A Long Overdue PR: Join the Voices 5M

Short Version
Previous PR: 43:40 @ 8:44 mm pace
New PR Time: 41:01 @ 8:13 mm pace
Overall Place: 1006/4551 (top 23%)
Gender Place: 197/2285 (top 9%)
Adjusted Gender Place: 305/2285 (top 14%)
Age Group Place: 46/543 (top 9%)
AG %: 59.01%

Long Version
June 25, 2011. This was the last time I ran a 5 mile race, and at the time, I was absolutely thrilled with what was then my PR. The rainbow pops were also pretty cool.

Fast forward to over three years later. I hadn't raced this distance for a variety of reasons, and in all honesty, I had no intention of doing another one. That distance just wasn't as important to me as the 5K, 10K, half, or even the marathon. 

I had my 9+1 for 2015 all set up - I had registered for my 9 races, plus I had my volunteer commitment set. However, due to scheduling concerns, I was no longer able to attend two of them and I knew that I had to find two replacements quickly. After a few minutes of looking at my calendar, I found two replacements, including yesterday's race. 

I went to packet pickup, and to my dissapointment, but not to my surprise, I got another cotton t-shirt which I will never wear. I don't even know why I bothered taking it home with me. Nevertheless I was delighted to see that I was in the third corral from the front.

Since I didn't have much time to run the day before, I figured that I would incorporate this race into the middle of a longer run. So I left extra early and ran 2.5 miles beforehand. This left me a bit unexcited and hesitant about this race since it was already incredibly humid out. Whose brilliant idea was it to start a summer race at 8:30am?????

As I lined up towards the back of my corral, the usual thoughts started going through my head. Why am I awake? It's too damn crowded. The announcer is a liar - this is NOT perfect race weather! . Yet, as always, when the gun goes off as I head towards the start line, the adrenaline starts surging and all of a sudden, I am eager to get going and see what I am capable of. 

I decided not to look at my watch for most of the first mile, figuring that I was going really slowly anyway. To my surprise, I finished the first mile in just under 8:15. Huh. Ok then. The second mile included Cat Hill, and it was my slowest in around 8:20ish or so. After that point, my legs seemed to realize that they were in the middle of a RACE and that it was time to speed up. 

It was so tempting to stop for water, but I knew that I would kick myself later on for those extra seconds on my time, so I just kept going. After finishing mile three in just over eight minutes, I knew that I would most likely PR. After doing what I call "race math" in my head, I realized that I had a shot at getting close to 41 minutes. 

When the fourth mile was barely slower even with the West Side hills, I knew I had an outside chance of getting sub-41 minutes, so I went for it. Although I got my fastest mile in at 7:58, plus a little extra Garmin distance at 7:21mm pace, I didn't quite hit that goal. Still, I wasn't going to complain about a 41:03 Garmin time! 

Hooray for negative splits!

 Later on, I saw that unofficial results were being tracked and noted my final time of 41:01, which was an 8:13mm average pace. I was especially thrilled about placing in the top 10% of my age group. Not too shabby considering I admittedly never do as much speedwork as I should (or any, as a matter of fact).

After my race, I ran 1.11 very slow recovery miles home to get a total mileage of just over 8.5 for the day. There were no race pictures of me - which is probably for the best as I probably looked like a hot mess when all was said and done.

Although I am proud of myself for what I accomplished yesterday, I know that I am capable of doing better at this distance, especially since my 10K PR is at a faster speed and even that is soft. In addition, my recent 4 mile PR is at a 7:44 pace. However, improving my 5 mile PR time is not a major priority for me at this time, so it will probably stay here for quite a while. 

Anyway, I am not sure what my next goal race is, but I am looking to break my almost 2 year old half-marathon PR, and that will be a tougher nut to crack because I haven't earned a sub-1:50 time since then. I am considering trying for either Staten Island in October or a spring half-marathon, which is TBD.

Thanks for reading! Until next time!