When I look back at another year of running and racing, qualifying for Boston (in 2017) at the Twin Cities Marathon stands out as one of the biggest highlights. However, when I look beyond that, I realize that I had a successful year all around. I broke 1:40 for a new half marathon PR at the Glass City Half Marathon in April. I knew I hadn’t lived up to my potential in the 10K, so I followed a 10K-specific workout plan for the first time. That led to a PR at the Mackinac Island Lilac Festival 10K in early June, which was followed by a bigger improvement a couple weeks later at the Corporate Cup 10K. I only ended up doing two triathlons this summer, but they were good ones. July’s Olympic-distance triathlon in Caseville was my second time racing the distance, and I improved my time by 12 minutes. It was definitely a solid year of racing!

A collection of t-shirts from this year’s races.

A couple weeks before the end of the year I realized I was awfully close to running 1,600 miles for the year. Since I like even numbers, I decided it would be a nice goal to hit. That’s about 250 more miles than my previous highest year.

Stats for the year. I spent a lot of time running!

Here are some other numbers:

• I biked 1,370 miles
• I swam a little over 32 miles
• I did 12 races:  five 5Ks, two 10Ks, one 10-mile, one half marathon, one full marathon, one sprint triathlon, and one Olympic triathlon

Even though 2015 was a great year, there’s always something new to strive for. As soon as I finished the Twin Cities Marathon, I was anxious to run another marathon. I was thrilled that I got my BQ, but I also felt like there was room for improvement. I trained for a 3:30 marathon and ran 3:34. I was on track until I fell apart the last few miles. My main goal for 2016 is to see if I can “figure out” the marathon and work out some of the kinks. It may be a matter of fueling better, training for the fatigue of the last few miles, or a combination of both. I’ve toyed with the idea of following the Hansons Marathon Method for years, and I think I’ll finally give it a try. Their concept of “cumulative fatigue” should prepare me for the later miles of the race. I’ve used their speed and strength workouts during training, but have always mixed them into another training plan rather than following their whole plan. I’m curious to see if it will help.

Marathon #3 will be Bayshore Marathon in Traverse City at the end of May. I ran the half marathon in 2012 so I know that it’s a beautiful race. Rather than concentrating on a time goal, my biggest hope is to finish strong. If I can do that, of course my time should improve as well. I’ve trained through the winter for half marathons, but never for a full marathon. Getting that many miles in during the winter should be interesting!

I love running the most, but I keep saying that I want to do more triathlons too. Bayshore is going to be my priority for the first half of the year, then I’ll take it from there. I probably won’t be biking or swimming much (or at all) until after the marathon. That doesn’t leave much time to build up a base in those areas for summer races. Based on past experience, marathons wreck my left IT band and it can take some time to get back to running pain-free. Hopefully I can start to build up in June and get to some tris in July and August. It’s a bit overwhelming to think that far ahead right now, so running a solid race at Bayshore is my primary goal.

I’m hoping 2016 is as good or even better than 2015!

– Janet

Follow me on Twitter @reidphotography
Follow me on Instagram @janetboltz

Matt and I went to Grand Blanc, MI to run the Chocolate 5K on Saturday, November 21st…the day when we happened to get the first major snow storm of the season. Perfect timing. I typically wait until the last second to sign up for races this time of year. It was still in the 60s and beautiful outside when I decided to register before the price jumped. Snow was not on my radar at that point and I was tempted by the cool shirt and promise of chocolate. I was harshly reminded how quickly the weather can change in Michigan. Honestly, it’s a good thing that I committed early. Had we waited until the last minute, we probably wouldn’t have gone and we would have missed out on a fun morning.

We ran this race in 2012 and knew we could expect a good time. You really can’t beat it – $20 for a long sleeve tech shirt, a flat course, and a ton of chocolate goodies after the race. I’d pay $20 for the shirt alone! I was especially happy when I found out they were high-quality New Balance shirts.

How cool is this Wonka-esque shirt?

We’d heard all the hype about snow coming, so I was relieved that I didn’t see any when I woke up the morning of the race. It had started to accumulate a little on the grass by the time we left home though.

Grand Blanc High School is a great location for the race. It has a huge parking lot, large bathrooms, and plenty of space for people to stay warm beforehand.

It was snowing pretty steadily when it was time for the race to start, but we were lucky that it wasn’t sticking to the streets.

One positive is that the streets were just wet.

The race had 450 runners and around 120 walkers, so it was a pretty decent crowd. There was a gun start and chip finish. Though I was close to the front, maybe I should have moved up a little more. I got boxed in at times early on and did a bit of weaving to get around people, but things spread out soon enough. We ran on one of the main roads to start then spent the majority of the race running through a neighborhood.

I’m basically in maintenance mode at this point of the year and not doing much structured speed training, so I wasn’t looking to “race” this one. I wasn’t too excited to have snow blowing in my face and really didn’t care what my time was, but still tried to put in some decent effort. I kept telling myself that it was all worth it for the shirt and the chocolate fountain waiting at the end.

My official time was 23:23, which is almost two minutes off of my PR.

My splits.

Matt and I didn’t linger at the finish line – we headed back to the school immediately. We had to walk for several minutes and cross a main road to get back to the school. We were anxious to get inside where it was warm and get to the chocolate!

You can see the snow blowing in front of Matt as it started to accumulate.

The post-race goodies were set up in a gym, and we had hustled back fast enough to avoid the crowd. There were several stations set up.

Melted fudge for dipping marshmallows, pretzels, and Nilla Wafers.

An assortment of candy.

The chocolate fountain with strawberries, potato chips, pretzels, animal crackers, and candy canes for dipping.

We sat on the floor to enjoy our treats as the crowd began to grow.

At some point there was an announcement that people could collect their awards, so we headed out to the lobby to see how we had placed. Matt had missed third in his age group by less than a second, and I was surprised to see my name at the top of my age group. I love that this race lets you collect the awards when you’re ready rather than waiting through a long ceremony. When I told the volunteers how I had placed, they gave me a couple treats.

Fudge, salt water taffy, and a chocolate turkey. I’ll take that kind of prize over a medal or plaque any day!

Knowing that the snow wasn’t stopping and that we had a 40-mile drive home, we headed out as soon as I got my award. Good thing we did, because the road conditions were starting to get iffy. We didn’t go much faster than 50-something on the highway and saw several cars in the ditch. Luckily, we made it home safely.

As we drove through our neighborhood, I loved how beautiful the snow-covered trees looked. I had to take a quick walk down to the Paint Creek Trail to scope it out.

It’s hard to believe that it was 60 degrees a few days earlier.

I was thankful that we didn’t have any other plans for the day, so we settled in and stayed warm while 12+ inches of snow piled up throughout the day.

Although the weather tends to be questionable for this race most years, it’s definitely a good one and I’m glad we did it.

