First Three Races Report

I figured I would go ahead and just have one post for the first three races so far this year. I'm looking to build fitness at this time and didn't expect to see any PRs. I will also call this the tale of three different weather runs. One Hr track run was around 40 degrees with rain, the trail run was 60 degrees and sunny when it started, and the 15k had to be delayed for 3 hrs due to snow. The 15k was 35 degrees and sunny when it started. It was awesome running with snow on both sides.

One Hour Track Run

This run takes place in Russellville at Arkansas Tech. The point of this race is to see how many laps you can complete in one hour. This was my first time to run this race. I haven't raced since December when I ran the Memphis marathon and have just started training again. The race weather was wet, cold, and 40 degrees. I started with the 7:30 mile/min and above group knowing that I couldn't hold that type of pace at this time. I ended up completing 30 laps and 361 ft. I was able to run 7.56 miles. My splits were pretty consistent with the last three pretty fast and approaching a 7:38 pace. I was happy with the 7:56 mile/min pace, but hope to see improvements in the future. The key is slow improvements over time.

This event had 172 runners. I was able to finish 42nd out of 172. I would say 172 is a pretty good showing for the cold wet weather that we had for that day.

Cadron Trail Run

This was a 4 mile trail run at Cadron Settlement Park in Conway, AR. This was the first race of a new 4- race trail series in Arkansas put on by DLT Events. I have not run any trail races before, so this was going to be an experience. Race morning started in the 60's. The weather was awesome. Around 40 people lined up for the start of the race which was (2) 2-mile loops through the park. The race started with a big climb right of the start and continued with plenty of ups and downs throughout the course. My first mile was around 7:34 min/mile. This would soon come back and bite me. By, the time, I got finished I would be closer to 8:34 min/mile. I was able to finish the race in 34:31 which for my first trail run I was happy with. This got me 4th in my AG and 11th OA.

I really enjoyed the trail run and will have to head out to the park more often to run. I knew the park was there, but never had been out there. It will provide a challenging workout for sure! The next race in the series is in Arkadelphia on 2/12 in Arkadelphia. I will be out of town for the one in Arkadelphia, but will be running the one in North Little Rock on 2/26. For more even information go to DLT Events.

River Trail 15k

This is probably one of my favorite races. This is the third year that I've done this race. It is run in Burns Park and along the River Trail. There was some concern that this race may not go due to snow the previous day. However, they delayed it for 3 hrs to allow the snow to melt off. The snow melted off the trails and off we went around 12:15. My hope for this race was a pace of 7:50 which was similar to my pace for the hour track run. I started off really well and pushed thru the first 5 miles averaging 7:42. I was able to hold this pace throughout the 9.3 miles. I crossed the finish line in 1:11:38. This was about a minute slower than last year, but I was really happy with what I averaged for the race. I'm thinking that my fitness is starting to come along slowly which is good.

The next race for me will be the Trail Run in North Little Rock on Feb. 26th.