Living on a Prayer: Wisconsin Marathon Training Week 9

We're halfway there! *insert Bon Jovi gif here*

It's amazing how much better I've felt in the last week and a half. I knew the tireds were just a temporary thing as I adapted to the mileage but I truly feel like a weight has been lifted. 60+ mile weeks? Pffft. I got this. 

Last weekend was another checkpoint of sorts. I raced a 5K for the first time in... 8 months or so? Sara and I drove out to Nashotah to run the St. Joan of Arc Frostbite 5K and despite the incredibly bitter cold we both had pretty stellar races. I actually kind of loathe how I feel while running 5K because it's so fast but I know it's over in just a little more than 20 minutes so that part is always good. In my case, it was over in 22 minutes and 27 seconds. Not too bad! I had hoped to sneak in under 22 but the course was a bit too hilly for me to do it. I suppose the 5 degree weather didn't help things either- it's super tough for me to breathe in deep when the air is that cold.

I know a 5K isn't the best indicator for projecting marathon pace but it was important for me to run strong. I actually ran negative splits (7:20, 7:19, 7:08) and finished the last tenth of a mile at a sub-7 pace when I thought I was dying so that was pretty neat. Sara and I placed 2nd and 3rd in our age group and got nifty icicle "medals." All in all it was a good day!

I'll be racing a 10K in a couple weeks and then after that is the Chi-Town Half Marathon where I'm super duper fingers crossed hoping for a PR. I'm working so hard this cycle I can't even tell you. 

February Miles: 217!

Monster Running

I had the best weekend! This was much needed too after a pretty "blah" week. Saturday afternoon Ava and I got dressed up for the Monster Run:

 Rainbow Dash and the TARDIS

Ava did the half mile Kids Dash with her friend Grace and they put on a show at the finish line:

Wings out!

I was proud of her for participating because really, running isn't her thing. However she wanted to rock her costume and hang out at the post-race party so she put up with the whole running part. I believe her words were something like, "We ran really fast at the start but then we got down the street and were all like UGH RUNNING IS THE WORST." Totally been there. 

After the Kids Dash I ran in the 5.5K race. (I know, I know,  a 5.5K? Huh?) Get this though- I won second place overall female! FULL DISCLOSURE: This was totally a fun run and there were obviously not a bunch of speedsters at this race. Still it felt super good to run at the front! When I was heading back after the turnaround I was all by myself and I got a few "GO TARDIS!" cheers from people. That was neat. Also I think if it had been an actual 5K distance I would have come super close to a PR. I guess I'll just have to race a 5K one of these days. 

This week I'm back to running bigger miles before tapering for Madison. I've continuing to incorporate more hills into my routes and it's giving me some confidence. I'll be in Door County running the Fall 50 relay on Saturday and the plan is to run all the hills (at an "easy" pace.) It should be another great weekend with friends! Yahoo!