– Janet

Follow me on Twitter @reidphotography

Matt and I enjoy supporting the Oakland University volleyball team, so when we saw that they were going to play at Cleveland State University on a Saturday, it sparked the idea of taking a weekend road trip. I was curious if I could find any good races in Ohio the day after the game. The one that stood out the most was the GALlop for Children 5K at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. The race was only $20 and included a long sleeve tech shirt and admission to the zoo. It also benefited a good cause – the Guardian ad Litem (GAL) Project. GALs for the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court are appointed to represent the best interests of children involved in abuse, neglect, and a variety of other situations. We thought it would be nice to support the cause and visit a zoo we’d never been to.

Posing by the flamingos before the race.

The race took place on Sunday, November 8th, and it was a beautiful, crisp morning. The parking lot wasn’t very full when we got there 45 minutes before the start. I had looked for info about the race and it didn’t look like a huge event – a little over 100 people had run last year. I couldn’t find any info about the race route though. Matt and I have run two races at zoos. The Cheetah Chase at Battle Creek’s Binder Park Zoo took us through part of the zoo, while Run Wild for the Detroit Zoo took us through the neighborhoods outside the zoo. After checking in, I asked a volunteer where the race started. I was excited to find out that we would actually run through the zoo.

The pavilion was used for packet pickup, post-race snacks, and awards.

The race’s tech shirt.

A closer look at the logo on the shirt.

We lingered near the start and found out that the half-mile kids’ run started first. A small group ran a quarter mile down the path and back. When everyone returned, the 5K runners were gathered and taken a short way down the path for the start.  A rock at the side seemed to mark the starting line. Our bibs didn’t have timing chips, so Matt and I lined up at the front.

Where the race started.

A golf cart led the runners, and soon enough it was out of my view and I just followed the people in front of me. We hit a gradual hill fairly early and a more significant hill came a bit after that. I saw a few interesting birds and a horse-like animal, but didn’t see as many animals as I had hoped while running. Although the uphill portions slowed me down, a long downhill stretch had me flying enough to make up for it. We came back around to the start for another loop, but luckily the route was a little different and we didn’t have to climb the bigger hill a second time. We didn’t get the major downhill stretch either, but still had a nice downhill segment leading to the finish.

I treated this run as a fun run with some effort rather than an all-out race. I ended up with a nice negative split, finishing around 30-40 seconds slower than my PR. I was pleasantly surprised by that, and I was also a little bit faster than the 5K we ran at GVSU a couple weeks earlier. I think the downhills must have really helped my time.

Our route through the zoo.

My splits. I was happy that I sped up as I went.

I was able to catch a photo of Matt as he finished.

They had told us at the start of the race that cookies would be waiting at the end, and they weren’t kidding. I had no idea how awesome the post-race spread would be. They had bottles of water, hot chocolate, coffee, apples, bananas…and cookies galore! They had over 20 varieties of homemade cookies and I was in heaven.

Just a few of the many post-race cookies.

Nearly an hour and a half after the start of the race, they finally got around to awards. Matt was second in his age group and I was third in mine, so we each received something.

Matt with his award.

A closer look at my award.

Next, we took advantage of our admission to the zoo and walked around for a couple hours. Some areas were closed and we didn’t even try to get to everything, but we saw some fun stuff.

A beautiful boardwalk.

A beautiful lorikeet.

A sleepy monkey.

A sleepy koala.

An entertaining lion.

Between watching OU’s volleyball team beat Cleveland State, running the 5K, then enjoying the zoo, we had a fun, action-packed weekend.

– Janet
Follow me on Twitter @reidphotography

On Saturday, October 24th, Matt and I made the trek out to Grand Valley State University in Allendale, MI to run the Laker Homecoming 5K. Matt received his bachelor’s degree from GVSU and had been interested in running this race in the past, so we finally made it work. Matt signed up online a few days before the race, but I held off.

It had been three weeks since the Twin Cities Marathon and my recovery status was still a bit questionable. My first few post-marathon runs were not great. I ran a few miles six days after the marathon and felt my hamstring from the start. IT band/knee pain hit after two miles and shut me down shortly after that. IT band issues became a problem for me following my first marathon, so I wasn’t surprised that it happened again after my second marathon. I got a massage and tried running again a couple days later, but the same thing happened. I realized I needed more recovery time and took six more days off. My hamstring didn’t bother me much during runs after that, but knee pain still made it hard to get past three or four miles. I kept doing squats, lunges, and other hip/glute exercises in hopes of shaking the issue, and finally ran five pain-free miles 18 days after the marathon. That run made me feel like I could handle a 5K a couple days later, so I decided to sign up in person the day of the race.

The 10:00 a.m. start made it doable to make the 2.5-hour drive the morning of the race, but it meant leaving home at 6:30. When we got to the campus, we went into the Kelly Family Sports Center for registration/packet pickup. The building features an indoor turf field surrounded by a track. It’s a really nice facility.

Inside the Kelly Family Sports Center.

Posing near the finish line before the start of the race.

The race started in the street outside of the building. With a gun start, Matt and I made sure to start near the front of the crowd of nearly 300 runners.

People gathering near the start.

Matt, me, and another happy dude waiting for the start.

Despite a little wind in spots, we were pretty lucky weather-wise as the rain held off and it was around 60 degrees. The course was almost entirely flat and took us through the campus, which was especially pretty with all of the fall colors.

One of the buildings we saw as we ran through the campus.

We ran by this clock tower during the race too.

I really didn’t know how to pace myself. I knew I shouldn’t run all-out a few weeks following the marathon. It had been two months since I had done any 5K-pace speedwork. I figured I might aim for half marathon pace. That lasted for the first mile as I gradually sped up through the race. Matt and I ran near each other most of the time, and I felt pretty good for the first couple miles. As I pushed the pace, I started to feel it during the last mile. With a little over a quarter mile left, I passed a guy. As I did, I heard him say, “Oh God.” His pace suddenly picked up and he sped off. Apparently he didn’t want to get passed by a girl. If that’s what it took to motivate him to finish strong, I’m glad I could help…I guess.

The race finished with a partial loop around the indoor track. I finished in 22:28, which is about a minute slower than my PR. It’s probably faster than I should have gone, but it seemed to work out just fine. Although I was winded at the end, my hamstring and knee were fine – nothing hurt. Hopefully that means I’m pretty much recovered from the marathon.

After grabbing a bottle of water, I headed to the locker room to shower since we planned to hang out on the campus all day. When I saw the results, I was listed as the ninth female and second in my age group. Age group awards were only given to those who placed first. I didn’t get one of the cotton shirts since I had registered in person, but Matt got one.

“Once Upon a Laker” was the homecoming theme.

We enjoyed the post-race pancake breakfast with a couple of Matt’s friends from college, then hung out with them for a few hours as we hit some spots around campus. It poured for a while, so we were really lucky that it held off during the race. When the rain stopped, I wanted to grab some quick photos in the arboretum. It was absolutely beautiful.

The fall colors looked great despite the dreary day.

A pretty spot in GVSU’s arboretum.

We took in a women’s volleyball game with Matt’s parents and went out to dinner together, then Matt and I drove to our hotel in Grand Haven. With beautiful weather forecasted for the following day, we wanted to check out the fall colors in the area. Here are a few highlights:

Rosy Mound Natural Area in Grand Haven.

