Today I ran in my second 10K, the 3rd annual St. Patty’s Day Kegs & Eggs 5K/10K with proceeds going to the Special Olympics of Nashville.  Last year was my first 10K and at the time my longest run; boy was I shocked during that run!  This time it was a different story as I managed things a lot better.

This was an afternoon race and wasn’t as bad as I was expecting (sometimes it’s nice to get these knocked out first thing in the morning).  The weather wasn’t the best as it was in the 40s with winds and rain!  Luckily the rain was mostly a drizzle during the race so it wasn’t that bad but those winds were nasty and almost took my hat off a few times (need to remember to tighten it up a bit next time).

Last year I ran my first 10K in 1 hour and 6 minutes.  This year I was looking to be at right around an hour.  It started at Bar Louie in The Gulch so I was expecting some hills and the hills were there!  We hit Charlotte Avenue off of 11th Avenue South and went straight up towards the Capitol.

I was expecting to get around 10 minutes a mile and when I hit my first mile right at 9 minutes I was feeling good.  Unfortunately this was a “run the course twice” 10K so as I was hitting the half-way point it was tempting to run fast with the 5K runners but knowing I had another 3.1 miles to go I kept things steady going into the “turn”.

I was right around 27 minutes at the half-way point so I knew the 1 hour goal was feasible (as I was really feeling good at this point).  I then thought maybe I could get in around 56-57 minutes so that’s what I was going for.

The next time up the hill on Charlotte Avenue I did pretty good.  I was actually able to pass some runners who seemed to have been caught up in the pace of the 5K finishers at the turn and I was able to stay in front of most of them.  Looking at my mile times my first mile was the fastest at 9:01 (I was at 4 minutes at the 1/2 mile mark and decided to slow things down a bit).  I then hit 9:18 and 9:23 for miles two and three.  Then for the last three miles I was 9:41, 9:36 and then actually finished even faster at 9:23.

I probably could have finished faster than 9:23 on the last mile but with a half-mile to go my right shoe came untied and it was the shoe which had my timing chip on it.  I didn’t really want to lose it and did my best to finish strong but yet keep my shoe on!  Not sure if it was the fact that it was an afternoon race or just that I’m getting better at managing my miles but this was a good race.

My unofficial time was 57:44 and that’s 9 minutes faster than my previous 10K so I’ll take that!  At the moment my next race isn’t until April 12th (another 10K) with the Music City Marathon on the 26th.  I may fit another race in there, but we’ll see.

Today I ran my 3rd race of 2014, the Run4Missions 5K supporting the Community Church of Hendersonville, TN.  The race took place at the Streets of Indian Lake and this is a fairly flat area so I went into it expecting to have a fast finish time.

I’ve been running at the 29-30 minute 5K mark so I was hoping to do a bit better, and a bit better I did.  The high for the day was expected to be in the low 60’s.  The temperature at race time though was only going to be in the upper 30’s, so it wasn’t going to be a warm race.

The race started at 8 AM and the weather was partly cloudy skies and 39 degrees.  I started off feeling really good and was hoping to get the first mile in around 9 minutes.  When my running app read off my first mile stats I was surprised to hear an 8:05 pace.  Wow!

When I hit the 1.5 mile mark I was at an elapsed time of 12:11 and I was thinking maybe I could get a 26-27 minute time!  The last mile though was a bit rough.  I could feel myself slowing down but at the 2.5 mile mark I did my best to keep going at my current pace.

My second mile pace was 8:49 and my third mile pace was 8:52.  I was a little more consistent those last two miles but that last half-plus mile was tough.  My overall time (unofficially) was 27:16 and my fastest time yet.  I was please with my time and afterwards I felt good.

I recovered pretty quickly once I was done but I need to work on my finishing pace.  I recently signed up as a member of a local running group, Nashville Striders, so I’ll be sure to reach out to the members there and see what I can do to get myself finishing races a bit stronger (and maybe even a bit faster).  Next up is the St. Patrick’s Day Kegs & Eggs 5K/10K Supporting Special Olympics Nashville a week from tomorrow.  I’m signed up for the 10K and the race course is in the Gulch area of West Nashville and that means hills!

Today I ran in the Nashville Hot Chocolate 15K in support of Ronald McDonald House Charities of Nashville.  This was my first 15K and the longest run I have ever done.  Last year I ran my first 10K and I approached it all wrong…too fast too early.  This time I went into the race with the goal of an 11 minute per mile pace and was going to just keep it slow and steady.

The weather reports kept changing right up until the day of the race and if the forecast would have stuck with that of rain I would have been worried (initially was cloudy and a high of 46, then chance of rain which turned to snow with a high in the low 30’s and finally cloudy with a high of 23).  I still felt an 11 minute per mile pace would be perfect. I started out at a good pace and at the 1 mile mark my running app informed me I was at a 10 minute 20 sec pace.  This felt good so I stayed with it.

The course was full of small hills and once it hit the Broadway/West End strip of the course, it really got interesting.  When I ran in the Country Music Marathon last year the starting point was at West End Avenue near Centennial park and the course headed towards downtown, this course got on Broadway off of Rosa Park’s Boulevard and went straight down to Centennial Park.  So in the Country Music Marathon it was a just a straight shot down West End to Broadway.  This was a down and back and all I could think about when going down the hills was I was going to need to come back up them after taking a jaunt around Centennial Park…uggh.

I was doing really good keeping a 10:20 to 10:40 pace up until around the 5.5 mile mark.  This was near Park Plaza by Centennial Park and I did not realize it was going all the way down Park Plaza up towards the 28th Street bridge, over it and then back.  I got to mile 7 and from there is was just determination.  I was keeping my pace pretty well but did go over the 11 minute mark during mile 7 – 8.  Going back through those hills on the way back towards Broadway was brutal.

Once I hit mile 8 though I knew it was just over a mile to go and it was here I just felt like my body was on cruise control.  The last half mile was pretty much all down hill so that was nice.  I felt good when I crossed the finish line and was glad that I actually just ran a 15K.  So after completing that, I know that the upcoming half-marathon is going to be 4 miles longer.  That’s another 40 some minutes of running and will definitely be a test of will power.

My official time was 1:39:17.44 and I finished 1055 out of 1834 runners.  Not bad and now I have 20K worth of races already for 2014!

On Saturday I took part in the first annual Hill YEAH! 5K.  This event was put on to support a local charity, Room In The Inn.  This is a great charity that helps the homeless and the fact that the organizers decided to have this in the winter time was perfect.  What a better way to get a feel for living out on the streets than actually running in the streets when it’s cold outside!

The course was definitely full of hills and while I wasn’t expecting a fast time due to the terrain, I actually turned in my best 5K time ever at 29:19.  This is definitely one I will be running again!  Up next is the Nashville Hot Chocolate 15K which is going to be a good run to help me with my mileage as I continue to prepare for the upcoming Nashville 1/2 Marathon which is only a few months away!

The Nashville Striders, a local running club, helped with the race and look to be a good group to get involved with.  I think I’ll be checking them out a bit more and probably signing up to be a member.  I’ve found it’s always better to run in groups and this looks to be a good group of runners from all walks and expertise!

Info on the race:  http://www.hillyeah5k.com/#

Pictures from the race:  http://www.nashvillestriders.com/gallery-2014/hill-yeah-5k/

Nashville Striders:  http://www.nashvillestriders.com