Today’s GAC alumni XC race went SO well. This training cycle for TCM has been really rocky. I’ve put in the miles, done the hard workouts that Jerry has written, but had no idea where that left me given the numerous workouts that I struggled through.
Today I won the GAC alumni 5k in 18:35 on a flat, but slow course. I won by 26 seconds after taking the lead at 800m (after starting pretty conservatively) when I just felt strong and … fast!
Race recap
here. Women’s results
here. Men’s results
here (I would have been 16th for the GAC men. Not bad!)
I can’t tell you how excited this makes me! Not only does it likely bode well for TCM (as well as last week’s epic tempo workout done at 6:20 pace), but it makes me so happy to see the fruits of many labors. Day in and day out. The best part? I am in love with running as much today as during the OlyT build!
Also, for skimping on my strength work – and having a baby just 10.5 months again, I find myself thinking: when did I get this ripped? (No, seriously)
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| Me and Leigh, one of my TNC athletes who hopped into the race (despite non-alum status). She PR’d in the 5k! Way to go Leigh, I can not WAIT to see how TCM goes for you!! |
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| Gustie Rouser. I still know the words! |
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| The start. I deliberately started at the back of their Varsity pack (see me in pink) |
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| See what I mean? |
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| Mile 2 |
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| I’ve noticed that I’ve regained my power and push-off. It’s something I’ve had to work really hard at post-partum as it was easy to run without much power or knee drive. I still think I have a lot of work to do on it, which will mean continuing to do drills and really try to DRIVE up hills on any hill workout! |
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| Smiling 🙂 (I’ll try to post a better resolution picture later) |
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| To the finish! |
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| Nate in the men’s race! |
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| My brother captioned this: Nichole parenting, Pete grand-parenting (see the background where who knows what he and Greta are doing :)) |
Your turn: Are you still involved with your college (if you ran or didn’t)? If you did a sport in college, do you have an Alumni race that you go back for?
Are you tuning up for a fall marathon? What are your favorite tune up workouts/races?
