Double Race Weekend – Double PR Weekend!

Happy Hump Day! I’m so happy to be half-way through the work week 🙂


I had a very eventful weekend. This past weekend I ran a 5K race on Saturday and a half-marathon on Sunday. This was my first time running two races in one weekend so I was a little nervous. I am happy to report that I got a PR for each race – YES!! Race recaps below…


Run for Waterside 5K


This was my second year running this race. The Waterside School is a great school in Stamford and I am always happy to support it. My company has a close relationship with the school and I know a few parents with children that attend the school. The staff and students at Waterside are some of the nicest people you will ever meet. While the race was fine, the weather was horrible! It literally rained the entire time – from the time I got in my car to drive to the race until the time I got in my car to drive back home. At many points during the race it didn’t simply rain, it POURED. I was completely soaked by the time I finished, but was surprised to see that I finished in 30:04 – a new PR 🙂


Race breakdown

Rocking my long PRO Compression socks!

Mile 1 – 9:23
Mile 2 – 10:07
Mile 3.1 – 10:16


I went out way too fast. Yeah…so obviously the negative splits didn’t happen, but it’s kind of hard to run when you can’t see where you are going through the ginormous rain drops. All in all I was happy to have finished the race with a good time. After grabbing a banana and a bottle of water, I went back home to shower and pack for the drive to Long Island for the Diva’s Half Marathon taking place the next day (We stayed overnight in a hotel).


Diva’s 5K & Half Marathon – Long Island


I’ll admit it – I was very, very excited for the race. I signed up for this race way back in May and I was looking forward to the pink boa, tiara, red rose, a HUGE medal and a glass of champagne at the finish! Those are the type of perks I’m talking about!! 🙂


Race Day – I woke up and had my typical 16 ounces of water and a banana. I ran out of time to have my peanut butter and Nature Valley Breakfast Biscuits so I was worried that I didn’t have enough fuel. Race morning was very, very cold and windy (temperature was around low 40’s). The type of cold where my hands were numb (my hands didn’t “warm-up” until mile 2 on the course). We had to walk about a mile to the finish line which wasn’t very fun – especially when the wind is pushing you forward! The 5K runners started first around 7:45am and then the half-marathon started at 8:05am. This race started on time which I always appreciate. I hate starting 30 minutes after the “start-time”.


…and we’re off! I positioned myself in the 9:00-10:00 minute pace group. I knew this was a little ambitious for me, but I knew I could sustain that time for at least the first half of the race and I was right! 

Mile 1 – 10:06
Mile 2 – 10:13
Mile 3 – 9:55
Mile 4 – 9:46
Mile 5 – 10:04
Mile 6 – 9:57
10K Time – 1:00:01


That’s my fastest 10K time to date! I was floored by that but this is where I have to give the course some credit. This course was mainly flat – just a few small hills – so this obviously helped me out! I was feeling really good at the 10K mark. I always run with a hydration belt for any runs longer than 6 miles so I had my grape flavored Nuun water available for quick sips whenever I started to feel like I was slowing down.


Mile 7 – 9:48
Mile 8 – 10:11
Mile 9 – 10:40
Mile 10 – 10:33
Mile 11 – 10:40
Mile 12 – 10:41
Mile 13.1 – 11:04
Final Time – 2:15:46 – PR!!


As usual with my races, I started to slow down at the end. I really need to work on finishing strong. I started to have some pain in my hip around mile 8 so I know that was a factor in my speed. Also around mile 10 I had a strong urge to break out the shmoney dance, but I held back (I did however do this dance when I got back home…with my medal around my neck). Oh, and I got another PR! I really wasn’t expecting a PR for this race because I missed about 5 days of training due to my London business trip in late September. I was still happy with my prior PR from 3 weeks ago at the Queens Half Marathon but I am proud of myself for shaving another 4:18 off of my time.


The course was your typical race course. We did a few miles in the park (where the race started/finished), ran along the closed streets and residential areas and at one point I think we were on an off ramp from the highway?!?! To be honest I couldn’t really tell, it just seemed weird!


One more thing to add. My mom ran the 5K race and killed it – she came in 4th for her age group (out of almost 50 people). I am so proud of her!!


Upcoming Races

I have two 5Ks scheduled for November:

11.1.14 – NYRR Dash to the Finish Line 5K – NYC
11.9.14 – Colony Grill ‘Hot Oil’ 5K – Fairfield, CT

I also have two virtual races (Run 10 Feed 10 10K and Hunger Awareness Virtual 13.1 I will complete as well.

I would like to sign up for some more half marathons in November or December, but the weather is so crazy here during those months. I’ll have to wait and see how much snow we get.
What upcoming races do you have scheduled? Let me know in the comments section!