On October 11th I ran the Chicago Marathon knowing full well I had plans to run another marathon 27 days later. Thankfully, the recovery process has gone well and tomorrow is the next marathon! I’m going to do a whole post on my recovery/ training these past 27 days but I’m going to wait until after tomorrow’s race for that.

I’m actually behind 2 race reports so I’m going to double up in this post. Both 5k’s were run during my recovery cycle so I made some big adjustments.  I know based on past experience that it takes my body about 3 weeks to feel back to normal after a marathon. So for both of these races I just did what I could that day.

Race # 1: Well Done Run 5k

Date: Saturday, October 17, 2015 (6 days after Chicago)

This race is very different than most 5ks. I ran it last year with my oldest son and knew then that this would be a good one for the entire family. This race raises awareness about clean water. It also raises money to build a well for a village in Africa.  Basically you start the race carrying an empty milk jug. At the halfway/ turnaround point you fill up your milk jug with the water from the creek. There’s also an aid station with fresh, clean water in cups to drink. It really shows the contrast between how blessed we are where we live with clean water. In other parts of the world people travel miles for muddy creek water.  After filling your jug you run the mile and a half back to the finish line.

Our entire family registered for this race. I thought it would be a great experience for the kids and registration was only $10 for them!  John was going to run it with Anna and our older two were going to run it on their own. (Race is entirely on local bike trail- very safe.) I planned to push our youngest in our single jogging stroller.

It had been a while since I’d used the single jogger so we pumped air into the tires. I learned about 5 seconds into the start of the race that there was actually a hole in the tire so it was flat for the entire run. I honestly didn’t even know if we would make it but somehow we did.

This was my first time to ever race with Ashton and it was so much fun. Ashton’s 4 and usually cheering along the sidelines at my races. He is very competitive though and he was loving it. He pretended he was driving a race car and kept shouting for me to go faster. When I told him that maybe next year he could run it he said, “No, I don’t like to get sweaty.” That boy!

Along the race route were scriptures and facts about global water resources. Ashton is learning his letters and wanted to know what every single word said! It was such a different race experience for me. It was a little sad coming to the realization that my jogging stroller days were coming to an end but that’s how it goes! In some ways the past 11 years (since we’ve had kids) has flown by but in other ways it’s hard to remember life before them!

Mile 1- 7:11
Mile 2- 7:51 (This includes about a minute of filling up the milk jug!)
Mile 3- 7:22
Mile 3.13- 1:03

Ashton and I finished in 23:27 which was good enough for 5th overall and 1st female. Ashton said he beat me. I guess technically he did since he crossed the line before me. That boy!

Then it was time to cheer on everyone else in the family. Abi finished in 26:34, Rocky finished in 31:14 and John and Anna finished in 41:12. (This all carrying a gallon of water.) Official results can be found here.

It was a fun morning and we were so blessed to be able to be a part of such a meaningful race. This was not your typical 5k. I would definitely recommend this one to anyone local-especially kids! What an awesome way to experience something that happens daily in third world countries. This race is extremely organized and well run. I love being able to participate and support races like this!

Race # 2: The Bison Stampede

Date: Saturday, October 24, 2015 (13 days after Chicago)

This is another local 5k that I run just about every year.  My best performance on this course was in 2013 (18:17). My slowest performance was in 2010 (37:37) when I was 6 months pregnant with Ashton and I ran it with Abi.  The only problem with the timing of the race was that my schedule called for a 16 mile run that weekend. When you run a marathon 27 days apart you have a very small window for certain workouts. Between marathon recovery from the first marathon and tapering before the second there isn’t a lot of wiggle room. Basically I had to get the long run in so I ran it early Friday morning the day before the race.

My personal goal was to try to run a sub 19  wasn’t sure how realistic that would be on tired legs it I figured it was a shot.

Mile 1- 6:03
Mile 2- 6:08
Mile 3- 6:12
Mile 3.10- 0:33 (5:50 pace)

Official Time- 18:57 (2nd overall/ 1st female). It wasn’t pretty but I made it in with a few seconds to spare!

After I finished I jogged back to find the kids. They did great! Abi finished in 25:23 and Rocky ran around 27 minutes.

There were a ton of door prizes (we won 2 free pizzas!) and the overall female award was a handmade Navajo Indian flute.  This was definitely a first! I should mention this race benefited Tuba City Missions in Arizona.

And that about wraps it up! Two 5ks sandwiched between two marathons- done!

Coming up next… The Midsouth Marathon!