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WDF 5k
Great weather for the WDF 5k in Dryden. A fun and flat run in beautiful scenery!!
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I ran the Cayuga Heights Elementary School 5K last weekend for my first Lakefront Loops attempt. This race is timed by FLRC for the Cayuga Heights PTA, and it is a fundraiser for the school. I like a leisurely group run with stops for photos and snacks probably more than most people, but this was not a leisurely run.
When I ran Seneca 7 a few weeks ago, I had three relay legs: 3.2 miles, 2.7 miles, and 5+ miles. I was also wearing new Brooks Hyperion sneakers, and these sneakers have a lot of go. I’ve been lifting weights twice per week since January and doing Pilates regularly, and I’ve not been injured or had some time-sucking life challenge. Knock on wood. During my first two legs at Seneca 7, I had to keep making myself slow down, to save energy for the last leg. The wind was blowing strong at my back, and I felt free and alive. I eventually gave up making myself slow down, but I didn’t push harder than what felt fun. The last leg was a flowy downhill to run along the deep blue of Seneca Lake, and I was pushing but also holding back… I was scared of the last mile, which was a gradual uphill to the finish. But then I put down every last thought in my head, and ran that last mile as fast as I could to my friend Megan, who grabbed the slap bracelet off me and started her relay leg before I could even remember my name.
So after that… the question was… what if I raced a 5K without expecting to run 8 more miles that day? Right now, while I’m in the best shape ever since the slipped disc of 2020 that led to the operation of 2021 that I’ve been recovering from. So, I raced in the Cayuga Heights Elementary School 5K. And, what a 5K! Perfect running weather — low 50s and misty. Paved roads without traffic. Almost all the uphill in the first half mile when the energy of the kids carried me and then a gradual descent.
I ran and felt fantastic. I was working and pushing in a determined and steady effort. I flew through a cloud of bubbles put out by the bubble machine at the water stop, and when I got to the finish line, I was smiling. Adam (my husband and head timer) grabbed me in a hug. I hugged him back, and then I’m like “quick, quick, scan my bib.” And he did. My time — still 2 minutes slower than pre-slipped disc. But also, about 2 minutes faster than my last paved 5K.
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Today was such a lovely day for a race 
This was my first 5k race I’ve done in I’m not sure how long
But the Women’s Distance Festival gave me that little push to maybe try and get a bit faster
but that feeling will probably pass 
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Dior and I ran Lakefront Loops on the way home from dropping the car at Taber St Auto. We saw the Cornell crew team practicing and then got caught in a thunderstorm!
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I had to drop Jamie off at work this morning so figured I’d continue on to the dog park to charge Wilbur and run a couple Lakefront Loops. I noticed the dark clouds right away and then the thunder and lightening started. I made it about 2 miles before the downpour hit. Getting wet was fine but the massive thunder and lighting directly overhead was a bit scary. By the time I finished the first loop, the rain was already letting up and the lightening was no longer a threat, so I just kept running instead of taking shelter. Nice to pass @gillian-haines-sharp on my first loop, before we were soaking wet.
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I had a morning appointment on the west side of Ithaca and was able to get a 5K in before it. I was running on tired legs as I had run the night before, but I’m trying to get some miles in while it’s dry.
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Despite 4 years doing the Challenge and 2 with the 5k course, I don’t think I had ever run this exact loop before! It is similar to - not quite the same as - some of the races in Cass Park.
I made it to the course this evening just as the rain cleared up. It was incredibly lush and green, but almost eerily quiet - I saw at most three other people and only crossed paths with 1.
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I packed my running gear to run either the Town & Gown or Cornell Trail course on Thursday, but I wasn’t feeling it. This morning I decided to hit Lakefront Loops on my way to work.
My hip has been bothering me this week. I woke up sore one morning earlier this week. About halfway through the run, my hip started hurting. I kept running; it didn’t get worse.
It continued to bug me throughout the day, so I have decided not to run the May Day 5K in Tburg tomorrow. I’m bummed because my son wants to run it.
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My 8yr old daughter decided she wanted to run the Belle Sherman 5K (rather than the 1-mile fun run) and she pushed it the whole way!
