A New 5k PR!!

Mental Wellness 5k

It started sprinkling when I left the house, but I wasn't too worried because I had looked at the weather map and it was just a small rain cloud that was expected to move through the area quickly. When I arrived at the race, I found Christine and we ran a warm-up half mile. I'd never warmed up prior to a race before, but I knew a lot of runners did that, so I thought I'd try it out and see if that would help with my breathing initially. In the past, I often start out too fast and it takes me forever to get my breathing back to normal. At first I was worried about not having fresh legs, but as I ran farther, I realized that I could often do negative splits...that my runs per mile were faster the longer I ran (up to a certain point, that is). I figured this half mile was just enough to get the blood pumping. I think it worked!

When we were finished with our warm-up, we took to the start line. Just as we were heading that way, it started to pour! It was a very wet beginning of the race! Because of the higher temps and the humidity, the rain wasn't all that bad. I started out too fast, which is always the case with me, however since it was just a 5k, I figured I had a good shot at managing threshold pace for that distance - or at least close to it.

I decided not to look at my Garmin because I knew that would excite me either way. If I was too fast, I figure it would give me a good reason to slow down, but if I was slower than expected, I would feel as though I had failed. So instead I focused on my breathing...2 in, 3 out (meaning two strides per breath in, and three strides per breath out). That lasted for the first mile, and then it was two in, two out.

I tried not to focus on how I felt, because I didn't feel all that great - it was uncomfortable, but doable. I was able to talk to a few people while on the route, which was great! Ran behind two HS track girls for a while (one of them sped up and won an award in her division). Then I ran with a little guy who couldn't have been more than 13 years old. I told him he was doing very well and he said, "Thanks. It's my first race." What?!?! I told him he's a future track star...then he sped off into the distance. Then I kept pace with an older guy for a good mile, then I high-tailed it towards my next runner, who I'd seen in races before. She was very fit, and I had to admit that it made me feel good about where I was on the route.

We're close to the finish! Everyone was breathing hard. It was 100% humidity - awful. I ran off the canal path, which dipped slightly before it rose onto the street. I used that to my advantage to get some good speed before landing on the street which was, unfortunately, all up hill. Even at that moment, with only a block to go, I wondered if I could still maintain my pace...much less sprint to the finish. I tried running harder once we turned the corner and saw the finish line at the top of the hill. It seemed so far away! I just tried to keep my pace, and the last 20 feet I sprinted, because that's all I could do.

I ended up with a time of 25:13! An average pace of 8:07 per mile!! What?! On the back of a long run less than 24 hours prior, I had run as fast as I could and hit a PR! I was very happy! Even if I hadn't earned 3rd in my division, I still would have been pleased, because there were plenty of other women in my age group that could have taken that spot away easily - they just didn't run today. Ultimately, it's my progress, the hard work I've put into training over the past couple months, that allowed me to reach my new PR, and I'm SO happy that my training is working! It's so nice to see some of that pay off, even if it's in little amounts here and there. Being my first marathon, there's a lot of unknowns, and having a great run like this lets me know that I'm right where I need to be. It's as much of a relief as it is a celebration! Yay! Thanks for the pics, Christine and Gene!