One of my favorite photos from the day – Rosy Mound Natural Area.

Hemlock Crossing in West Olive, south of Grand Haven.

Another from Hemlock Crossing.

Between the race, homecoming activities, seeing family/friends, and taking in some fall colors, we had a really nice weekend trip to the west side of the state.

– Janet

Follow me on Twitter @reidphotography

Marathon #2 – the one where I qualified for Boston!

Obviously things went well in Minnesota, but I’ll start at the beginning. Back in March, Matt and I committed to the Twin Cities Marathon – the second marathon for each of us. We’ve been to Minneapolis a number of times and love the city, so it was an easy decision to choose “the most beautiful urban marathon in America.” I followed Hal Higdon’s Advanced 2 training plan for the most part, but substituted his Tuesday workouts with the speed/strength workouts from the Hansons Marathon Method book. When I determined that my goal pace was 8:00 per mile, I realized that would set me up to run a 3:30 marathon. With a Boston-qualifying time of 3:40 for my age group, I knew that getting my BQ was a very realistic possibility, so I made it one of my top goals for the race.

The race took place on Sunday, October 4th, and Matt and I flew from Detroit to Minneapolis/St. Paul on Friday the 2nd. One thing we love about the Twin Cities is the light rail system. We were able to get from the airport to our hotel and everywhere else without renting a car. We stayed at a Hyatt that was two blocks from the starting line and it was definitely ideal for us. There was a discounted rate for marathon participants, the room was quiet, had a big living room area with a fridge, and was only a few blocks away from the light rail system.

Downtown Minneapolis is beautiful.

We took the light rail out to St. Paul for the expo on Friday afternoon. We spent more time there than we had planned because there was so much stuff to look at.

A very nice expo.

I loved the Brooks booth and the cool cotton shirt Matt bought.

Too funny.

On Saturday morning we went for a quick two-mile shake out jog around the city, then took the light rail to the Mall of America. We’ve been to the mall several times and knew that it could be easy to spend half the day there if we weren’t careful. We made sure to target a few specific stores so we wouldn’t be on our feet too long.

Matt with Dora the Explorer at Nickelodeon Universe – the theme park in the middle of the mall.

The mall has a store dedicated to Peeps and every Mike & Ike flavor you can imagine.

We had a big lunch at Noodles and Company, then headed back to the hotel to rest our legs. We weren’t very hungry when dinnertime rolled around, but I knew I should eat something else. I thought a sandwich from Jimmy John’s or Subway might be good, yet every location near our hotel was closed by 6:00! Luckily our hotel had some decent pre-packaged sandwiches to choose from, so Matt and I split one of those and a huge blueberry muffin to get a few more carbs before bed. As expected, I didn’t sleep very well. I woke up pretty much every hour.

We woke up for good around 6:00, and I had a Picky Bar and water for breakfast. Our room’s window overlooked the starting line and the people starting to gather. It was nice that we could stay warm and have access to our own bathroom! With an 8:00 start time, I thought we might be pushing our luck not leaving the room until 7:45. Everything worked out perfectly though. We warmed up by jogging the couple of blocks to our corral. The starting corrals and gear check areas were extremely organized, making it easy for us to pull off our last minute arrival.

This map made it easy to know exactly where to go.

We got into Corral 1 easily and still had time to kill – picture time!

Matt and I at the start.

What a beautiful view.

It was in the low 40s to start, sunny, and there was little wind. We really lucked out! I was comfortable in a t-shirt and shorts, and kept gloves on for the first few miles. I saw the 3:25 and 3:35 pace groups, but didn’t see 3:30. We stood somewhere in between to start. I really wasn’t nervous – I was excited. Matt and I stuck together for the first mile or so, taking in the great sights of downtown – skyscrapers, theaters, concert venues, and the ringing bells of the Basilica of Saint Mary. Congestion wasn’t a problem and I was happy and upbeat. Matt and I had different goals for the race, so we parted ways and wished each other good luck. After a few miles, we reached the chain of lakes. This is definitely where the “most beautiful urban marathon in America” part really comes into play. Captured from Google Maps, here are a couple of photos that show where we got to run.

As if the beautiful scenery wasn’t enough, the crowd support was amazing. I was blown away by how many spectators lined the course. They kept me entertained and distracted. It was fun to look at all of the signs, and a couple stood out as favorites:

“If Donald Trump can make it to the primaries, you can make it to the Capitol.”

“I tried running once. (Picture of Grumpy Cat) It was terrible.”

I usually think that crowd support is nice but not necessary for me to enjoy a race. After this race, I might think differently. That crowd definitely boosted my spirits and made me smile. Whenever I hit stretches without spectators, it gave me time to think…which wasn’t always a good thing! Much of the course was flat, and I rolled along feeling great. Whenever I did hit a hill early on, it was fairly minor and kind of nice to change things up for my leg muscles. I didn’t pay much attention to my watch early in the race. I ran at a pace that felt comfortable and glanced down from time to time to see my splits. I guess I got a good feel for my pace during training, because I naturally ran somewhere between 7:50-8:00 per mile. I wore a hydration belt with water in one bottle and GU Brew in another bottle. I grabbed water at a few stops because I figured my bottles alone wouldn’t get me through the whole race. My Zoot triathlon shorts with side pockets worked great for nutrition storage. I ate five Honey Stinger Energy Chews around miles 5, 10, 15, and 19.

Things were all good for over half of the race. At a certain point, I started to feel the outside of my left knee. I hoped IT band issues wouldn’t become a problem. In addition, I started to feel my left hamstring and both calves. My muscles were definitely working hard. When I crossed the Mississippi River and reached Summit Avenue in St. Paul, that’s when things started to fall apart. I looked at my watch more often, counting down the remaining distance. I kept telling myself things like, “Just a 10K pace run left.” I knew that miles 20-23 would be tough because of a steady climb. I first broke around 21.5 miles after reaching the peak of one hill. I decided it would be best if I took a brief walk break – maybe only 10 seconds or so. I kept trucking along, but had to take another quick walk break after 23 miles. Another came after 25. I still managed to keep my pace in the 8:40s for the most part despite the brief breaks, but it’s clear from my splits that things went bad from 22 miles on. It was a struggle. My hamstrings and calves were wiped out. I wasn’t smiling anymore!

Based on my first marathon, I figured I’d end up running closer to 26.5 rather than 26.2. As much as I try to run the tangents, it can be hard when the streets are so wide and there are people to weave around. I knew that extra bit would add a couple minutes to my time, but I also knew that even if I hit a 9:00 pace for the last couple miles, I’d finish in at least 3:35. With a BQ time of 3:40, I was still on track. Eventually I made it to the final half mile, which was basically all downhill – in a good way! I came up to the 3:35 pacer who encouraged everyone to finish ahead of him. That downhill was a savior. I finished mile 26 in 8:38, but suddenly dropped to a 7:26 pace for the last half mile! Rather than stumbling across the finish line, I felt like I was flying. What a great way to end the race. I think every marathon should end down a hill!

