2018 Drake Relays Road Races 5k

It was another great day at the Drake Relays Road Races this year! With the addition of a 10k race this year the field was certainly bigger than last year and the weather could not have been better. I got down to the Drake campus about 15 minutes before the start of the 10k and half marathon and 30 minutes before my race. I saw several coworkers from Pioneer running in all of the races and really enjoyed the opportunity to watch the start of the other races before toeing the line myself. 

I wasn't really sure what to expect out of myself today coming off a week of being sick, but things felt good from the start. I pushed on the throttle early and never had to let off. The course was relatively flat and temperatures in the upper 40's were the perfect running conditions. A unique change to the race this year was getting to end with a half lap on the blue oval which was an awesome experience. Knowing that the very same track would be host to some of the best high school, college, and professional athletes in the world later this week left me in awe. 

I had decided to not look at my watch and try to run by feel to gauge where my pacing is at for the year. After crossing the finish line I did look at my watch and was extremely happy to see a sub 10 min/mi average pace. After evaluating my splits and heart rate data, I ran a nearly perfect race. I maintained negative splits the entire way (each mile was faster then the previous) and I kept my heart rate in zone 5 for nearly 25 minutes to end the race. I may not be in the best shape to start off the year, but I was certainly ready to race. 

Keeping it in the red nearly the whole race

Fantastic race to kick off my 2018 season

Even though place doesn't matter that much to me, I was also excited to have a good showing in both my age group and overall place for the race. I placed 287/779 overall and 11/25 in the Male 30-34 age group. 

Official Results

There really is no way to spin a downside with the race today. I am extremely proud of how well I ran and I had a lot of fun as well. My next race is the Hickory Grove Triathlon 4 weeks from today and I am really looking forward to it. 

First Race Week Of 2018

IT'S RACE WEEK!

It has been 21 weeks since I have been able to say that and, oh boy, does it feel good that it is finally here. This Sunday I will be running the 5k at the Drake Relays Road Races. I ran the half marathon there last year and am looking forward to being back. There is a few changes to the race this year. They have added back a 10k distance and moved the races to the weekend preceding the Drake Relays. This move allows all of the races to finish inside the stadium on the blue oval which adds some extra excitement. 

It has been a very strange off season for me, plagued by bad weather for training, struggling to stay motivated and unexpected race schedule changes. To top it all off, I came down with a cold last week that has slowed me down considerably going into race week. I feel like I finally turned a corner today but with 5 days completely off of training and 3 other extremely light training days, I'm not exactly feeling very prepared for this weekend. 

The good news for me is that once my season kicks off, the races will pile up relatively quickly and racing always helps to re-energize and motivate me. 

At this point, all that is left is to pray for good running weather on Sunday, then go out there and do what I always do.