Every Mile is a Miracle

Mid-Week 4 DBP#2 Report
Monday 3/19 - Rest Day!
Tuesday 3/20 - 4 mi @ EA (11:57)
Wednesday 3/21 -1 mi @ WU (12:42) + 3 x 3 min @ I (8:32) w/ 2 min RI @ WU + 5 x 2 min @ I (8:32) w/ 2 min RI @ WU + 1 mi @ CD (12:42)
Thursday 3/22 - 4 mi @ EA (11:57)


We have a little California trip planned for the weekend so I wanted to do half of my weekly update today plus include some info about my race this weekend (I'm pretending I can be organized like @SarahDisney).

First off, my training has been awesome this week. I am feeling fast and strong. I have been greeted with gorgeous sunrises, which make getting out of bed a little more tolerable. So be prepared for lots of sunrise pictures.

Monday - Rest day. Took it easy.

Tuesday - I was still catching up on sleep so waking up was not easy, but I did it. Bonus that it is spring break and I don't have to worry about taking Bay to school this week so I had some extra time. My legs felt good, but I was a little fast. There was some wind resistance on the way back (uphill, of course) so that helped slow me down.
Plan: 4 mi @ EA (11:57)
Actual: 4.06 mi @ 11:30
Splits: 11:11, 11:17, 11:58, 11:33

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Wednesday - This week's I Pace Intervals got bumped up a notch by adding a few 3 minute intervals in there. Like I said for last week, my Apple Watch sucks for intervals so I was doing my best. This week I was really consistent, but consistently too fast. Ah, well. I am looking into upgrading my watch from my Apple Watch to the Garmin Vivoactive 3, hopefully sooner rather than later. Anyway, this workout was hard but I nailed it and those are the most significant workouts to me.
Plan: 1 mi @ WU (12:42) + 3 x 3 min @ I (8:32) w/ 2 min RI @ WU + 5 x 2 min @ I (8:32) w/ 2 min RI @ WU + 1 mi @ CD (12:42)
Distance/Time: 5.67 mi / 59:23
Interval Splits: 8:12, 8:08, 8:14, 8:14, 8:13, 8:19, 8:17, 8:14

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Thursday - I was so tired this morning that I just snoozed until I turned my alarms off completely. I actually fell asleep with my Apple Watch on and so it was dead this morning, much like myself. I drug myself out of bed and begrudgingly got out there. I feel bad complaining about the next part because the East Coast is basically covered in snow, but it was 71* and so humid out. The sky was full of clouds, I was hot and sweaty, just not feeling it. Plus I was running half-blind and only relying on my Runkeeper app to tell me my pace every 1/2 mile. I got to the 2 miles mark and turned around and was greeted with this mesmerizing sunrise. And for the next two miles I watched it shift and change. It was perfect.
Plan: 4 mi @ EA (11:57)
Actual: 4.03 mi @ 11:53
Splits: 11:29, 11:30, 12:28, 11:56

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Oh, I also got my medal in for the Hogwarts Running Club "DA 5k". I have love/hate feels for virtual races. ~Usually~ I will make sure my husband and I run them together specifically for the medal. But this time I just used the miles I was running last week to count for it. So I didn't really run for this medal, but I ran and now have this medal. In the end, money was donated to a good cause, so it was a win/win.

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Tomorrow is a rest day, but we will be at Legoland so I will be doing a lot of walk. Saturday I plan on doing my easy 3 miler on, or as close to, the beach as possible. And then...

Carlsbad 5000 All Day 20k!
This race just looked like a lot of fun. I had a great time at the last Rock N Roll event I did, although this is on a smaller scale. But I am a sucker for challenge events, so beach + 5ks + medals + fun = sign me up! Bay & DH are both running too, so we get to go home with a bunch of medals!
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Friday Plans: Legoland, Stone Brewery, Beach, Pizza Port

Saturday Plans: 3 mile beach run, Bay runs the kids race (1/2 mile), Expo, Bib pickup, Beach, Legoland, Pizza Port

Sunday Plans: Race day for me and DH! I will be running four 5ks for my race, one 5k with each age group. They used to do a special medal for the first 250 people to cross the finish line in each age group. I guess this year it's the same medal, but the ribbon says 250 on it. At first I wanted this, but looking at last year's times I just don't think it will happen. Also, since it's just a ribbon change I don't care as much anymore. But my plan is LR Pace for the first two age groups, then 5k Race Pace for my age group in hopes of a PR, and then LR Pace for the last one. If you feel like you wanna track me, here is the link: https://www.sportstats.ca/display-results.xhtml?raceid=96205 (Bib# 391).
Then it is time for more pizza and beer and beach before the long drive home.

