Stride for Pride 5K

First off, I just looked at the lack of posts over the summer and apologize. I definitely need to get back to updating more often. Hopefully now that summer's winding down I'll be better about it.

Yesterday was the Stride for Pride, a local 5K for charity. Last year I took second overall, but was just going to do it as a fun run this year since I haven't been logging many miles on my feet.

It was rainy, cold and overcast. I was actually happy about it because 50 and drizzly is what I run the 5K distance best in. I did my usual warmup - about ten minutes of jogging with striders.

The gun went off and I was careful to pace myself - I have a long history of going out too fast and burning out around mile 2.5. I felt good and in control, so was very surprised when I hit mile 1 at 7:30. My first thought was "Oh crap! I'm going to pay for this in a mile!" I eased off the gas a bit and was actually talking a bit with the guy next to me.

I got close to the turnaround and realized (this is the great thing about a race that's out and back) that I was the second female runner. Crap. Now I was going to have to get serious.

I hit mile two at 14:50 and was incredulous. A negative split going 30 seconds/mile faster than I planned or hoped! I knew that all I had to do was hold on for another 1.1 or so and I would not only come in second, but run a close-to-PR race.

I did start running out of gas, but just kept commanding my legs to go. In the end, it was a good thing because as it turns out IronKid's younger sister was right behind me the entire time.

I crossed the finish line at 23:20. Unbelievable. A 7:30 pace on the dot, assuming a true 5K. (And I've heard rumor it may be closer to 3.2) The other great thing is that I paced almost perfectly the entire time, which has always been an issue for me.

So I was second female overall, first in my age group, beating by only, as in last year, IronKid. (She was hoping to break 20 and was disappointed with this year's 20:55. Poor baby! :-D )

So, I almost PRed after months of running less than ten miles a week. Amazing! Guess all that bike training paid off in ways I didn't see.

On the agenda for today is a nice, easy bike ride during lunch to shake out the legs.