Damn right I'm writing a race report for a 5K. 5k pr's don't happen every day. In fact, the last time I had a 5k PR was over 2 years ago.
I thought I had PR'd in Dec. I was disappointed to find out that was not the case.
Today was not supposed to a PR attempt. It was a pacing day and a day to work on my mental edge.
On top of that, mileage for today was going to be about 7 miles, as this was a long run with a 5k thrown in the middle then finish up with a couple more miles.
The first 2 (warm up miles) we easy then building to 5k pace, run the 5k as a descend, then run 2 miles however I wanted.
I was armed with mantras and funny quotes from friends...as a reminder to not take myself too seriously.
I timed everything perfectly, finishing my 2 miles with 5 min until race start. I felt great when the race started.
I didn't have pace goals for each segment. Coach and I are still learning pacing, etc. Other than telling me that I had to finish faster than my avg pace from last week, I could do what I wanted.
The race started.
Brain OFF.
Body ON.
The entire race I was focused on the race. Nothing else.
I ran the first mile at 9:32. The pace felt very easy. I knew then that I was going to nail this. The loop starts by passing the finish line. I said to myself, "Self. You are going to run the fastest you have ever run the next time you pass that marker."
Heading into the 2nd mile, I knew I went easy for the first as I ran a 9:13 up the hill.
At that point, I knew I was going to have a lot of gas in the tank for the last mile.
The last mile starts at the bottom of the last hill. I saw the hill and I thought, "come to momma boys." (Bonus points if you can name the movie). My pace dropped to 9:30. I wasn't worried. I knew once I got to the top, I was going to go balls out.
I ended up averaging 9: 03 for the last mile with the last 1/10 going from 8:40-7:30 as I stepped on the timing mat.
I didn't know at the time, that I pr'd. All I knew was that I nailed the pacing and had a fantastic mental day. All wins! I felt fantastic.
I grabbed some water and head out for my last 2 miles.
I guess I was still high on endorphins because I felt great. I wasn't tired. I wasn't sore. I was just so cold. I really wanted to get back to the car.
I finished my run. I started texting people. It occurred to me that I never even checked my finish time!
The takeaway from this race is that I just popped out a PR without much effort. I am so excited about that.
Sometimes goals take a long time to achieve. I won't tell you that it was easy. Over the past few years, I was about to give up on short distances. That wait made today's PR race so much more satisfying.
I can't even wait for tri season to begin.