Crossing the finish line!

My official finish time was 3:34:01 – eight minutes faster than my first marathon, and 5:59 under my BQ time! It sunk in and emotions got to me for a second when a volunteer put the medal around my neck. I really did it – I finished my second marathon and did it fast enough to make it to Boston! Here’s how the race played out for me, mile by mile:

I walked around for a few minutes and stretched my hamstrings and calves. After my first marathon, all I could think about was how much I hurt. Despite struggling through the final miles of this race, I actually felt okay when I was done. I drank some Powerade and chocolate milk. I ate a roll, but my mouth didn’t feel great trying to chew it. I also got a bag of potato chips.

The finish area.

After recovering for a few minutes, I had to check my phone to see how Matt was doing. His dad was so supportive and tracked both of us. He had already sent a congratulatory text to me. Matt had struggled with breathing problems and low energy the entire training segment, and his dad told me that Matt had crashed around 20 miles with breathing problems. By that time, he had just passed the 24-mile mark. I kept checking my phone, then got the text from the race tracker saying that he had finished. I rushed back towards the finish line to find him. We hugged and both of us got a bit emotional. He was excited that I had gotten my BQ, and I was excited that he toughed it out and finished the marathon. I knew it had to be a struggle for him, but he did it.

The Capitol building (under construction) in the background.

We collected some refreshments for Matt, then headed to gear check so we could get into some warmer clothes. Next, we picked up our finisher shirts. One fun thing about the Twin Cities Marathon is that they keep their medals and finisher shirts secret so people are surprised on race day. You have to actually finish the race to earn the shirt. I wasn’t thrilled when I saw that the shirt was white. White is not my favorite color since it tends to be see-through. Oh well. I do really like how they cleverly used the “15” in “finisher.” At the very least, Matt and I had both ordered training shirts when we signed up for the marathon, so I already wear that shirt a lot.

The official race shirt.

Training shirts.

We got our free beers and hung out for a few more minutes.

Eventually we knew we should head back to Minneapolis and get something to eat. My head started to feel funny, almost dizzy-like, and I realized later that I probably should have eaten more than a roll and a bag of chips. Nearly two hours had passed since I had finished. We had a nice big meal at an Irish Pub and I felt a lot better. Knee/IT band pain kicked in and left me limping a bit, but nothing like after my first marathon. I actually felt pretty good! That all changed by the next morning, when the true soreness kicked in. It was a slow walk through the airport on Monday! I was sore for a couple days after the race, but pretty much normal again by Thursday.

Matt and I both absolutely loved our Twin Cities experience. Aside from struggling through the late miles on Summit Avenue, everything was amazing. I highly recommend this race. While it took a couple years in between for me to get around to running my second marathon, this one immediately left me anxious to go run another one. At the very least, it looks like I’ll have to plan on heading to Boston in 2017!

– Janet

Follow me on Twitter @reidphotography

The Crim is a legendary race in Flint, Michigan that draws somewhere around 10,000 participants between the 5K, 8K, and 10-mile races. A Michigan Mile race also occurs the night before. It seems like nearly every serious local runner I know has participated, yet Matt and I had never gotten around to it. When someone at work asked if I wanted to sign up for the 10-mile race as part of a group to get a discount, it gave us an extra boost to finally commit.

The race took place on Saturday, August 22nd and we lucked out with a beautiful day. It had been hot and humid in the days leading up to the race, so we were very fortunate to have a partly cloudy morning in the 60s.

Downtown Flint looked beautiful the morning of the race.

Because the race is so big and the roads close at least an hour before the start, I knew we needed to get there extra early. We left the house at 5:45 for the 45-minute drive to Flint. We were able to park in a huge lot on the campus of University of Michigan-Flint just after 6:30. Had we gotten there 10 minutes later, things could have been much more stressful. Even though the roads were still open and the lot had a ton of empty spaces, security blocked all of the entrances. I’m relieved that we got there when we did so we didn’t have to scramble like so many other people who had planned to use the parking lot.

We had plenty of time to kill, so we walked around a bit and took in the atmosphere. Matt went to the expo the day before to pick up our packets, but it was also open from 7-12 the day of the race. Bauman’s Running Store was there and I saw some good stuff, so we decided to stop by again after the race.

We scoped out the starting line while things were still quiet.

Matt and I got a picture on the famous bricks an hour before the start.

We had access to the MLive building before and after the race since I was a part of the Team Challenge through work. Private restrooms were supposed to be one of the perks, but there was a long enough line before and after the race that we ended up using porta-potties anyway.

About 15 minutes before everyone else, members of the Crim 30-Year Club started the 10-mile race. Men and women who have completed 30 or more Crim 10-mile races are a part of the special club. Following their start, I jogged around for about half a mile to warm up before entering my corral. One thing I really loved about this race was the corral system. People were placed based on their estimated finish times, and separate waves were released every couple minutes. This was a great way to avoid congestion problems in a race with nearly 7,000 people. I would love to see more large races use this method.

Waiting in my corral.

The Twin Cities Marathon in October is my goal race right now, so I did not plan to race all-out. I purposely started easy and finished hard, but didn’t try to hit a specific pace. I hoped to average at least 7:45 per mile if I felt good, but I really just ran by feel.

I had heard that the whole city of Flint comes out to support this race. It was awesome to see so many people along the course and cheering in front of their houses. Aside from the official course entertainment (bands, cheer teams, etc.), I saw a woman bouncing on a mini trampoline, people with a beer stop, “Champagne Corner,” two little boys in superhero pajamas, Gumby handing out water, and much more. I enjoyed running by the University of Michigan-Flint’s campus, Kettering University, frat houses, and some really nice houses across from a golf course. I loved seeing the 30-year runners on the course. It was great to hear them receiving congratulations and so much encouragement from the other runners. Many of them had special things written on the backs of their shirts. I especially liked the guy with “Crim 35 year runner – slowing down at 86” on his shirt. There was always something to see along the course. It was a great environment that made the miles go by quickly. I don’t mind running races that don’t have spectators, but when the course support is there, I realize how much more fun it is.

The Bradley Hills, which come between miles five and six, receive a lot of attention. The race even sets up timing mats to identify the “king and queen” of the hills. The elevation map makes it look like the hills go on for nearly a mile.

There were a couple of decent climbs, but after so much hype, I was actually pleasantly surprised that they weren’t as bad as I thought they’d be. It seemed like the worst of it was over pretty quickly and didn’t really affect my pace. What I didn’t realize is that so much of the course would be rolling after that. I thought it would be pretty flat and a breeze through the end, but that was not the case. The rolling hills don’t seem to be apparent on the elevation map, but I sure felt them. Every time I thought I’d pick up the pace, it seemed like another gradual climb was ahead that would cause me to hold back. However, I try to tell myself that running downhill helps me more than running uphill hurts me, so it balanced out.

