St. Paddy's Day 5k Recap and Training Updates

St. Paddy's Day 5k Race Recap

The weather on March 16th was fantastic for a race. Two and a half weeks removed from surgery, and just 2 weeks back into light training, I wasn't sure what to expect. Either way, I was excited to be racing again. I headed downtown early so that I could catch the start of the marathon and half marathon. Both my friend, Adam, and one of my employees, Austin, were running the full marathon. I felt some disappointment creep up as their race started knowing that my original plan was to run the half marathon. It wasn't meant to be. 

After a 45 minute wait, it was time for the 5k to start. The field included more than 1,000 runners. I felt very good from the start of the race and held a very consistent pace. The race started and finished in front of the Iowa State Capital, travelled west towards the river, ran south along the Des Moines River, made a loop to the west along the Racoon River before looping back to where we began. 

Waiting for the race to start

I didn't push too hard, and felt significantly more relaxed than I did at the Time to Paddy 5k two weeks prior. I had a pretty good kick for the last half mile and crossed the finish line very pleased with my performance. My official time was 34:28, which is the EXACT same time I ran at the Time to Paddy 5k. Even with the same time, it was clear that my fitness was starting to return based on my average heart rate for both races. 

Final kick heading to the finish line

Side-by-side race comparison

Proud Finisher

After my race, I stuck around for a couple of hours to cheer on both Adam and Austin. It was the first full marathon for both and they both did so well. 

Adam half way done

Austin half way done

Missing out on the month of February really through me for a loop. However, the realization that I have had since this race is that both of my last 5k times were faster than the Rexy Run 5k (2nd fastest 5k last year) that I ran in August last summer. Things feel harder, and I did get set back a little, but I'm still so much farther along than I was this time last year. 

Training Updates

After the St. Paddy's Day 5k, I finally returned to 100% training load as I work towards the Drake Road Races 10k at the end of April. I have also added in a couple of strength training sessions in, have made it to the swimming pool twice, and I did my first bike ride (although indoors) yesterday. I've decided to skip a couple of scheduled training runs to let my body rest when I've been extra sore or tired, but things have mostly been going fine. 

That being said, something is off, I'm just not sure what. Motivation is fleeting and although I'm getting the workouts in, I'm sort of just going through the motions. My speed is not returning as quickly as I want and when I did my 6 mile long run last weekend, my legs were shot for the rest of the day. My diet and nutrition has been off as well, which isn't helping with proper fueling and recovery for my workouts. 

I'm not sure what the cause is. Things at work have not been great, causing me more stress than normal. I've been in a bad mood at home with Erin and the girls as well. I've had an abnormally high number of bad nights of sleep in the last few weeks and the weather has SUCKED. Maybe it is combination of everything, but whatever it is, I'm really hoping to snap out of it soon. 

Wrap Up

I did have to make an adjustment to my race schedule. Due to family obligations, I won't be able to race the Bix 7 this year. I am now looking for another race (5k, 10k, or sprint triathlon) to add to my schedule between the end of July through the end of October. If you have any suggestions, let me know!

Even though my current training plan is targeting the Drake Road Races on April 21, my next race will actually be the weekend before at the Live Healthy Iowa 5k in Bondurant.