Freeze Your Thorns Off 5K Give take an extra 20K

I decided to hold off and run the virtual race as part of my Sunday long run since I’m already commuted to that.  I didn’t think Adam would object being that he stated “ I'm flexible....if you're doing the race in your shower and have to take a break for the water to get hot again that is just fine.” :)  

It was 23F when I left the house to make the 20 minute drive to my route (NCR Trail as always) and I’m sitting here about 40 minutes after stopping and it’s 31F.  So yeah, it was freezing the entire run.  Thankfully the wind wasn’t too bad. 

I decided to officially start the race at my first mile, giving me plenty of warmup time.  I was not going for a speed record or anything (still had a ton of running once it was over), but I did decide to pick it up some and try driving with me knees more.  I ended up not taking my time during the 5K and only have my total start – stop time.  No mile laps today.

The 5K was great. There wasn’t hardly anyone on the trail, maybe a total of 25 people the entire run.  With yesterdays snow fail, there was a decent covering on the trail but not enough to impact hinder my running.  In fact it was light and fluffy and made for an easier run, much like running on dirt vs gravel.

After I finished the 5K, I continued on but slowing down to my normal long run pace. 

My original marathon training schedule had me doing a 10 mile recovery run but I was pumped up and given that my training has been ahead, I ended up doing 16 miles!!  That’s right the big sweet sixteen.  At the turn around I was feeling great but around mile 12 my legs were starting to wear out.  I made it through fine, but I should have only done 12 miles and my body told me so. 

Well, there you have it, my virtual race report plus extras.  Next week is going to be a recovery week!  I’ve been pushing it lately.   I took some pics on the run, but I don’t have the ability to upload them right now.