I am super ready for the weekend!

Great job on those I paces! I LOVEEEEEEE that middle medal so much!
 
Stopping back in to say amazing job on the training, congrats on a new place and signing up for the September Half, run happy this weekend those medals look awesome. Love hearing your daughter will be running too and legoland is a lot of fun. My kids loved to spend all their time in the chima water park. Can't wait to read the recap
 


Enjoyed your gorgeous sunrise pictures and great job on your training runs! Can’t wait to read about your trip out here and the 5ks. :beach:
 


Carlsbad 5000 All Day 20k Recap!
What. A. Weekend. I won’t spend a lot on the details of the weekend, but we went to Legoland as a gift to Bay for her birthday earlier this month. We originally planned on going to Disneyland, but with the construction going on plus the fact that we were staying in Carlsbad for our race this weekend, it just made more sense. Legoland was MEH at best. Friday it was completely dead, which was just so weird to us. Saturday was a little busier but even then, nothing like DL. At least I can now say that we went.

[Saturday morning 3 mi @ EA to the beach obligatory sunrise picture]
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On to the race weekend events!

Expo/Packet Pick up
The “expo” was about 15 booths in the middle of Carlsbad. We had to pick up Bay’s packet first on the morning of her race (Saturday). We grabbed that and went to get her a smoothie and headed to the beach for a bit. We didn’t spend nearly as much time at the beach as I would have liked. I don’t even think I touched the sand now that I am thinking about it. Her race was at 9:21 and we weren’t able to pick up our packets until 10am. It was a lot of waiting around, but I was able to buy some Honey Stinger waffles for the next morning and Bay grabbed a race shirt with her name on it.

[Pizza and beer carb loading in full effect]
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Bay’s Kid’s Race
Bay was signed up for the ½ mile race, that she kept accidentally calling a ½ marathon and got mad when I would correct her. Haha. Apparently they used to time the kid’s races but they stopped doing it this year, so I just had to watch the clock. The finish line had a big white area that went out well in front of the finish, which confused her so she started walking before she crossed the line until she saw me cheering her on and she started running again.
Finish time: 5:06

[Her medal was the best one of the weekend!]
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All Day 20k Race
This was such a unique event to be a part of. Basically, it’s four 5ks ran between 7am and 12pm. The gaps in between the races kept getting progressively longer, including an 1.5 hour gap between #3 and #4 so that the Elites could race. But the course was beautiful, the weather was perfect, and it was just so much fun. The hotel we were staying at was literally feet away from the start line, so I could sleep and just walk straight to the race. My game plan for the races was Easy, Easy, Hard, Easy. My actual plan was I forgot how to run slow x 2, RUN MY BUTT OFF, get drunk in between races, run the last 5k second fastest of the day drunk.

5k #1
The first race started at 6:58 with the “Masters 40 and up men” group. I did take it easy, just not at my EA pace, which is probably what Coach wanted me to do. It was just so nice out and my legs felt great.
Finish time: 33:04, pace 9:57

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5k #2
The second race started at 7:54 with the “Masters 40 and up women” group. I was a little slower this race, but not by much. Still just taking it all in. The weather, the ocean, the crowds.
Finish time: 33:18, pace 10:09

