I ran a 5K this morning after having not run since last Sunday when I did a 7 mile long run. I haven't really been running to get faster lately, I've been more running for the enjoyment of being outside doing something I enjoy. I haven't pushed myself much since April when I was pushing pretty hard to PR in the 5K that was cancelled due to extensive tornado damage in the area. I've been concentrating on tempo runs and long runs but interval runs have basically fallen by the wayside.
This morning's race went surprisingly well all things considered. We were on vacation this past week. I ate like I was on vacation and my exercise was limited to splashing around in the lake water with my kids. I also pulled a rib muscle tying the boat off to the dock on Monday and made it worse water skiing on Tuesday.
With all of that in mind, I set out to do the 5K this morning with pretty low expectations. I wasn't even really sure I'd be able to run through the rib pain. I did a quick up and down the driveway and decided I would give it a shot in spite of the pain.
The race site was setup well. Packet pick up was a breeze and I soon had my number pinned on and my chip timing device strapped to my shoe and I was ready to go. There was a 10K also, which started 10 minutes before the 5K. I waited at the line for the 5K starting signal and when it finally came, I was off. My goal was to keep my pace near 9:00/mile for the first two miles and then pick it up as much as possible for the last 1.1. I don't have my mile splits because I didn't have my new Garmin programmed correctly. I'm guessing the first two miles were around 8:55 and the last mile was closer to 8:30. I took it generally easy, just cruising through mile one. Mile two got a little harder because I had gone through a couple of hills and hadn't really worked on maintaining this pace very much. I came to a place where everything clicked, though. Yes, my ribs hurt and I was breathing more heavily than I'm used to and I'm sure my heart rate was up but everything felt good and I just kept on pushing for more. At the two mile marker I was feeling good and knew I was going to be able to push a little harder to the finish but held off for about a minute before starting to accelerate to the finish line. I spent the last mile pushing my speed gradually faster until I was at an all out sprint across the finish line.
I really enjoyed the course. There were a few hills, but nothing too challenging. There was some shade and it was generally through a nice neighborhood. I might have to try to work the course into some of my regular runs.
Today's stats: I did 3.04 miles (according to Garmin) in 26:36 for an average pace of 8:45/mile.
My last 5K was 9:09/mile for a total time of 28:21. I never imagined I would knock almost two minutes off my best time. I've not even really been trying to get faster. I'm kind of motivated now. I need to find another 5K to do to keep that motivation up. I'm looking forward to some intervals over the next few weeks. Short term, I want to cut my 5K time down to 24 minutes. When I make it there, I'll see how I feel about trying to get faster.
To sum it all up, I was very pleased with today's race!
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