Disco Run 10K - Race Recap

Nursing a strained hamstring and doing virtually zero speed work since March, I wasn't sure what to expect for this race, but I decided to go, have fun, and give it my best shot.

I was happy to meet up with fellow Eagles running for Team RWB. 

And the costumes did not disappoint. Some folks really got into the spirit! 

The race itself was a 5K loop around Fair Park, which I did twice. With all the flooding we've had, I was grateful the course wasn't under water.  We had pretty weather, and I enjoyed disco tunes blasted along the route, as well as stacked in my own playlist. :)

Considering I haven't raced a 10K in 6 months, I did a decent job of pacing myself and ran a negative split. I also accomplished my goal of passing someone every mile. I realized I still have work to do---running with injury has cost me my mental edge, as I've gotten comfortable babying myself and being gentle instead of pressing into pain. But that will come back when I'm healthy. Though I was nearly 3 minutes off my true PR from last fall, I at least set a new race PR, so that's something. 

And I added this to my collection!  Groovy! 

LSD

While in Chicago, I had the opportunity to do a Long Slow Distance run along Lake Shore Drive--LSD on LSD.

Thanks I'm sure to the carb-load at Giordano's Stuffed Pizza (2 pieces and I was stuffed!), I felt strong throughout the run, and I was blessed with perfect cool weather and gorgeous scenery. 

As I ran, I took in the city in a way I never could have imagined when I lived there 20 years ago. Those were the days when I had a note to keep me from running in gym class due to asthma. Despite being valedictorian, I was in danger of not graduating because I was failing gym!   Oh, how things have changed!  The 3-mile run (walk for me) that constituted "Torture Tuesdays" is now the shortest distance I run. If you had told me 20 years ago that I would run 20 miles along Lake Shore Drive, I would have thought you were completely mad. God of the Impossible is amazing like that. ;)

He showed up on this run, too. 

The lake was calm that morning, and I was reminded of the 23rd Psalm: He leads me beside still waters...

And despite running a brand new route with multiple possible deviations going out and back, my run ended here at 20 miles on the dot! Providence!

Heels & Hills - Race Recap

The last time I ran Heels & Hills was 2 years ago. It was a half marathon along the Campion Trail in Las Colinas. There were neither heels nor hills, and I had a great race, setting what was at the time a PR. 

After taking a year off, the race was reintroduced in Keller offering distances of 4 and 8 miles. (What???)  Different for sure but still a celebration of women's fitnes...and that's exactly what this race turned out to be. 

A 4-mile race didn't really fit into this stage of my training for Utah, and with the lingering hamstring issue, truly racing didn't seem like a good idea. (Intensity seems to aggravate it far more than distance.) I had done an 18-mile training run the day before so went in treating it as a recovery run. I ran it with my friend Davette, who had done a mud run the day before, so she was just fine with that. 

We did a little running, a little walking, and a lot of talking!  No rhyme or reason, no race plan or time goal, no pressure. Completely relaxed. Just a couple of friends out having fun with a bunch of other ladies doing the same. We had a blast and got a little bling!

Best part of it being a 4-miler: even though we were slow as Christmas, we both set a PR!