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Sunday, February 9, 2014

this is how we do it baby

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.