I still felt good as I got to the last couple miles, so I decided it was time to pick up the pace. After I rounded the last corner before the finish, I pushed as hard as I could for the final quarter mile. The brick road isn’t the easiest surface to finish on, so I was careful about my footing as I booked it to the end.

My splits.

My official time was an even 1:16:00. I thought it was kind of fun that I hit it right on the dot!

Right after the finish, we got our medals and walked by tents with water, chocolate milk, cereal bars, bananas, and popsicles.

The medal.

After the finish line.

The official post-race area had even more. We got some Timbits from Tim Hortons and some orange drink from McDonald’s. I also stopped for a picture with Ronald McDonald.

I couldn’t resist.

Our bibs had tickets for pizza and beer, so we got those next. Eventually we worked our way back to the MLive building for the Team Challenge after party. There was plenty of food there as well, and I ended up with some watermelon, a brownie, and some cookies. It was nice to have an air conditioned place to sit, and we didn’t even realize at first that they had a tent out back with a dance party!

The Team Challenge after party.

A tent and dancing out back.

We hit the expo before we left, where I found a couple of fun shirts and got some shoes for $10 off.

A shirt from Bauman’s.

A cute Flintstones shirt that refers to the bricks at the start and finish of the race.

The women’s version of the official race shirt kind of reminds me of hospital scrubs.

Now that I’ve finally run the Crim, I understand why it’s such a big event. We had a great time and definitely hope to return in the future.

– Janet
Follow me on Twitter @reidphotography

P.S. – A couple months after the race I received a Made in Michigan award for being a Michigan resident with a finish time in the top third of my age group among the nation’s 10-mile racers. It was awarded to around 1,000 runners from Michigan. I was able to pick it up at a local running store. I’m not sure it works as intended. I believe the race medal is supposed to fit inside, but it won’t stay there if the ribbon is attached. Even if I can’t really attach it to the medal, it’s still a pretty cool thing to have and it’s on display on a shelf.

Training for the Twin Cities Marathon began on June 1st, and now I’m less than two months out from running my second marathon. Hal Higdon’s training plan worked well for me when I ran the Grand Rapids Marathon in 2013, so I’m using one of his plans again. I’ve made some tweaks though, substituting his Tuesday workouts with those from the Hansons’ plan. Higdon rotates between tempo runs, hill repeats, and 800s on Tuesdays. I wanted something different this time and believe the Hansons’ workouts will give me some variety and make me stronger. I’m still not ready to commit to following their plan for the marathon, though I’ve considered trying it in the future.

The marathon training plan I’ve been following.

As I typically do, I adjust my training when necessary and haven’t followed the plan shown above 100% of the time. When I created the schedule, I adjusted the Tuesday workouts for the first four weeks so I could concentrate on 10K-specific speedwork before racing the Corporate Cup 10K. I took a week off from speed following that race before starting up with the Hansons’ speed segment of the plan. The speed segment had me running repeats at a 7:00 pace, which is just a hair slower than my best 5K pace. I went to the track a few times and hit the treadmill a couple times when it was ridiculously hot outside. Between the heat and the lack of traction on loose stones, I couldn’t successfully pull off 5K speed on the trail. I’ve been using the Paint Creek Trail for many of my other runs though.

I love living so close to the Paint Creek Trail.

This week I began the “strength” segment of the Hansons’ workouts – repeats of 1-3 miles at a time at a pace 10 seconds faster than marathon pace. In addition to Higdon’s pace runs, I think these workouts will be extremely valuable when it comes to building race pace endurance. Getting through a workout of 6×1 mile at a 7:50 pace wasn’t a breeze, but I definitely felt strong after I finished.

The marathon pace runs I have done on weekends have gone really well so far. Last weekend I ran nine miles just under an 8:00 pace and felt great. I felt even better about my training when I followed up with 19 solid miles the next day. So far so good! My best long runs have been those that I’ve done very early in the morning. Sleeping in sure would be nice, but I know that the heat and sun drag me down when I start my runs too late in the morning. I’ve been heading out the door by 6:30 nearly every weekend morning and I love how peaceful it is at that time of day. I get motivated to run because I wonder how things will look in the early morning light. We live in an area that can be very busy and congested, but there are dirt roads and farmland just a few miles away. It’s like a whole different world, and I’ve enjoyed exploring some of those areas during my long runs.

It’s worthwhile to wake up so early when I see sights like this.

Seen on my run.

In order to figure out my goal marathon pace, I entered my Glass City Half Marathon time into Greg McMillan’s calculator. It told me that I could aim for an 8:00 pace and run the marathon in about 3:30. Even if I’m a few minutes off, it looks like I might have the potential to qualify for Boston. I’ve moved into a new age group since I last ran a marathon, and now my qualifying time is 3:40. Since I’m training for 3:30, of course I should try to be confident that I will hit that time. The realistic side of me knows that the marathon is quite a monster, and with only one under my belt, I still don’t know what to expect. I was about seven minutes off of my goal time in my first marathon, which I finished in 3:42. I’ve gotten faster since then, so I’m hopeful that I can at least pull off a 3:35. Hopefully that would give me enough of a buffer to get into Boston, knowing that people typically have to be a few minutes under the qualifying time to actually make it in. When I realized I might be on the verge of qualifying, I decided I had to order the Boston “Lobster Launch” shoes from Brooks to help motivate me. The Launch is probably my favorite shoe, and I couldn’t resist when I saw this special edition design.

Motivation to qualify for Boston!

In a couple weeks I’m going to run the Crim 10 Mile Race for my first time. It’s a huge race for this area and pretty much every runner I know has run it, so it’s finally time to give it a try. I don’t plan on truly racing, but I’ll probably give it a good effort. In the meantime, this weekend is my first of three 20-milers. With 10 miles to run the other day, it will be a 30-mile weekend. I plan on eating a LOT this weekend!

– Janet
Follow me on Twitter @reidphotography

The Shermanator was my second triathlon of the season and took place on Saturday, August 1st. Although it makes me think of the character from the American Pie movies, the race gets its name from the Sherman Lake YMCA Outdoor Center in Augusta, MI. Located between Battle Creek and Kalamazoo, it’s also close to where Matt’s parents live. We were able to stay with them and spend a nice weekend together in addition to me doing the race.

With the Twin Cities Marathon being the top priority on my racing schedule, I’ve decided that I will only do triathlons on “down” weekends when it comes to marathon training. I don’t want to miss any of my really long runs. My training schedule cut back to a 12-mile long run the weekend of the Shermanator, versus 17 miles the week before and 19 the week after. I was okay with skipping a 12-mile run if I needed to recover from the race, but I actually felt fine and still managed to do the long run the following day anyway.

Matt and his dad were kind enough to support me despite the crazy early arrival time. We parked in the designated field and had a bit of a hike to get to the YMCA’s recreation center, where I checked in around 6:30 am. I wasn’t guaranteed a shirt because I registered a few days prior to the race, but luckily they had a table with some extras and I was able to get a shirt in my size. After I checked in, we had more walking to do to get down to the waterfront. I enjoyed the walk through the woods on the paved trails, where we passed things like an archery range, cabins, a band shell, and more. It’s a really nice center with a lot of activities for retreats and campers.

