After a very busy race schedule in June, I slowed down a bit in July. Early in the month I completed my Ironman in a week challenge but otherwise I've been hyper focused on my current 5k training block. I ended up racing 3 times during July, 2 5k races and the Bix 7. That brings me to 22 races this year and the Bix marked my 100th race since starting back in 2014.
Cubbie Bear 5k
A Sunday morning race in downtown Des Moines at Principal Park. Training had been going very well and I was excited to see what I could do. I rode with Adam to the race and we arrived plenty early to pick up our packets and ensure we got close parking. The temperature started off in the 60s, but the sun was intense and the race didn't start until 9:00am so it got hotter quickly.
The starting line chute was pretty narrow and I started off way too far back. I tried hard to push from the start but had to weave in and out of people for the first half mile before we got onto a road and things widened out. I was disappointed when I came through mile 1 in 10:18 but kept the peddle on the gas. I was very surprised when mile 2 was slower at 10:21. I gave it everything I had for the rest of the course and pushed hard as I ran around the warning track inside Principal Park heading to the finish line. I crossed the finish line in 32:17, about 45 seconds slower than I had hoped.
Even though I feel that I should have run faster, I couldn't be too disappointed with the time. This was my fastest 5k of the year and fastest since 2019.
DSM Corporate Games 5k
The race was run with the Clive Running Festival 5k on Saturday, July 19 at Campbell Park in Clive. The course was changed from past years due to the construction and bike path closure for the current Interstate 35/80 construction. I woke up to severe thunderstorms and a tornado warning that kept me from leaving the house to pick up Adam. Eventually the warning ended and I headed to pick up Adam. When we arrived at Campbell park it started pouring rain. They ended up delaying the race for 30 minutes to let the storms pass.
The race started going straight up hill, but it was on the road so there was plenty of room to space out. At the top of the hill we turned onto a side street before connecting with the bike trail that took us through the park and onto an out and back section. There was a lot of puddles to dodge and late in the race the sun came out raising the humidity a lot. Similar to the previous week, I pushed hard from the start coming through mile 1 in 10:12. I was extremely happy with that split given the uphill start. Navigating the water station at the turn around slowed me a bit but I came through the 2nd mile shortly after with a split of 10:07. I turned on the jets for the last mile running my first sub-10:00 mile of the year in 9:47. I crossed the finish line in 31:05, averaging 10:00/mi.
This was the performance that I had hoped for a week prior at the Cubbie Bear 5k and I was ecstatic at how well I raced.
Bix 7 and Race #100
When I started running back in 2014 I would never have predicted that I'd complete 100 races or that I would still be doing it 11 years later, but here we are. On July 26, 2014 I officially completed my first race at the Bix 7. I was just a few months into running and extremely overweight, but I was determined to run it. That race was hard, REALLY hard, but I kept putting 1 foot in front of the other and eventually I reached the finish line in a time of 1:47:47. I was very proud of that accomplishment and still am today.
I had no plans to run the Bix this year, but a few months ago when my mother-in-law Mary asked if I would be there to run it, I took a look at my schedule and quickly realized that it would be my 100th race. I just couldn't turn down the chance at a story like that. My 1st race was the Bix 7, and my 100th race would be at the Bix 7 exactly 11 years later, to the day
The forecast for Saturday morning did not look good. Storms and rain overnight continued into the morning. For the first time in 51 years, they decided to delay the start of the race by an hour. While the chances of thunderstorms cleared out, the rain did not. Mary's sister, Lisa, was also going to be walking the Bix so the 3 of us piled into Mary's car and headed for the race. We stayed in the car as long as possible before walking through the rain and dodging puddles to get to the starting corrals.
After a short wait, we heard the horn and we were off and headed up the Brady Street hill. I've raced this course enough times to know how challenging it is, but knowing doesn't make it easier. I took it easy going up the hill to both conserve energy and not fall on the wet pavement. After turning off Brady, the road essentially turned into a flowing river from all the rain and my feet were soaked immediately. My mile splits were slower than I had hoped, but my legs felt good through the 3.5 mile turnaround until about mile 4. After 4 miles, I struggled to find any extra effort to push so I just tried to keep a consistent effort for the last 3 miles. I came into the race hoping to average around 10:45/mi and finish under 15 minutes but I ended up finishing in 1:17:41, a few minutes short of my goal but still my 2nd fastest Bix in 4 attempts of running it and over 30 minutes faster than the first.
After the race I endured a huge downpour while waiting for Lisa and Mary to finish. Once we reached the car, it felt so good to get the wet shoes off of my feet and a dry shirt on. I've had some time to reflect since the race and have become more pleased with how I performed. While I didn't hit my goal, my current reality is that I'm in the middle of a 5k training block. This race was the farthest I've run since early April 2024, before I injured my ankle. I haven't been training a lot of hills, but I still handled them quite well during the race.
Wrap Up
Things slow down a bit in August as I only have 2 races on the calendar. I'm nearing the end of my 5k training block and am excited to see what I can do at the Summer Sizzler 5k on August 16th. My goal for that race is to run sub-30:00 on my way to a 5k PR attempt this fall. For now, I'm continuing to train hard and work towards that goal getting a little better every day.
