March 2019 Monthly Running Challenge

The Hot Dash is a 5K/10 Mile race put on by the organizers of the Twin Cities Marathon. Last year my very first race ever was a 5K on the Fourth of July put on by the same group in a partially overlapping location, just north of downtown Minneapolis along the river. I ran a couple more 5Ks last year but decided that it wasn’t my favorite distance and started focusing on the 10K and half marathon. However, since my time on that first 5K was fairly close to a half an hour, I had beating that as a back-pocket goal.


Course map

I initially signed up for the 10 mile race, but after not running most of February decided to downgrade to the the 5K. Given how slow I’ve been running all winter what with the snow and ice and low mileage and all, I wasn’t really thinking about a PR until my lake run last week when I managed a 10’20” pace for about the same distance.

I probably should have taken it easy on Friday but instead I went to the gym, ran home (my first run in the Ghost 11s and it went perfectly smoothly), got a massage, then went out for dinner and drinks with my husband.

I woke up yesterday around 6:30 a little hung-over dehydrated but excited. I drank some water and coffee but didn’t end up having anything to eat. We’d decided to bus to the race, which went very smoothly - the bus picks up in front of the offices one house down from us, and dropped us off about a half mile from the starting area. Another runner got on a couple of stops after us and we chatted with him a little bit on the ride.

We got to packet pickup in plenty of time, had a little bit of a wait, then I went to line up at 8:30. I'm not good at estimating crowds but it turns out there were over 2K people running the 5K. TCM events are generally well organized, at least in my limited experience, so everything went pretty smoothly even with that many people.

The weather was chilly but sunny, around 30 degrees. I’d worn sweats and a jacket on the bus and raced in capris with shorts underneath, my Captain Marvel racerback, and sleeves. I went back and forth on wearing my windbreaker but ended up keeping it on until the race started.

I started at the 9:30 flag and my husband went to the start to get a video. I’d meant to run a bit of a warm-up but just bounced around a bit, and then we were off. I took of my windbreaker just before we started and never did put it back on. I should have thrown it at Chris but it didn’t occur to me. It can be windy along the river but I don’t recall any wind at all. My hands and feet were chilly at first but warmed up eventually, and my butt never got cold enough to be that uncomfortable.

I stuck with the crowd at the beginning. The first mile seemed to take forever, but I felt good, and my pace was surprisingly fast - 8’44”, which I somehow didn’t realize was a PR until I checked my spreadsheet later. I read an article a while ago about a study suggesting that non-elite runners trying to get good personal times in the 5K have better luck going out fast rather than trying for negative splits because it’s a short enough race that you risk leaving too much in the tank at the start and not having time to make up the difference. After one experiment with that strategy, I’d say there’s something to it.

Starting fast meant I lost speed over miles two and three, which meant I was passed by a lot more people than I passed. Occasionally it felt like I was running backwards, but I channeled my inner Captain Marvel and didn’t let it get to me. And my shirt got me a shout-out from a race volunteer, so that was fun.

Mile two was a bit more of an effort but not miserable. Mile three I was breathing pretty hard and had a couple moments of concern, but by then I was pretty sure I’d break 30 minutes if nothing catastrophic happened, so that kept me moving. There was a bit of an incline towards the end, but I pushed through it and sprinted on the convenient downhill to the end.


Zoom zoom!


Bling! We also got a long-sleeve shirt which I did not get a photo of.


That's officially a PR!

I met up with Chris at the finish line and we decided to walk to a restaurant nearby for brunch. This meant I missed the free beer, hot dish, and meat raffle at the race festival, but so it goes. To be honest, I like those things more in theory than in practice, especially at 9:15 on a Saturday morning. Instead I had cornflake-crusted french toast and rum punch, and it was perfectly lovely. I've felt self-conscious about spending time in public after running, but in this case the weather was cool enough that I recovered pretty quickly, and was able to change out of my sweaty gear in the restroom bathroom into the race shirt and sweatpants. Next time I need to remember to bring a clean bra, however.

After brunch I bussed home for a bath and nap while Chris stayed downtown to watch a movie. A day later my hammies are still pretty grumpy at me, but so it goes. I’m pretty excited with my PR and am looking forward to seeing what I can do with my 10K time once I’ve rebuilt my base and started training for earnest.

I got some pictures of the course on the walk back to the bus stop - it was mid-40s by then and really a lovely day. I almost (but not quite) felt bad spending most of the afternoon indoors!





I talked to my sister on the phone and it sounds like we are go for our Seattle trip for the Beat the Blerch races - my brother-in-law will probably run the half with me (or several miles ahead of me, more likely) and my sister decided to start running again so she can do the 10K. She wants Chris to sign up for the 5K but I think he's more likely to volunteer to eat hand out cake. Either way, it should be a lot of fun.

3/1 Fr - Strength class
3/2 Sa - Shoveled
3/3 Su - Rest
3/4 Mo - Strength class, ran/walked 1.86 miles
3/5 Tu - Rest
3/6 We - Strength class, ran/walked 1.66 miles
3/7 Th - Rest
3/8 Fr - Strength class, ran 3.14 miles
3/9 Sa - Shoveled
3/10 Su - Rest
3/11 Mo - Shoveled
3/12 Tu - Strength class, ran/walked 2.35 miles
3/13 We - Shoveled
3/14 Th - Strength class, ran/walked 2.09 miles
3/15 Fr - Rest
3/16 Sa - Ran 3.64 miles
3/17 Su - Rest
3/18 Mo - Strength class, ran 3.07 miles
3/19 Tu - Rest
3/20 We - Strength class, hamstring cramp
3/21 Th - Ran 3.59 miles
3/22 Fr - Strength class, ran 1.73 miles
3/23 Sa - Hot Dash 5K, chip time 0:28:39

March Mileage: 26.33/35

2019 Races! (bold registered)
January 26: Securian 10K, St. Paul, MN Chip time: 1:05:07
February 16: Half Fast 10K DNS
March 23: Hot Dash 5K, Mpls, MN Chip time: 0:28:39 (*PR!)
April: Local 10K?
May 19: Women Run the Cities 10K, Mpls, MN
June 12: ESTRS French 5K, Plymouth, MN
June 29 Lift Bridge 10Mi, Bayport MN
July 27: St. Croix Crossing Half, Houlton, WI to Stillwater, MN OR
August 4: Beat the Blerch Half Marathon, Carnation, WA
September 2: MDRA Victory Labor Day 5K, MPLS, MN
September 8: Sioux Falls Half Marathon, Sioux Falls, SD
October 5: TCM 10K OR
October 6: TCM 10Mi, St. Paul, MN
October 12: Bemidji Blue Ox 26K, Bemidji, MN
November 28: Turkey Trot St. Paul 10K, St. Paul, MN
December 14: Reindeer Run 10K, MPLS, MN