A new 5K PR!!!!

On Saturday, my family came to watch me race in the Rock and Run 5K in Casselberry, Florida. Though I had spent the night before helping a friend get ready for a move (more on that in a later blog entry) and was up rather late, we were up dark and early to get to the race in time for a 7:30 am start. By the time we got to the race area, the sun had come up, and it was a bright and sunny, but thankfully a cooler Central Florida morning.

I was very excited for this race. I had two really good 5 mile runs during the week, and I felt very optimistic that I could set a PR (personal record) for the 5K - I was shooting to get my time under 33 minutes. The race started as most others, except this time I did a couple of things differently. I set my ipod on a 170 bpm podrunner tune to keep my cadence up. I also set a brisk pace - comfortable but brisk. The usual few runners breezed by me, but for the most part, I kept up with the crowd (normally I fall way behind). I knew I went out a bit faster than usual, but when we got to the first mile I looked at my watch and I had run it in 9:33 - a min per mile faster than I was shooting for. I decided to slow my pace a bit so I didn't burn out so quickly. When the water stop came up around 1.5 miles in, I skipped the stop. On a 30-ish min run I have no problem finishing without a drink. Just ahead of mile 2 I took a 30 sec walking break, just to rest a bit before the last push. I reached mile 2 in 11:10, then bumped the pace up for the last mile. About a quarter of a mile from the finish, I kicked my pace up, imagining that portion of my normal training run course where I always speed up. At 3 miles, which I reached in about 10:10, I sprinted for the finish. As I was crossing the finish I looked at the clock and saw 31:05 as I approach, and realized I not only beat 33 minutes, but blew it away. I crossed the finish and hit my watch stop button. With the 25 sec delay at the start, my net time was 30:44. My official race time ended up being 31:10.

I was ecstatic! A 30 min 5K was an goal I hoped to achieve sometime in the next year - with speed work after my marathon training. I didn't dream I would be this close to 30 min at this point in time. I was SO excited!!

We hung around for the kids runs. Both of the girls bravely ran the 1 mile run. My 11 year old completed the mile in 11 minutes. My 6 year old completed it a minute later in 12 min. I was so proud of them both.

It was a great morning to be a runner!!!