A Little Predicament

My next race is now less than 5 days away.    It’s actually the very first race I ran and one of my favorite races- the HOB Fun Run.  Also a little nerve wracking because it’s one race where I see a lot of people I know.   Performance anxiety!!  This will be my fifth year running it.   The first 3 years I ran the 5k and last year I was a little crazy.   I ran the 10k… and then the 5k.  The 10k was a PR (55:57) at the time and the 5k was run with C and her husband.

Throwback to my very first race
Throwback to my very first race

Originally my plan was to warm up for a mile, run the 10k, run the 5k.  That would bring me to 10 miles and I was going to treat that as the last double digit run before the City to the Sea half.   This year with my lovely GI issues (and no City to the Sea), I am torn on what to run.   I want to be just as crazy as I was last year.  Question is can I reign myself in, take it easy and still have fun?  The way I see it I have three options-

A- Run the 10k-easy, spectate the 5k
B- Skip the 10k, run the 5k-moderatly
C- Run both and practice pacing and breathing

Thing is, the 10k has an unofficial time limit of 1:15:00.   Both races have a loop course, the 5k is one loop and the 10k is two loops.    The 5k starts at 9:15 and the 10k at 8:00.   If I take it easy on the 10k, I am hoping that would be around 1:01-1:03 ish.   Which would give me 10 minutes to stretch and hydrate.   I know I can finish the miles, the question is how well and will it be fun.   I have friends running the 5k as well.  If I run with C and her husband, it’ll be around a 30 minute 5k- last year was 30:22- assuming I can stay with them.  I also have one friend running a little slower than that, and a couple more that will be run/ walking with a stroller.  So I have plenty of people to run the 5k with no matter the pace.

Mom and I between races last year
Mom and I between races last year

I am working the late registration/ packet pick up table on Saturday so I have until then to decide.   So help me out!

What are your thoughts?

Ever run a race 5 years in a row?

Ever run back to back races?

13 thoughts on “A Little Predicament”

  1. I haven’t even been running so I definitely haven’t run anything 5 years in a row! LOL

    I know I wouldn’t be able to run back to back races, but if you think you can swing it without pushing yourself too hard, I say why not? You still have time to think about it.

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    1. Yeah, I was surprised when I realized that this was number 5, I didn’t think I had been running that long.
      I have one more run this week and I will see how I feel after that. It does help that I can register so late. 🙂

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  3. I’m doing a 5k/10k combo this Saturday and was just thinking about it. The 5k is at 8, the 10k at 9 and it’s a downhill course. It sounds like you could do the 5k as a fun run and push the 10k if that was what you felt like doing? I’m thinking I’ll go for time on the 5k then do the 10k at my marathon pace per my weekly training plan.

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    1. Oh, downhill sounds nice. This course is flat so that’s not bad at all though. I am hoping to race the 10K, and have fun at the 5k. That is what I would prefer but we’ll see what happens. Good luck with your races!

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  4. Hmmmm I’m a one race at a time fella. But if you are torn I say view the day as one big long run. Race the 10k and I would do the 5K at easy pace. But whatever you decide I’m sure it’ll be awesome sauce!! 🙂

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  5. I signed up for back-to-back races (one was at 9:30 and the second was at 2, in different cities) but ended up not running them because I was sidelined with injury. The one time I did 2 races in a weekend was pretty rough, but you’ve been training more than I was at that point, so you’d probably fare much better than I did! Honestly, just thinking about running a 10K and then a 5K right after makes me exhausted! 🙂 But if you do it, major props!!

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    1. I was ok last year but I was also healthier. I do admit that both make me a little nervous right now. I have to decide by Saturday and i just found out that the friend with the stroller isn’t going to run the 5k anymore. 😦

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