MRRS 5 miler #2

Well, today was the second of the five mile races and my debate yesterday was whether to treat it as a 5 mile recovery run or a 5 mile LT run. After yesterday's 14, I decided it was going to be a recovery run for sure. Then this morning the debate was whether or not I even wanted to get out of bed!! Drew tried to convince me to get up, but it wasn't until Laura called me at 6:30 and asked where to park that I quickly dashed out of bed. The race started at 7, so I grabbed all my clothes and some water and got dressed on the way over there. Which is fine, but I did not eat or use the bathroom!!

I found Laura at the start and said I was just taking it easy, but we ended up running together most of the race. I wasn't sure what would happen or how fast I would go. Mile 1 was in 9:43 and I felt alright - my hips and knees were really sore from yesterday. Mile 2 was in 9:25 and I was still feeling okay so I thought maybe we would run negative splits for all 5 miles. Mile 3 was in 9:19 and then I had flashbacks to Nashville and the negative splits were out the window!!! My stomach started to cramp up and I was super hungry, so when we hit that mile marker 3 I walked for about 30 seconds, so mile 4 was in 9:53 - still under 10:00. Then I walked for 45 seconds at mile marker 4 and I just jogged in for the finish. Mile 5 was in 10:23 for a total of 48:44. That time is fine with me - that is a good recovery run pace. I really had no need to run negative splits today because I really feel like my legs need a break. Plus I was satisfied with my first 5 mile time of 42:58, which puts me in sixth place overall in this series. My goals for this series are to run my marathon pace (9:00/miles) or under for one race at each distance and to place in the top ten. Two distances down and my goals are being hit so far.

We came home and ate some breakfast and I've been laying around watching Jack Bauer kick some arse on 24 and doing school work all day!! My legs are loving this time spent laying around.

Stanky Creek Satellite Image

Drew, Michael, and I set off to Stanky Creek again tonight. Our run was delayed by a brief storm, so we headed off on the trail around 6:20ish. I was hoping to get 16 in, but I knew it was going to get dark quick because of the weather, so we cut it to 12. According to the P-diddy plan 12 is supposed to be my longest run this week anyways, so I'm satisfied with tonight.


Our pace while it was still light out was between 10:45 and 11:00, but when it got dark and we had to use our headlamps (that needed new batteries so the light was minimal), our pace slowed to 12:00. That pace sounds slow, but check out the elevation changes on the trail.


I know that it is nothing compared to other places in America that have crazy nuts elevation, but this is the best Memphis has to offer.

After we were done we headed to get an all-American healthy meal at McDonalds. For some reason I always crave McDonalds french fries after a long run. Horrible, I know.

Happy running!