mile 7.  At that point I knew I would be going straight to the bathrooms after I crossed the finish.  At mile 9, I was worried I would be going straight to the bathrooms after I crossed the finish, having shit myself just minutes before.  Lucky for me, no pants pooping.  I did go straight to the bathrooms.  A stall was free and had toilet paper, which made me happier than actually finishing the race.  *See what I did?

Really fun race; saw lots of my running friends, including seeing some finish and seeing the women from the 30K club starting their second time around.  It’s so great to cheer for and be cheered on in person by the people you encourage and support via facebook group.  I can’t say enough about how wonderful these women are and how important they have become to my life.  I truly doubt I would still be running if it weren’t for them.

My time goal was 1:33:00.  That’s a 10 minute mile average.  Respectable.  My pie-in-the-sky goal was 1:30:00.  Like I didn’t think it was in the realm of possibility.  My typical pace for a longer run is 10-10:30 on a good day.  I hadn’t slept well the night before, so I was not expecting anything, just wanted to finish with a smile.  My chip time was 1:30:09!  I did the math–9:42 pace.  I was so surprised and so pleased.  And proud.  Fifth in my age group.  Not too shabby!  The thing I’m most happy about is I’ve got a half marathon in Indianapolis in just under 3 weeks.  This race gives me hope for a PR.  My time for Kentucky Derby Festival Half was 2:11:14.  Under 2:10:00 is doable.  Under 2:05:00 would be amazing.

Today was a rest day.  Tomorrow I’m back at it.