Monday, September 9, 2013

YOUth Make a Difference 5K race report.


No suspense here: I had an awesome race on Saturday and set a new PR!

It was great. The race took place in my town, just 5 minutes from my house. We headed over early so Conal could run the 1 mile run and then I'd run the 5K afterward. 

Conal and me before the race, Conal running strong through the finish line and then sporting his medal.

A 1-mile race is a big deal for a little kid but Conal ran strong! Yes, he took walk breaks but then he started back up and he ended up finishing in 12:17. I was so proud of my little runner!

After that race, I lined up for mine. My plan was to try to run hard and see what kind of speed I have going into the last month of half marathon training. I've run only two fast workouts since coming back from my injury (my fast mile and a recent tempo run when I ran 2 miles in 15:15) so I didn't know exactly what to expect.

I started out faster than I probably should have, going through the first mile in 6:53.

Yikes! I have to admit I was cursing myself a little (OK, a lot) after that fast start. I had to hold on. So I kept pushing through the second mile and I went through it in 7:04.

A drop-off for sure, but not too bad.

The third mile, though, was tough. I was ready to be done and my internal conversation was not all that positive. I kept telling myself I'd blown it. That I had 2-mile speed and that was about it. That I just needed to stop.

But, thankfully, I didn't stop. I kept running and I went through the third mile in 7:14. I picked it up at the end to finish as strong as I could, running the last tenth of a mile at 6:20 pace and finishing the race in 21:37!


A new PR!!!

I never in a million years thought I would have been able to run that fast right now. I've been so worried about re-injuring my hip that I've been very, very conservative with my training. I believe that has been a good plan because, now, here I am running and racing strong!


Race stats:

Overall time: 21:37
Pace: 6:58/mile
Age group place (female, 40-49): 2 out of 30
Gender place: 8 out of 151
Overall place: 18 out of 241  

I followed up the race with a nice and easy (and very hilly!) 10 mile run with Bridget and Elisa at the crack of dawn on Sunday. My legs felt heavy but it was a good run with friends and it felt good to get the miles in.

Nice weekend of running for this happy runner!

Have a great week, everyone!


4 comments:

Unknown said...

Yay!! Well done

Darlene said...

You are amazing. Glad you're back.

Unknown said...

Goodness, you are fast! Congrats to you, and to your adorable son as well! Keep being a good example :)

Unknown said...

Congrats on a new PR and a super fast one at that!

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