Frostbite Series #1

This weekend was the beginning to the St. Louis Track Club's Frostbite Series; a 5 race series held in Forest Park every other Saturday through the beginning of February. Runners earn points based on finishing place within their age division. With my long runs on Sunday and these races on Saturday it's hard to justify running at full "race speed", but I did decide to combine the race with my long run. Here's how I broke it down:

Arrive in Forest Park early enough to log 10 easy miles before the races begins and pick up my bib and timing chip. Aimee dropped me off and headed to Starbucks to get some studying done (she has finals all next week). By the time I got going, and stopped by Starbucks for warmer gloves, I was able to get in 9 miles before the race. I ran from the park towards downtown STL through St. Louis University with the Arch in the background the whole way out. Ran the 12k race finishing 25th overall and 8th in my age division. Not bad considering my "slower" race pace and 10 mile warm up. My age division finish eared me 15 points and I only finished 46 seconds behind 5th place, which would have netted 30 points. I was very appreciative of the runner behind me who pushed me the last 1/2 mile and boosted my confidence as I both ran harder and did not let him pass me. Following the race I took off on an easy 6 mile cool down to round out a 22 mile long run and finished at Starbucks to meet Aimee.

Next up in the series is a Christmas Eve 10 miler. The following day I have my longest training run at 24 miles. We'll see if I decided to do the same format. Loved running in STL and Forest Park, looking forward to doing it several times over the next few months.

Weekly Recap; 64 miles: Monday Double 6 and 5 easy; Tuesday off; Wednesday 9 Speed Work; Thursday 6 easy; Friday 10 tempo; Saturday 22 long (with 12k); Sunday 6 easy.