That was Saturday for me. Saturday was the Grayslake 5k. I missed it last year due to a family member's wedding, so told myself I would make it happen this year. Well, again there was a family member's wedding...but, this one was in Milwaukee. So, I convinced my mom and brother that if we go to the race, we can get our run out of the way for the day and enjoy the wedding. It worked. It might have helped that I told them about the "Fastest Family" award.
Anyway, Saturday morning comes around. The drive to Grayslake is about 45minutes. All I kept thinking was how badly I wanted to be back in bed. This week has been the highest volume of training I've had in awhile with the random injuries and sickness I've had so far this year. While I only ran 50 miles this week, I also swam 3 hours, lifted 2 hours and biked 6 hours...so 11 hours plus 6.5 from running is a lot for me (17.5 total).
As soon as we pulled into the parking lot, I washed away the negativity and went for a 2mile warmup run with Nic. I had met with Earl Gunther (PT) last week and revamped my strength program and revisited the drills to do before workouts. Earl had suggested doing 2 sets of 30-40m drills, so I made sure to do that before the race as I had before my Thursday workout (see below). They must have warmed me up well...
Since my Garmin died on Thursday (thankfully after my workout), I just had my normal wristwatch. I decided to go on feel. My running buddy Joe would be racing as well, and we were both planning to PR or at least try to go sub-18. We were together for the first mile, so I knew that was a good sign. We went through the "mile" at 5:17....as much as I wish that was true, I know I can't run that for 1 of my 3.1 miles in a race right now. Joe's Garmin split and I glanced at my watch to see 5:4x..a little slower than I had wanted, but I had no idea what I could do for a 5k.
Mile 2 was marked, and I went through that with my teammate Jessica right on my heels. 11:25...alright, 5:42ish average so I was happy. There were quite a few turns in the last mile, which was great as I truly had no idea where I was so had to push myself hard the whole time. On the third to last turn, I glanced at my watch and saw 15:53 and told myself "2 more minutes"....the next turn, spectators yelled "one more turn then you're done" and I picked it up a bit. As I rounded the final turn, I could see the clock. 17:33...what?? Definitely thought I was going to be over 18.
I sprinted it in and finished in 17:45. HOLY COW. 13 second PR!!!! While talking with my Dick Pond/Fast Track teammates after, Dave Schaefers really hit it on the head when he said we sometimes just need to go on feel and just be happy doing the best we can. I think sometimes we become too worried about pace and hitting certain numbers in our workouts. Dave helped me realize that it's not about that. Sometimes, you just have to ENJOY yourself and be happy with doing the best that you can. Thank you, Dave.
The main reason Nic and my mom decided to sign up for Grayslake was for the family competition. Well, apparently my mom and Nic were the only "Auberts" that counted...for some reason I didn't count. I finished 2nd overall female, so maybe that's why, but Nic and mom were pretty upset:( We would have won Fastest Family by over a minute (the family that "won" was a 20:29 average, we were a 19xx average), but I think the AWESOME awards quickly made Nic forget that...
WEEKLY RECAP:
Monday: lift, swim, 7mile run
Tuesday: bike workout, lifting routine, 2mile run off bike
Wednesday: 4mile run, lift, open water swim at LITH
Thursday: AM-3x10min@6:10pace workout; PM-20mile bike ride
Friday: 6miles easy
Saturday: Grayslake 5k
Sunday: 73mile bike ride home from Brookfield, WI.
Overall, a great week and I am THRILLED to be back at it....thanks, Coach Cari!
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