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5k #3
The third race was my age group race “Men & Women 30-39” and it started at 9:10. My husband was also running this race with me, so we had a friend drive up from San Diego to hang out with Bay while we ran. We “paid” him in free beer at the beer garden. They weren’t really checking to see who was racing in what age group. I saw 11 year olds running with the 40 and up masters. I guess they said that if you knew you weren’t gonna place in the first 250 people in your age group (because they get a special medal) that you could race whenever. But this was my group so this is the one I decided to try my PR for. Maybe I should have done it sooner, not after I had 10k on my legs. Who knows. It was worth a shot to try to get the first 250 spot but I didn’t think I could get that. Since I had done the course twice already I knew where all the curves, hills, bacon smells were. I knew where I would slow down and when I could push myself. I feel like that was an advantage to me. Also, somehow, I didn’t get stuck behind a single person on this race. It was miraculous. The first 2 miles were pretty good, I felt strong and fast, but by 2.5 I was slowing down. I could feel it and worried that I wasn’t gonna make my PR time, so I dug deep and just pushed through. I got to that finish line and got my PR and was exhausted. 5ks are hard.
Finish time: 27:15, pace 8:25

[The only picture I got of me and my husband, haha]
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Beer Break
We took a break in the beer garden since I had almost 2 hours until my last 5k. Pizza Port brewed some special beers for the race, the Full Sprint IPA and the Cool Down Lager. We acquired more free beer tickets than we could consume. I had two of the Lagers and they were delicious. On a pretty much empty stomach, I could feel them immediately. Weeeee.

5k #4
The last race was the “Men & Women 29 and under” and it started at 11:40. I met up with some runner friends, we chatted about how much beer we drank, and then we were off. My pace was much too fast for what I should have been doing but part of me was just so over this course and I just wanted to be done, so I just went with it. I smiled a lot, I took in the scenery one more time, I yelled happy birthday to a guy wearing a birthday hat and he looked most shocked. It was great. I came around the corner to the finish and just sprinted. Then I was done. I tried to grab a 5k medal because I didn’t grab it at the end of my age group, I didn’t think it mattered, they said no and to go to the All Day 20k tent for my medal. Okayyyy.
Finish time: 31:45, pace 8:59

Medal Drama
I head over there and get my 20k medal and find out that you don’t get the 5k medal unless you placed in the first 250. WAIT WHAT. I paid more for this race, ran 4 times, and get ONE medal. Nope. I was pissed. So since I was still kind of buzzed, I complained to some people and they said “oh yeah that’s how it always has been.” UH NO. Maybe runDisney has conditioned me to expect all the bling, but this was the equivalent of running the Dopey Challenge and only getting the challenge medal. I wasn’t expecting four 5k medals, just the one from my age group. So, I found a girl who works for Rock N Roll Marathon Series standing by the medals and ask about receiving a 5k medal. Her reply was “the All Day 20k medal is better anyway.” First off, that’s subjective. Second thing, I just ran a 20k shut up. Then she was like, “I can give you a medal if it means that much to you.” So she did and I was happy again, kind of. I got justice, but this is enough for me to not run this race again. I paid significantly more than my husband did for his one race. I should get two medals.

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Conclusion
Medal drama aside, the city of Carlsbad is amazing, the course was beautiful, the idea of the All Day 20k race is super fun, the beer was great, the entertainment wasn’t terrible. All in all it was a great race. Would I do it again? Ehhhh, maybe? I feel like I would rather run a half marathon than break it up into 5ks. I think this will be a one and done for me.

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[Me trying not to look dead.]
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What a FUN day!! Although running 4 5Ks back to back sounds like misery to me, but I guess the beer helps! And, good for you for asking for that 5k medal. I imagine that yes we are conditioned by Disney, but come on! I'm glad they gave both to you. :D
 
I love Bay's medal! She did a great job on her race - 5:06 for a 1/2 mile is not too shabby!

Important question - do you slow down or speed up at the bacon smells? That seems like a very important race strategy factor.
Congrats on the PR! Running a PR after already running two 5Ks has to be super difficult - I'm so impressed that you were able to do it!
Also, running a 5K after two beers and almost no food is super impressive. I would have been done after about 1k.

That medal drama is ridiculous. What??? It's not like you were asking for 4 5K medals ... but you ran the 5K and you should get the 5K medal! You earned those medals - I'm glad you ended up getting both!
 

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