A New 5K PR - The Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure

This morning I woke up early and headed up to the church to meet some other members so we could all head out to the Race for the Cure together. I have done the race every year for the last 10 years and wasn't going to miss it this year, even though I just did a marathon last week.

As usual, I signed up for the chip timing division with the intent on running it as fast as I could. I figured if I blew up early I could just jog the rest of the way. After all, my legs are still recovering from the marathon, right? Guess they are recovered.

Temps were in the 50s so I wore shorts and a sports bra tank top. I had a long sleeve top on over that, but took it off 15 minutes before the start and handed it to my parents. I lined up close to the front and when the horn sounded, I took off, weaving in between people to get to a good spot where it wasn't so crowded. I finally found some space and just kept going.

As I got to the marker for Mile 1, I hit my split button. 7:34. Uh oh. Better slow down some. I've NEVER run a mile that fast in a race and I knew I couldn't hold that pace the rest of the way.

Mile 2 came with a split of 8:01. I didn't want to start thinking about what it would take to PR at this point. I knew I just had a mile to go and wanted to see what I could do. It helped when I passed a water stopped that was manned with many of my Team in Training buddies and they all cheered for me as I passed. That gave me the motivation I needed to keep going.

As I rounded the corner to the end I saw the Mile 3 marker and the finish line. I hit the split at mile 3 for a 8:19 split. Then I saw the clock. I had a little bit of time to make it under 25 minutes. If I could do that, I could set a new PR, so I turned up the speed.

Final time: 24:42! A new PR for me.
Class position: 13
Overall: 274
Average Pace: 7:55/m WAHOO!!!!

I don't know how many people were registered for the chip timing, but I feel really good about my race and about setting a PR, especially coming off a marathon. It feels good to finally get the 5K time down.

After I finished I got some water and then headed a little ways back on the course so that I could wait for my mom and dad to come through. Then we walked through the booths picking up free samples (got lots of free Lara Bar samples -- YUM) before heading home. What a great day for a race.