It’s medal Monday, and I ran/raced one of my all time favorite races yesterday morning, 4/28/19 – the GW Parkway Classic.

One of my first blog posts or maybe it was the first post for this blog was a recap of this race. I run/race it every year, in exception for the years I was either pregnant or a month postpartum. With that being said, I didn’t run it last year because I was 4/5 weeks postpartum, recovering from a c-section birth and I was actually out of town in Nashville/Chattanooga, being a MOH at my sister’s wedding.

The last two months have been great running months for me. I was consistent, increased my mileage volume, and worked on running faster. And now that my youngest daughter is 13 months, I’m finally feeling stronger and faster with every run. So I was ready to race this 10 miler, plus I wanted to get a faster time than my previous 10 mile race, the Cherry Blossom 10 miler, that I ran earlier this month. I normally always have a faster time at this race and do really great on the rolling hills.

The morning started with me realizing I didn’t get a good night sleep, but I got going anyway at 5:30 and quietly tip toed out of the house.

At 6:00, I met my dad at the shuttle bus, then we headed to the start. This was my dad’s first time running the Parkway Classic (he normally runs longer distances,) but I knew he was going to love this race.

I ran into a ton of people at the start, but meeting up with my Oiselle Volee team was by far one of my favorite groups to see. It was fun catching up with them. A lot of them ran the North Face Endurance Challenge Relay the day before.

The vibe at the start line is awesome such a relaxed vibe. Because it’s a local race, it feels like everyone is just from the neighborhood – most people probably are. I love that about this race. It is also super organized and well planned, because it is put on by runners, Pacers to be exact.

Start- Once we started running, I didn’t get to start my Strava or garmin right away. So my timing was a little bit off, but I didn’t worry, I just went with it.

First 5K – I ran the first 5K or so with my dad, and then he pulled off to grab water and told me to go on ahead.

I really love a rolling hill course because it’s fun to strategize. I decided to stay relaxed and run fast, but smooth on the downhills, and then climbed the uphills. I took in the stunning views and it was perfect weather.

Mile 5 –Unfortunately, around mile 5, I fell. Like literally fell down on the pavement. This has never happened to me during a race, but there were so many pot-holes on the parkway. My right knee was bloody, and my left hand skinned up. My phone was fine – thank goodness. I got right up and started running again, people around me asked if I was okay, and I totally was, just clumsy that’s all. However, it did slow me down. I eventually got my pace up again, but it slowed me down.

Mile 7-8 –Then around mile 7-8, I stopped at a water station to pull out my honey stinger chews for fuel. I couldn’t get the bag open. So I said, fuck it, grabbed some water and continued on. That wasted a lot of time fiddling around with the bag and then trying to get it back in my pocket – it ended up being one of my slowest mile. At the Cherry Blossom 10 miler, I never stopped for fuel, and I skipped some water stations, I just didn’t feel like I needed them. But this time I was hoping to have that sugar, to get me going so I could finish strong.

Mile 9 – Turns out around mile 9, I found Meghan, my Oiselle teammate. I asked her if she wanted to run the last mile and to the finish line with me. She said she did, so off we went “Head up, Wings out.” Honestly, it was so great racing side by side, and crossing the finish line with a friend. I probably would have slowed down, but instead we both finished strong!!

I finished in 1:25:28 which is not a PR and 20 seconds slower than the Cherry Blossom 10 miler I raced earlier this month, but I’m still very happy with this time and my race overall. If I had gotten a good night sleep and started my garmin/Strava right at the start… If I hadn’t fallen down at mile 5 or fiddled around with my chews at mile 8, I would have definitely set a new PR.

On another note, my dad crossed the finish line right after me. He set an awesome time! He crossed in 1:29 running right under a 9 minute mile, which is really speedy.

What a race!!!

Finish line party – Another great thing about this race is the finish line. It’s in a really gorgeous park with green grass and water front views. They have a beer garden, so my dad and I grabbed a beer. I normally don’t drink that much, but it felt great to have a cold beer after, and chat it up with some of my Oiselle teammates.

Overall Cheers to another great race and another race medal to hang up.

Head up, Wings out!