Mercy Live Up Loop 5-Miler recap

Just because an opportunity presents itself, one does not necessarily need to take the bait.

Case in point, my 5-mile race this past weekend.

It was the weekend of the IMT Des Moines Marathon, and I was registered for the Live Up Loop + Half Marathon Combo. In other words, I would be doing two races, the 5-miler on Saturday and the half marathon on Sunday.

Brrr! It felt chilly in the low-60-degree temps!

I do a lot of 5-mile runs, but I don't often race that distance. In accordance to my marathon training (Route 66 Marathon is happening Nov. 20!), my coach had advised me to run this race "easy," mainly because I also had the half marathon on tap for the next morning (with five additional "bonus " training miles tacked on). None the less, the opportunity was right there in front of me:  an overwhelming temptation to see how fast I could swing these five miles (five miles, after all, is just an itty bitty distance, right?).

So that right there was my struggle. "Hold back" (and save a little something for the next day) vs. "just let go" (and see what happens).

What would you do?

The IMT Des Moines Marathon is now in its 15th year, but this was the inaugural year for the Mercy Live Up Loop. Never one to shy away from a challenge, I was eager to take on the challenge of doing both this 5-mile race as well as the half marathon.

The start line (and finish line as well) were both at Principal Park, near downtown Des Moines. The first mile took us west on Martin Luther King,Jr Parkway, which is pretty flat. After turning left on Fleur (heading south), we made our way towards Gray's Lake Park. Right near the halfway point, the route turns left, rounding the southwest corner of the lake. Next, the route continues east, along the south edge of the lake, eventually merging out of the park on a trail that runs parallel to the Raccoon River. The race route continues on this trail, eventually crossing the river on a bridge...which takes us right back to where we began, right outside of the Principal Park baseball stadium (home of the Iowa Cubs).

Ready for the start line

The first mile didn't seem "fast," mainly because the first mile never seems fast with the crowd of runners who haven't yet spread out. I glanced at my watch as I approached the mile-1 marker and it showed 8:30ish for elapsed time. Major oops. #toofast 

Thankfully, there was a foreign ache to the left of my tailbone (I kid you not), so I tried to ease up a little and (awkwardly) massage the ache briefly as I ran. I'm not very graceful, so the self massage thing certainly made for a slower pace. As I passed the 2-mile mark, my watch showed just under 18 minutes had elapsed...so I had successfully slowed down...some.

We had decent temps (low 60's), but it was damp and windy at times. There also was the threat of rain (and I was not relishing a damp run on an already cool morning).

As I worked my way through the third mile, I kept thinking of previous races and training runs of this distance. Back in my earlier days, maintaining a solid 9-minute pace for five miles was easy-peasy. In recent years, though, my limited speed had suffered a rather lengthy plateau in the wake of intermittent piriformis/hamstring/glute issues (and Plantar Fasciitis may have also played a minor role a couple times). Could I knock out a sub-45 minute finish? A sub-9-minute pace? Granted, this wasn't the day (or race) to do it...but could I?

I walked briefly through the water station, trying to rationalize why I needed to stick with the easy pace (10-10:15), while at the same time trying to ignore the temptation to just let things go and tempt fate a little. As I tossed the cup, I broke back into what felt like an easy pace. Only this easy pace felt really good and I felt really strong...before long, I was (again) running faster than I should have been. My GPS watch is out of commission, so I just had my basic stop watch to monitor my pace at the mile splits.

I have said this many times before : I am not a fast runner. I'm (maybe) slightly faster than "average" (on a good day), but I do not consider myself a sprinter in the least. But I am tall, with long legs (and big feet). Trying to make myself run "slower" than what seems natural feels just as awkward as trying to run faster than my ability allows. Trying to hold back (and slow down) was really a struggle that morning, especially when I was so close to the finish line.  

Finally, somewhere in the fourth mile, I gave up and just let my legs do their thing. It was taking more energy to "go slow" and it was driving me (slightly) crazy. I was not in an all-out sprint, but I no longer held anything back. I don't know what my exact last mile split was, but I made it across the finish line in 45:08.  Had I not walked briefly through the two water stations, I would have nailed the sub-45 finish (and sub-9 pace). Still, I couldn't help but feel a little satisfied with my efforts.

But let me step back for a moment. 

Although I felt a bit badass being able to pull off a decent finish time in the final half of the race, I also felt a bit sheepish in running this "easy" race faster than intended (and prescribed). I also knew I had to confess what went down. Full disclosure, and all that.

Coach Suz shook her virtual finger at me (and, it certainly was warranted). I feared there would be burpees as punishment...(spoiler alert : no burpees).

Although the race was a success in terms of proving to myself I still have a bit of "get-up-and-go" in me, I had to acknowledge that I had strayed from my 26.2 plan. After all, I have not spent the past few months training for this 5-miler. Instead, I have a much bigger prize on the horizon come Route 66 race day. In terms of this race being a successful "easy" training run, I'm afraid it was a fail.

Thankfully, my body felt great post-race. I had plenty of time to stretch out (in the baseball stadium). How often does one get that opportunity?

Unique to all of these events with the IMT Des Moines Marathon are the various swag that accompany each of the events. The marathoners (and half marathoners and marathon relay team members) receive nice 1/4-zip jackets (in different colors, depending on the event). The 5K participants receive colorful stocking hats. And, the 5-milers received stadium blankets! Also, all event participants receive medals with different ribbons designating their specific event.

Upon leaving the stadium, I grabbed a printout of my stats...and was taken aback to see I had placed 5th in my age group (there were 35 of us "old gals")! It turns out I had finished 58th out of the 337 females, and 146th overall (out of the 535 participants). Things that make you go, "hmmmmm...."

Stay tuned, the Half Marathon recap is coming soon (and things played out much smoother for that race)!



Have you ever ran a race that seemed somewhat effortless? How do you feel about challenges that involve multiple races in the same weekend? Ever been to Des Moines?

I am linking this with Deb for the Wednesday Word....this week's word? Opportunist. Touche.' I'm also linking with Susie and Debbie and Rachel and Lora for the Running Coaches' Corner linkup. I invite you to check out all the hostesses, their awesome blogs, and all the linked blogs as well.