Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon Training: Week Five

Monday: REST

Monday was an official rest day, but it was a busy one! I headed downtown for an afternoon meeting and then just stayed downtown for the Women’s Health Leadership TRUST Forum event that evening. It was a fabulous and inspiring event with so many incredible women in attendance, including Cindy Kent who was the keynote speaker!

Tuesday: 4 miles (9:18 pace)

Tired legs plagued this run again and my foot bothered me for the first half a mile or so. It started to bug me during Sunday’s seven miler, so will need to keep an eye on it.

Wednesday -Friday: REST

Just like last week, the busy-ness of the week got the best of me and the bad weather made it an easy excuse to skip runs.

My parents got into town on Friday and we went to Hi-Lo Diner for an early dinner before bedtime. I had a burger and a beer because it seemed like a good pre-race meal.

Saturday: Get in Gear 10K – unofficial time 56:17 

I woke up for the day with a sore throat at 6:45 a.m. after a bad night’s sleep. Calvin got me up twice during the night and I was coughing in between those wake ups. It looked like it would be between 45-50 degrees with winds around 12 mph throughout the race and mostly cloudy, so I decided on shorts, Oiselle singlet, arm warmers, compression socks and a headband. I stepped outside to leave and headed back into the house to re-think my outfit. J reassured me I’d be happy with my outfit once I started running, so I grabbed a sweatshirt for after the race and headed back out the door. Race start was at 9 a.m. and I finally left my house around 8:15 a.m. Having done this race quite a few years in a row now, I know not to even try to park close, so I parked a few blocks away and got a warm up run in.

Once I reached the starting area I did some dynamic stretching and got in line for the bathroom. (Shout out to Get in Gear for an abundance of porta potties!) Most people I saw had a lot more clothing on than I did, but I really wasn’t feeling cold standing there.

Around 8:50 a.m., I headed over to the start line and remembered the barriers they have set up require you to enter the “chute” from the back. Since I didn’t feel like pushing through the crowd, I ended up behind the 12:00 minute mile pacers to start.

Eventually we took off and it stayed pretty crowded until mile 3. I spent the first entire mile starting and stopping and weaving. The first mile clocked in at 9:51 and I could tell I wasted a decent amount of energy during that mile.

The first and only water stop for the 10K-ers was right around this point and I drank a cup, but my throat was still on fire. I spent most of the race thinking about how badly my throat hurt. Since the GIG course is one I run often, I knew where the hills were, and I felt strong on all of them. Mile 4-5 was a little rough, I had to back off the pace a couple of times to catch my breath, but seeing Angie and Andrea during this mile gave me a nice boost!

As soon as I had less than one mile left, I focused on sticking with the group of runners I had pretty much been by during the entire race, and eventually overtook them going up the last hill. As I neared the finish chute, I saw my parents (they surprised me!) and dug deep to cross the finish line. I didn’t notice what the clock said and I didn’t look at my watch until an hour or so after I got home. Even though the race went relatively well, I was happy to be done and not feeling the greatest. I grabbed some post-race food and we walked back to my car.

This was my fifth year doing the GIG 10K and my second best time. Glad to have gotten this race in before the half as I’m feeling a little rusty when it comes to racing.

As for the rest of the day, I took a power nap and we headed to Sovereign Grounds for a little outing so Calvin could play.

I noticed while sitting at the coffee shop that I felt really warm, but didn’t think too much of it, even though my parents and J said they didn’t think it was warm in there. I went to bed early that night and woke up with the chills in the middle of the night.

Sunday: Sick

Luckily, my parents were in town, so they tag teamed with J to watch Calvin most of the day. I rested as much as possible and when the Tylenol kicked in, we took a walk at the dog park.

This week, my focus is going to be getting healthy again, making sure to fit in a speed work session and nailing my long run on Sunday! Excited for the weather we’re supposed to have.

Have you been sick this spring?

What’s your 10K racing/pacing strategy?