The band shell.

Very nice paths through the woods.

A large church group had their own section of racks in the transition area, and the rest were first come first serve. I chose a rack on the concrete so I wouldn’t have to worry about getting as much grass off my feet after the swim. The transition area was in the woods and it was a pretty setting.

The transition area.

I was happy to find a building with real bathrooms by the beach. They also had porta-potties, so I didn’t see anyone waiting in long lines. I went down to the beach to scope it out. The lake looked beautiful!

A great photo from Matt.

The swim would start through the gap on the right, and finish through the gap on the left, by the buoy.

I wanted to get a feel for the layout, so I did a quick run from the beach up to the transition area. It was nice that they had mats on the grass, making the run a lot smoother.

The path from the beach up to the transition area.

Transition closed at 7:30, and the first of four waves started at 7:45. There were a couple of waves for the men first, then a couple for the women, with each wave starting about four minutes after the previous one. I was in the third wave, with women 45 and under. The water was a warm 78 degrees – warmer than the air.

People were told that they could hang back by the beach where it was shallow if they chose, because it got deep pretty quickly. I wanted to be up near the official starting line so I wouldn’t waste any time. I treaded water at first until I realized I could just hang onto the dock and save energy.

Matt took some pictures, including this one of the start of the swim.

My pre-race nerves were especially bad because of stomach issues. It had been messed up since Wednesday afternoon and continued to bother me when I woke up the morning of the race. I didn’t want to back out of the race and figured I’d give it a try. I hoped I’d at least be okay for the swim and bike, but worried about the jostling motion when it was time to run. I wanted to be excited about the start of the race, but I was too conscious of the dull pain in my stomach. When it was time for my wave to start, there was no looking back!

After racing an Olympic triathlon last month, I was excited about the sprint distance because it would be so much shorter and faster. The Shermanator only had a sprint distance. The swim was 500 yards, so I didn’t bother with a wetsuit. I’d practiced swimming fast for 400 meters earlier in the week and felt confident. However, when I started the race, my legs felt tired from the start and I worried about how the rest of the race might go. I felt a little better as I went along. I was spoiled when I swam in the beautiful Lake Huron for my last tri. This was the typical kind of lake I’ve grown used to, where I could see a little bit in front of me, but not much. A few spots had some seaweed, but nothing bad. Although I was slower than I expected to be, it went okay.

On my way to the transition.

The swim and run up the beach and through the grass took 10:54. I got through the first transition in 1:25, mostly slowed down by putting my socks and shoes on, and trying to get my thick, wet ponytail through my helmet.

Starting the bike portion.

The bike course started uphill, and I was already totally winded from the swim. I finally recovered after the first mile on the bike. We rode on some trails through the park and out to the main roads. I wouldn’t say the roads were rough, but not the smoothest I’ve been on either. The course had a few rolling hills that slowed me down, but nothing significant. I didn’t think about my stomach at all on the bike, so I felt pretty good at that point. Still, I’m never very fast on the bike. I peaked at 19.9 mph for one downhill mile, but averaged under 17.5 mph overall. I finished 10 miles in 34:28.

Elevation for the bike course.

I flew through the second transition in 33 seconds. Like the bike, the run started uphill on the way out of the park. We ran on the paved trails, had a brief stretch on a gravel path, then went out to the roads. The first mile was pretty tough between tired legs from the bike and starting uphill. Nearly a mile into the run, I caught up to a woman who was wearing a bike helmet while running – something I’d never seen before. I wondered if it was her way of saving time. Just after I passed her, I heard her realize out loud that she still had it on. Apparently it wasn’t intentional!

I got through the first mile in 7:42 and the second in 7:49. After running my first couple miles under a 7:30 pace during last month’s Olympic tri, I was not impressed with myself. This was shorter and should be faster! This course did have enough small, rolling hills to slow me down a bit. I became more aware of my stomach during the run. I had a dull ache/cramp on my left side. I was extremely thankful that it wasn’t worse though. I kept telling myself that it wasn’t going to be my greatest day, but I was still doing it. I sped up to a 7:20 pace for the third mile, mostly thanks to flying down the hill that was so hard to climb at the start. I finished the 5K run in 22:56. The official results said I averaged 7:22 per mile, but my Garmin had my average at 7:37 per mile, with the course a little short at 3.02.

The elevation for the run.

I finished the whole race with a time of 1:10:13. I had estimated that my time would be around 1:10-1:15, so I was pretty happy. I was also excited to see that I had placed as the sixth woman overall (out of 78), and third in my age group! The race had 154 finishers for the triathlon, 19 in the duathlon, six in the aquabike, plus a few relay teams.

I usually need a couple minutes of walking around to recover after a race. This time was different though, because in addition to feeling wiped out from a hard finish, stomach pain came on literally seconds after I stopped running. I usually want food right away, but I was suffering. I grabbed a slice of watermelon and ate it as I hunched over at a picnic table. Despite feeling so bad, I knew I needed something after racing for over an hour. I was happy to see chocolate milk, which is my usual recovery drink. I didn’t feel like having a granola bar or yogurt, but I took some blueberries. Once again, I hunched over at the picnic table in pain. I thought it was interesting that I made it through over an hour of racing, but the second I stopped, things got really bad. Because I had won an age group award, it meant I had to wait around for the ceremony. Matt checked to see if I could get it early, but I couldn’t. I found a place to sit and tried not to move. Eventually they got to the awards, and we took off right after I collected mine.

Faking a smile even though I felt miserable!

My age group medal along with the great race shirt. Sure to be a new favorite of mine.

It had been a long walk into the park, but it felt REALLY long on the way out as I walked while hunched over. I was so thankful to have Matt and his dad there to help with my bike and other stuff. Before we could get to the car, I felt nauseous enough to hit the bushes and get sick. The stomach pain stuck with me the entire day, and luckily I felt better the next day.

Aside from the stomach misery, it was a great experience. I realized after the race how much I liked the grouping of the waves. With all of the men starting before the women, I didn’t have them flying around me during the bike portion. In nearly every other race I’ve done, some of the men are SO much faster than me on the bike and it makes me feel even worse about my slowness as they zip by. I still knew I wasn’t fast, but it was nice that it wasn’t as blatantly obvious. Although a little challenging at times, it was a nice course. I hope to do this race again when I feel better so I can truly enjoy it.

– Janet

Follow me on Twitter @reidphotography

I finally got around to racing my first triathlon of the year on Sunday, July 12 in Caseville, MI. It was my second time tackling the Olympic distance. When I did my first Olympic race last summer, I was in a stage of rebuilding a base in all three disciplines as my back recovered from a car accident in March. I had enough of a base to get through the distance, but I knew that I could do better with more training. I’ve been training hard this year and chose Caseville as my goal race for the summer.