I was so proud of her for setting a goal and smashing it! She was also the first girl for her age!
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I ran in the World Caring Day 5K at Northeast Elementary and Dewitt Middle School this morning. It was a humid morning but fortunately the rain had stopped earlier! This was a fun race, it was great to see so many kids I knew in the 5K and mile fun run. I ran it in 25:14, which was good enough for first in my age group!
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After Black Diamond, Dior and I headed over to Lakefront Loops, the final course of the Tarmac Challenge. @ruth-sproul who had biked out to cheer me on at Black Diamond also biked Lakefront Loops with me. It was super nice again to have the company as my day was catching up with me. Apart from the bad air quality from the Canadian fires, the weather got better and better through the day. I was very grateful that it wasn’t too hot.
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I ran the World Caring Day 5K yesterday, along with @Marie_Donnelly, who already posted here about her run. Starting at Northeast Elementary School and raising money for the school, this $12 race delivered enthusiastic kid runners, cheerful adult runners, and a pleasant “flat” course.
The course, which has nothing that an Ithaca runner would call a “hill,” started with a mile on the flat or slight downhill, continued with what seemed like over a mile of slight uphill, then a short, slight downhill to a quarter mile of flat, but then you round a corner and run up what feels like a real hill (it’s not) to turn right into the flat bus circle and finish.
I enjoyed running a fairly even effort and thus passing dozens of runners over the course of the race. I ran about a minute slower than the Cayuga Heights race, but I wasn’t trying to prove anything and it was humid. Still my time was in the low 26 minutes, which at my age I’ll take happily, and they had coffee, chocolate chip cookies, bananas, and other treats at the finish line.
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I’m traveling around New England this week running a half marathon in 6 days in 6 different states. The running company allows folks to “double down” and run a second race of a shorter distance after your first. I “doubled down” and ran (more like walked!) a 5K after I finished my half.
Results are live and still in flux until later today.
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Did the Lakefront run and came across a big beautiful turtle in the middle of the road. Worried about him being run over so picked him up and moved him into the grass.
The biggest turtle I’ve ever seen
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Last year’s purple FLRC Challenge shirts were abound at the Twilight 5k. Last week I asked my kids if they were interested in running the 5k with me and having pizza and watermelon after. Both said “No Dad, we want you to push us fast in the stroller!” Okay then, time to dust off the double Bob and warm up my arm muscles for our first stroller run since the CRC 5k in October.
I’d inexplicably lost my voice since Sunday afternoon but felt fine otherwise. I could still run as long as I didn’t try to talk much while doing it. My legs were also a little beat from running last year’s Rabbit Run course earlier today. It made the crushed gravel section that much hard to keep a decent pace while my son Joel heckled me about moving too slowly. I was surprised afterward when I looked up my 2024 Twilight stroller time to find this year was 4 seconds faster, although far off my stroller 5k PR.
After the race the kids ate as if they’d just run the 3.1 miles themselves and then crashed hard when we got home. I guess their 5-year-old minds understand what it means to live vicariously through Dad’s endurance sport exploits. Thank you FLRC for the eventful evening!
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Like many other Challengers I ran the Twilight 5k. My main goal was to break 17, but I also wanted to try to keep up with some of the fast guys.
Two leaders went out hard at the start and I let them go because they were running too fast for me. I ended up in a chase pack with Tuesday night training partners Lucas and Tyler. According to my watch I hit 1 mile in 5:20. That’s a few seconds faster than I was planning on going but I felt good. It looked like were in a 3-man battle for the final podium spot.
In mile 2 we caught one of the initial top 2 who had started to fade. Now our race for 3rd was a race for 2nd. I came through mile 2 in 5:25 still feeling good.
The battle raged on through the 3rd mile. Lucas led most of this mile and it felt like he was speeding up. I usually have extra gears at the end of a 5k so I told myself that I just needed to hang on until it was time to make a move. I did hang on, and just before the 3 mile sign (mile 3 in 5:21) I accelerated past Lucas and crossed the finish line in 2nd place. 16:30.
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