Today I ran a local 5K that was well attended by my race club. My goal was to beat my last 5K time of 29:29 although I failed to note a few key differences about these 2 races.
When I lined up I was standing right next to a woman who just did IMCDA, her first IM ever, in the very impressive time of 12:13. I asked her if she was really ready for this and she said it was all just for fun so I said, “hey – you could pace me” and told her my goal. She thought that was a fine idea.
It was hot. Really hot. She kept on me the whole way,though.
“Come on – keep it going”
“Deep breaths”
“We’re going downhill now – this is nice”
“Don’t you slow down now! Come on!’
“2 more corners, Keep it going”
She kept that up the whole way – she was awesome.
I didn’t run out of legs until the last little bit but I felt like I was suffocating almost the whole run. Had she not been there pacing me I would have tossed it and run about a 12 min pace. As it was I just missed my goal by some seconds. I forgot to turn off my Garmin which now reads 29:59 so I’m thinking I did about a 29:40. Sort of disappointing but not really.
I thought about it afterward and my last 5K was run after having done both a marathon and a half marathon and some track work prior to the race. This time, not so much. My running has been abysmal this year. I’ve only got a total of 150 miles in on the year and zero track work compared to over 400 miles last year and at least a few trips to the track. So all in all it was a great effort and I feel good. I really can’t thank my pacer enough, though. Pacers rule!
Happy 4th, everyone!!
21st-century-mom.com 
And a Happy July 4th to you!!!!!!
Sounds like a pretty good run to me. You “put in” and worked hard all the way through and should be satisfied with that aspect. Well done.
You can’t set a PR at every race, especially every 5K. I think anything under 30 minutes is awesome! Pat yourself on the back and enjoy your 4th of July!
Take ANYTHING under 30:00 on a hot holiday! Congratulations! 🙂
Cute graphic!
I just went to CDA site and there are 35 (THIRTY-FIVE) women in my (our) age group…
I think the winning time last year for 50-54 was 11:39 or something quite ridiculous like that! Holy moly!
what are you doing running around in a long, billowy skirt around explosives!? being on fire will not make you run faster due to the stopdropandrollage.
No race can be compared with another, even if it is from one year to the next. Too many variables. I would say you were within your goal time. And like you say, a little more running and who knows? Try it again and I’m betting you beat that time, even if by seconds. People don’t realize how hard it is to take seconds off a 5k time.
Nice effort! You did your best during the race…especially on a HOT day!
Nice effort! You did your best during the race…especially on a HOT day!
It sounds like it was a great experience! PR SchmeeR. Hot is a huge factor. And, you got to meet another athlete out there gettin’ er done. That’s what this whole “race” thing is about anyway, isn’t it? At least for those of us not raking in the dough as pros.
Happy 4th (on the 5th!)
Coming close to your PR on a hot humid day is pretty phenomenal. My July 4th races always veer between okay and abysmal, depending on the dew point.
That’s a great time! Way to go! And what an awesome lady to pace you like that :))
Wow, that’s an awesome time. I hope to be that fast some day. I think it’s great that this total stranger was willing to run with you! Aren’t runners and triathletes terrific people??
Congrats on a great race and time, even if it wasn’t a PR it was an awesome result. Having a pacer can really help … even if you want to kill them during it makes you stick with them.
how about changing the title of this post to “I’m AWESOME!”
under 30 on a hot day and not prepared???! Sounds like a winning day to me.
i’m sorry… just catching up on the blog… but i must say that if someone had been that encouraging to me while running, i may have had to shove my big toe in their eye.
cuz, that’s how i roll.