Tri to Finish delivers a great race experience, so I browsed through their list when I tried to decide where to race this year. Caseville stood out for a number of reasons. I hadn’t been to Michigan’s “thumb area” before and was curious to check it out. Tri to Finish described the swim in Lake Huron as “crystal clear,” and the bike course along Lake Huron would have “picturesque views the entire way.” With the bike being my weak spot, I was especially interested in the smooth and flat course. I thought it would make a nice weekend getaway, so I was sold.

On Saturday afternoon, Matt and I drove to our hotel in Bad Axe – about an hour and a half north of us. We made a brief stop to drop off our stuff, then headed an extra half hour up to Caseville for the packet pickup. As we drove through the backroads, we were fascinated by the seemingly endless fields of wind turbines.

Packet pickup took place at the Thumb Brewery, where we also ate a nice dinner. My bib was good for free chips and dip – bonus! After dinner, we walked to the Caseville County Park to check out the site of the race. A band shell near the park was going to host a concert that evening, which ties into the official title of the race – Caseville Movin’ and Groovin’ Triathlon.

I was impressed by how large and nice the beach was.

The water looked so nice I wanted to go for a practice swim!

A beautiful evening for a walk on the pier.

Although it was a beautiful night, I knew I should get off my feet and get back to the hotel. The next morning, we left the hotel before 6:30. I figured I should get in line for the porta-potties as soon as we got there so I wouldn’t be rushed right before the race. They only had two and probably could have used more. There were bathrooms in a building along the beach, but the building was locked when I got there. Of course someone unlocked them just as I finally made it to the front of the porta-potty line.

I got marked up and set things up in transition. Much thanks to Matt for being there to support me and for taking some photos!

Getting everything organized.

The transition area.

Next, I got my wetsuit on. I’ve worn it a couple times in a lake to practice, but this would be my first time racing in it. I figured it would slow me down in the transition, but hopefully the buoyancy would help my swim enough to make it worthwhile.

Time flew by and the 8:00 start came before I knew it. The race offered sprint, Olympic, and half Ironman distances, plus a duathlon. The half swimmers started in the first wave, and a woman commented that it seemed like the Olympic group was the smallest. She was right – not counting a few relay teams, there were 42 Olympic finishers versus 88 in the sprint and 69 in the half. I was happy because it meant less congestion for our wave.

Everyone gathered for the start of the race.

After the half swimmers started, those of us in the Olympic race worked our way through the water to a buoy, where we started about five minutes later. It was a relief to have very little congestion at the start, especially since plenty of the swimmers took off and left me in their dust!

The start of the Olympic swim.

The water was the perfect temperature and I loved this swim. I’m used to swimming in murky lakes with seaweed, so it was awesome to swim in crystal clear water where I could actually see in front of me. I could feel the buoyancy of the wetsuit, but I still didn’t feel especially fast. A couple times people came up along my side closer than I liked, so I’d hold up for a second and go around them on the outside to create some space. Otherwise, everything was great about the swim.

As I finished the swim and reached the beach, I realized that my legs weren’t going to allow me to run to the transition. I was very wobbly and made it to the timing mat with a time of 30:49 – pretty decent for me between the 1500m swim and “run” up the beach.

Next I had to worry about getting out of my wetsuit. The thing is about as tight as it can get. I ordered it online and apparently the sizing charts do not apply to me. Based on the measurements, the first one I ordered should have been good. It wasn’t, so I asked their customer service person what size to try next. The next one still didn’t fit, so I went up one more size. It was still awfully tight, but at least I could get it on, unlike the previous two. I was not going to make another return, so I decided to live with it.

It works great for the swim, but it sure is hard to get in and out of it.

I actually managed to get the left sleeve off around my Garmin, which was a problem during my practice swims. What I hadn’t anticipated was an issue with the timing chip on my ankle. We were told to wear the chip outside of the wetsuit, so I did. The ankle part of my wetsuit is so tight that I really struggled to get it off over the chip. I had used a safety pin in addition to the velcro to make sure the chip stayed on, so I couldn’t easily open it up and put it back on. I’m going to have to learn how to make that easier the next time around. I’ve read that some people cut a few inches off the legs, so maybe I should consider that?

I wasn’t out to win the race and knew that wriggling out of my wetsuit for the first time in a race situation would slow me down in the first transition, so I was okay living with my slow time. I threw on a tank top with my bib, scarfed a few Honey Stinger energy chews, put my socks and shoes on, got my helmet and sunglasses, and finally got through T1 in 2:47.

Then it was time for 25 miles on the bike. While I peaked with one 30-mile ride prior to my first Olympic triathlon, I did a number of regular long rides while training for this race. 35 miles was the longest I went, but I regularly rode 20-30 miles each weekend for most of the winter and spring. Just like every other triathlon I’ve done, the “real” cyclists flew past me throughout the bike course. They always make me feel like I’m standing still. Despite training more consistently on the bike, I’m still not a cyclist. I thought the flat course would help, but I didn’t go faster than 18.5 mph for any mile. The best I could manage was an average of 17.5 mph overall. I’ve tried to build my base more, but I haven’t pushed speed very much during training and I still haven’t tried clipless pedals. I’ve basically done enough to “get by” on the bike, so I don’t expect much. I really enjoyed the bike course because it took us out and back on a road near the shoreline.

The bike took us out on Main St. / Port Austin Rd.

The shoulder was large and the road was fairly smooth, so it was great for a race. I enjoyed riding past campgrounds and lakefront cottages. At times we had really nice views of the water. At a certain point my inner thighs got sore from sitting on the seat for so long. I realized that I’d used padded bike shorts for all of my longer rides and hadn’t practiced long rides with tri shorts. The padding definitely makes a difference! In addition, I had strained my left thumb/wrist pretty bad a couple weeks earlier from gripping my handlebar too tight and for too long. I thought about it during the whole bike portion of the race, making sure I moved that hand around enough so it wouldn’t get irritated.

Coming back into the park.

After spending so much time in the first transition, I was able to fly through the second transition in 37 seconds. I racked my bike, grabbed my fuel belt and hat, and ran.

Leaving the transition area for the run.

There was a small hill on the way out of the park that drained me briefly, but the rest of the run was flat. I was pretty strong for the first two miles, then my pace dropped off a bit. The run took us out and back on some uneventful roads. We ran by farmland for a short stretch near the turnaround point. That part was out in the open and the sun was more noticeable. Luckily we didn’t run in that area for too long, because it probably would have worn on me mentally. I felt pretty tired by the halfway point and almost felt like I was in survival mode at times, but my pace was still decent. The fourth mile was my slowest at 8:05. Since I’d hoped to average at least 8:00 per mile overall and I was well under that, I remained relatively positive. The small hill I had struggled to climb at the beginning gave me a good boost on the way back down into the park, and I pushed to keep it up through the end.

Finishing strong.

I finished the 10K in 47:58, averaging around 7:42 per mile. My run splits were 7:26, 7:28, 7:41, 8:05, 7:55, 7:47, and a pace of 6:52 for the last 0.23. I was excited to find out that I had finished the race in a even 2:48:00. It took me three hours to finish my first Olympic tri. Although this course was easier, I was still thrilled to improve my time by so much.

