Friday Five: Ready for Spring Runfessions

It’s Friday, so I’m linking up with Fairytales and Fitness for the Friday Five. I’m doubling down and linking up with Marcia for March “Runfessions,” too! What are Runfessions? They’re current running truths or “where runners bare their souls and soles.”

1. I runfess… I’m still smiling from the NYC 1/2. I had a great time fundraising this year with an awesome charity class, saw tons of friends and had a great run on race day. This was the second year that they ran a Brooklyn to Manhattan course and they made some great improvements. I won’t lie, I miss the old, fast course, but I really enjoyed this one, too. It was my fastest half since NYC 1/2 in 2017. I’m excited for the running year ahead.

Two 180 degree turns in 1 mile? What could go wrong?

2. I runfess… I was a bit dubious about running the new The Mile at the Shamrock Shuffle. Why? Well, the course was a bit unorthodox. Two 180 degree turns in one mile? I signed up before I saw the course so I just decided to give it a go.

No big deal… me, Carrie Tollefson, Kathy, Alexi Pappas and Deena Kastor!!

3. I runfess… I’m so glad I decided to do The Mile. It turned out that it was perfect weather and a pretty small, intimate race. Plus, Deena Kastor, Alexi Pappas and Carrie Tollefson were there and Kathy and I got to chat with them and take pictures. We also finished 1st and 2nd in the women’s competitive master’s race out of 10. Whoo hoo! What an awesome opportunity that turned out to be. [If you’re wondering, two 180 degree turns make the mile slower. My time was 6:46 and I expected to run 6:30.]

Kindly ignore the 9:20 difference b/w me and Deena. She did break the Masters 8K American record and she’s a professional runner! I don’t even play one on TV.

4. I runfess… My legs were not fresh for the Shamrock Shuffle 8K after running the NYC 1/2 and The Mile. I felt OK, but never got in the groove, and ran my slowest Shamrock Shuffle since 2011. BUT, the craziest thing happened. Despite my not-best effort, I was “on the podium” with Deena Kastor and another elite runner. I was 3rd place in 45 – 49 F age group out of 1,050. I typically run faster and barely make the top 10, but the local fasties in my AG did not show up. That said, I’m not complaining. I’m just enjoying it as something like this is VERY unlikely to ever happen again!

5. I runfess… I’ve been bit by the racing bug again. After two year of less (for me) racing, I’ve already completed 6 races (including 3 half marathons) and a 5K fun run this year. I’m signed up for at least 10 more that I can think of this year including four marathons. We’ll see what happens. [And, what could go wrong? LOL!]

That’s all I’ve got! Have any runfessions? Please share them in the comments.

Have a great weekend, friends!

PS. Don’t forget my great giveaways!