Michigan: Shanty to Shorts 2014

Mr. Shoe and I officially checked Michigan off of our list last Saturday with the Shanty to Shorts 5k.  It turned out to be an amazing day for everyone that we ran with and we enjoyed the post race celebration at Short's.

The race did not start until 10:00 AM so that left us with plenty of time to sleep in, drop a car off at the finish of the point-to-point race, and pick up our packets.  Actually Mr. Shoe and his father took care of the car and packets while I leisurely ate breakfast.  I am spoiled.

Tech shirts were new for 2014!

We got to the start of the race with plenty of time to spare.  I did an easy run for a few minutes then a couple of short sprints to get my legs warmed up.  After a bit of stretching it was time to line up.  The race director made a few announcements about the course and let us know that we were two minutes away from starting.  The next thing I knew the race had started and I was scrambling to get my watch going!

I started towards the front of the line up, but during the first mile I watched a dozen or people pull away from me.  I completely lost sight of our friend, Justin.  He was flying down the course! The first mile felt pretty easy and my time was around 6:30, a bit faster than my goal.  I tried to just settle into that pace and focus on not letting the runners around me get too far away from me.

Mr. Shoe, me, Devon, Justin

Around the 2-mile point the course had leveled out and two women caught up to me.  I knew I wasn't leading the race, but I didn't want any more women to get ahead of me!  I was quite relieved that when I saw their red bibs and realized they were running the 10k! I managed to keep up with them until the 10k course split from the 5k.

The last half mile was a bit rough.  The course turned to the left and into a head wind.  I could see the finish line and was trying to make out the clock, but I couldn't.  I completely failed to realize that I was wearing a watch. I just tried to push as hard as I could; I don't think my final kick was all that strong though.  I crossed the line at 22:13, just a bit off my goal of 22 minutes. It's a solid new PR though, so no complaints here!

Celebrating our finish with Short's Anniversary Ale

I met up with Justin who had also set a new PR! We didn't have much time to celebrate because it turned out that Mr. Shoe was basically right behind me!  He was the third PR of the day at 23:17, taking 5 full minutes off of his previous best!  I am so proud of him!  We had a few minutes to stretch and grab some bagels before we started looking for Devon, who was running his first 5k.  It's a good thing we started looking when we did because he surprised us all by finishing in under 28 minutes which was, of course, yet another PR for our group.  Four runners and four PRs, you can't beat that!

And then it turned out that we could beat that!  Justin was the second person to finish the race and, since the first finisher was actually in the master's class, he was the first "normal" finisher! He also told me that I was the first woman to finish, but I didn't believe him. I continued not believing him right up until I saw the results posted.  Yep, I was the top women's finisher! I could not believe it!

Up-cycled running shoe trophies for the top finishers

I think it is safe to say the Mr. Shoe and I will definitely be back at this race next year! Who knows, maybe we'll even be able to both set PRs for the third consecutive year on this course!

S2S Prerace

I am getting very excited for my upcoming race this weekend! Mr. Shoe and I ran this race last year and had a great time.  It was Mr. Shoe's first race ever! This year it will be his cousin's first race ever, which I find extra exciting since I want everyone to love running as much as I do! We will also be joined by one more friend and the original Mr. and Mrs. Shoe (Mr. Shoe's parents!).

The race starts at Shanty Creek ski resort and runs down to Short's Brewing Co., hence the name, Shanty to Shorts.  Oh and I literally mean you run down to the brewery.  The first 1.8 miles is all downhill before the course levels out for the last 1.3 miles.

Last year this downhill let me set an amazing PR. I was hoping to finish under 25 minutes.  Instead I took 28:51 all the way down to 22:59. Most of this PR was due to the fact that I had greatly increased my training and mileage.  However, throughout last year's races, I was never able to come close to the 23 minute mark again.  The mid-24s was about the closest that I got.  So that extra minute and a half that I shaved off my time I completely credit to the downhill.

The other thing that I love about this course is the finish.  It finishes at an amazing brewery.  The awards ceremony is held in the brewery and your race bib will save you a dollar on your first beer, and the beer is excellent.  I am looking forward to this part of the day almost as much as the race!

Does anyone else like to celebrate with a post race beer? I will also be taking recommendations for out of state races that end at breweries.  You know, for the 50 states running list...definitely not for my side project The Shoes Drink 50. 

A change in focus

With the Glass City Half Marathon behind me, it is time to shift my focus from distance races to improving my 5k time.  Mr. Shoe and I have two 5k races coming up, one on May 10 and one on June 14.  My 5k time has improved quite a bit over the past couple of years, but this is the first time that I am actually following a training plan with that specific goal.

I am following a modified version of Hal Higdon's Advanced 5k training plan.  This plan has a lot more speed work than I am used to.  I have been alternating between tempo runs one week and intervals the next week, but this plan calls for intervals every Tuesday and tempo runs every Thursday.  It will be interesting to see how that goes.  I am looking forward to having less structured long runs, running for time instead of distance.  I think I am going to use that as an opportunity to get off the pavement and hit the trails.   I'm excited to see how this training plan works for me, hopefully I see some awesome results!

Mr. Shoe is also looking to beat his 5k PR (28:17).  I am very confident that he is going to completely smash this time.  Last summer, before his injury, we did a number of 5k training runs together that were in the 25 minute range.  A few weeks ago he did a test run and finished in 24:57.  The fact that his PR hasn't been broken already really comes down to the fact that he only did 3 races last year.  Two at the very beginning of the season and the race in Hawaii after being sidelined by his injury for a few months.

Unfortunately this week has not been an ideal week for training.  I was planning on taking Monday and Tuesday as rest days, but ended up taking Wednesday as well since I was still feeling pretty miserable from my allergies.  Mr. Shoe took an extra rest day early in the week, thinking he would be able to make it up later in the week, only for him to end up feeling too sick too run as well.  We both managed to run on Friday and Sunday, so hopefully the next week goes as planned and we can get to the starting line feeling confident and prepared.

How do you get back on track after a poor week of training? Do you try to make up any missed workouts or do you just skip it and move on?