Although Yoda knows i've done a lot of running in the past year or so, I haven't run a 5K since last June. And to be honest, those 5Ks that I ran last year aren't efforts that I am especially proud of. It has really just been this year that I've made the decision to take my running to the next level. To not just go out there and run, but to focus my training, pay attention to my times, or really have any thought in my head but to run. So, in a way, this was the first 5K that counted.
The Lead Up:
Unfortunately, the lead up to it wasn't the greatest. I took a (well deserved) week off after my trisko, but last week, I haven't been able to run much at all. It's an insanely busy time for my husband at work, so I had pretty much full-time Cub Duty. However, I ran 3 miles on Wednesday night with a time of 26:something, so I set a race goal of 26:00. That's a great improvement on my previous PR of 27:46.
The Night Before:
McDonald's Quarter Pounder, fries, and an ice cream sundae. And then a lousy night of sleep. Lovely.
Race Morning:
I woke up focused... but not really on running. I was focused on getting a cup of coffee, having a quick breakfast, getting dressed, waking Jack up, getting him dressed and with a glass of milk, then going to pick up Katie, his "boysitter" (because as Jack will remind you, he is not a baby), getting the two of them settled, and myself to the race - all in an hour and a half.
The Race:
There's only so much you can say about a race that's only 3.1 miles long. My strategy was to just put in a really strong effort and see where I went from there. The weather was pretty well perfect, probably in the 60s or something like that. The course had a few gentle hills, and was an out and back. The first mile felt awesome, as did the second. During the third mile, I started to feel pain in my side, so I dropped my shoulders and focused on my breathing. I gutted through it, kicked it to the end, and was thrilled at the final results:
25:13, a new PR! For those into stats, that's 9th for my age group, 260something overall.
12 comments:
AWESOME! After I run my June marathon I might have to run a 5K or 2. My official 5K PR is 25:48 from last June, however, I just ran a 25K time trial as part of my training and beat that time for each 5K (25:34, 25:25 and 25:23 respectively).
Another top ten finish! Congrats!
Yeah for a new PR!!! Great job Betsy!
Amazing... I don't do a lot of 5Ks, just seems there's not enough to them. :)
(I hear you on the challenges of having to get children ready.)
Hi Betsy
Congrats on the new PR. Look at you getting all fast and stuff..
That's amazing, congratulations!
Congratulations! That's an awesome time!
Holy cow - great time! Congrats on your PR! (and while juggling the cub)
HOLY MACRAL!!!
25 & and change is nothin to sneeze at . . . .. you are FAST!!!
Great job!!!
Nice job! Throw in a few beers in the "night before" section and your pre-race is eerily similar to mine. Congrats!
Great job. You set a very pragmatic race goal and - as one would expect - beat it. Nice PR!
Woswers - that's fast. We need to talk about this McDonald's thing though.... ha ha. Kidding.
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