5K and Another Half

In the midst of a crazy day on Saturday, I was able to sneak in a 5K race. The race was just 5-10 minutes from home so that was convenient. I knew I wanted to beat my last 5K time and set a goal of running under 23 minutes. It was a very flat course so I knew there was a chance. I believe I went out too fast because I ran the first mile at a 7 minute pace and the 2nd mile at 7:04. I lost steam after mile 2, but I still crossed the line at 22:39. I am still working on my splits and pushing it at the end. I may have to bring back speed training if I want to reach my sub 20 goal. I really need to start training on my bike because the RAIN ride is coming up very soon.

On Sunday, my little boy Cameron ran his first race. It was the Rookie Run downtown Indy which was a smaller version of the Mini marathon. He only had to run 2 blocks, but he did so well running alongside his mommy. Even though it was crummy weather, he had fun. He even got a medal that almost looks like my Mini medal. I am a very proud daddy. I will post some photos later.

To make this "Year of the Gee" even better, I now work downtown Indy and have access to some great running trails. I am loving that I can run on the Indy canal after work. I like the environment of others biking and running in Indy. I could live there. So this has really been a year of change for me. A great stress has been lifted from my shoulders since I started a new chapter of my work life.

It is going to be another good weekend of running the Geist half marathon. I plan to run an easy pace with a friend and just enjoy running.

Mini Marathon

This past Saturday I ran in my first ever Mini Marathon. I was looking forward to this race all week and had a goal of beating my time from the IU Mini. Since the Mini course was way flatter than the IU mini course, I knew I would beat my previous time. I really wanted to maintain an 8 minute pace to come in around 1:45, but I lost some steam running around the track (which was kind of boring and long). I also think I started out too fast running a 7:17 pace up until the Yard of Bricks. I was feeling great until mile 11 and then my legs started to feel like Jello. But I pushed and finished at 1:48:48. I think I ran too hard because I was really dizzy at the end. It was worth it though. I grabbed tons of post race food and chowed down like a mad man. I continued eating all day! I will definitely do this race next year because of the atmosphere and being around 35,000 people wanting to better their health and reaching their goals.

In the next few months, I will be doing more races and preparing for the RAIN ride (which I have barely trained for). I have a 5K race on Saturday which I am hoping to run a sub 23 time. And then I will be running the Geist Half on May 21st which I do not have a time goal for. I'll probably stay at a 9 minute pace since I am running with a friend. And then I may do something crazy at the end of the month that will test me mentally. Stay tuned.