I did it! Well under three hours.

It took a few minutes of pacing around before I recovered enough to get some water and food. They had some non-appealing looking bananas and handed out a slice of pizza, but that was about it. Once again, I think I’ve been spoiled by the elaborate spreads of food that often follow running races. Most of the triathlons I’ve done have been lacking in that department. After working so hard, all I want to do is eat. I’ve learned to bring snacks of my own, plus I knew there was a Dairy Queen close by.

There was nearly an hour to kill before the awards ceremony, so I changed into dry clothes, snacked on my food, and waited. By default, I won an age group award since there were only two of us in the age group. Another woman in our age group had placed as one of the top females.

On the podium with the one other woman in my age group.

For my second place finish, I received a silver piece that magnetically attached to my medal.

The medal with the magnetic age group award.

The age group award attached to the medal.

It looks like I placed fifth out of 16 women. Apparently not many women participated in the Olympic distance. I didn’t care much about my placement though. I was just happy that I had improved my Olympic time by 12 minutes.

Overall, I loved this race and would definitely do it again in the future. When I signed up, I liked that the half Ironman was one of the possible distances. I’m not sure if I’ll want to tackle the distance at some point, but at least I got the chance to scope out a potential place to try it.

Due to marathon training that is getting pretty serious now, this may be my only Olympic distance race this year. If so, I’m definitely happy with how it went.

– Janet
Follow me on Twitter @reidphotography

Several years ago I learned that there was a running club at work, so I joined the email list. Aside from running on one of the corporate teams for the Brooksie Way Half Marathon a few years ago, I haven’t really participated. When I received the initial email about this year’s upcoming Corporate Cup Relays, I was definitely interested. I had been interested in the past, but always had something else going on that day. This year, I decided to make it a priority. I have to admit that aside from representing GM, one of the biggest draws was the cool Chevy Running Club shirt!

I love this shirt

The Chevy logo on the back

The Corporate Cup Relays started back in 1987 and take place at Southfield Lathrup High School in Lathrup Village, MI. This year’s event occurred on Saturday, June 20. The event includes 5K and 10K road races, a 5K walk, field events (like long jump, high jump and shot put), and track relays. Teams are divided into three divisions based on the size of the company. Division I includes companies with 10,000 employees or more (GM, Ford, and FCA – formerly known as Chrysler), Division II ranges from 1,000-10,000 people (Autoliv, Valassis, Shinola, and ThyssenKrupp), and Division III has less than 1,000 people (AVL, Nissan, Takata). Teams also raise money for charities, which included the Dearborn Animal Shelter and the Special Olympics.

I have been able to improve my 5K and half marathon times by quite a bit over the years, but my best 10K time was from back in 2011. I rarely race the distance and it’s always kind of tortured me. Maybe that’s because I’ve never specifically targeted my training for a 10K. I decided to sign up for the Corporate Cup’s 10K road race to see if I could finally reach my potential and improve my time. After the Glass City Half Marathon on April 26, I had about eight weeks to prepare for this race.

Based on my time at Glass City and my 5K PR, Greg McMillan’s calculator said I should be capable of running a 7:12 pace for a 10K. McMillan’s calculator has been incredibly accurate for me when I train appropriately. I wasn’t sure what kind of workouts I should do, so I searched for 10K training plans and found McMillan’s eight-week plan. I was worried that it might be a bit ambitious for me, but I wanted to give it a shot. I didn’t follow the plan 100% since I needed to ease back into training after the half marathon, plus I threw in another 10K race a couple weeks before the Corporate Cup. I stuck to the plan for the most part though. When I successfully pulled off some of the harder workouts at 10K pace, it gave my confidence a huge boost. Maybe I could master the 10K after all!

Despite running some solid workouts, I was still pretty nervous about actually pulling it off on race day. The 10K was the first event of the day, starting at 7:45. It was a beautiful morning and the course was flat, so I hoped for the best. I knew I should be able to improve my 10K time, and I also aimed to place first in my age group. The scoring for the Corporate Cup’s 10K is based on age and gender, so the goal was to rack up age group wins. Other events included all divisions, but the 10K was just for Division I – GM (Chevy), Ford, and FCA. Between the three companies, 151 people participated. I was lucky that Matt was willing to come out and take photos during the 10K, and he got some awesome action shots.

Waiting for the start of the 10K

The 10K started and finished on the track, with neighborhood roads making up the majority of the course.

Starting on the track

It was fun to see a bunch of people I knew from work and talk about running with them. I’m sure many of us hadn’t realized before that we shared a love for running. It was also fun to encourage people in Chevy/GM shirts out on the course since we were pulling for each other as a team. Lathrup Village was a great place to run, with peaceful neighborhood roads and nice houses for distraction.

The 10K route

I was still smiley because this was early on!

Enough people ran this race to always have someone fairly close by. That always helps keep me going. When my pace slowed down by the third mile, I worried that I was starting to fall apart. I sped back up though, and I felt pretty good the whole time. In the past, I’ve almost always felt miserable when I’ve raced 10Ks. Running 10K-specific workouts during training sure made a big difference. By the time I hit the track for the final 300 meters, I was feeling pretty drained, but I still had enough energy for a final push.

Finishing strong

I had no idea how I had placed, but I knew I had a new PR! My official time was 45:16, shaving over 30 seconds off my time from my “practice” 10K on a difficult Mackinac Island course a couple weeks earlier, and nearly a minute and a half off my 2011 PR.

My splits

McMillan’s calculator had estimated that I was capable of a 7:12 pace, and I hit 7:13 – pretty close! Someone gave out small cartons of chocolate milk as we exited the track, and the GM tent had bagels, cookies, and some other snacks.

I went back to the track to cheer for teammates and took a few cell phone photos. It was definitely a friendly and supportive environment.

Lots of people in blue shirts cheering on GM finishers

I couldn’t resist taking a picture of this Chrysler dog prior to the 5K.

Representing Chrysler!

Some of the 10K runners also participated in the 5K, but I gave everything I had and was done for the day. I enjoyed watching the start of the 5K run.

5K runners

The 5K walk began five minutes later. It’s always fun to see the truly competitive walkers, who somehow manage to walk a 5K faster than many can run one. The GM guy in the front of the following photo won with a time of 22:18!

5K walkers

I stuck around long enough to see the first 5K runners finish, but left soon after. Although it would have been fun to watch the other events, the track events didn’t start until noon and were scheduled to run until 4:00.

A few days later I found out I was the 5th female overall and had placed first in my age group! That helped my team, who wanted three first place age group finishes for the women. Although the Chevy team had three top women, Ford did as well. Ford’s fastest woman placed 7th while Chevy’s was 18th, so Ford took the win in the 10K Women category.

Ford took the overall win for Division I in the Corporate Cup, and Chevy placed second. I really enjoyed this race and the whole experience, and hope to participate again in the future.

Happy with my new PR and a successful 10K!

– Janet

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