4th of July 5k race recap...and a NEW PR!!

Last Thursday Jake and I ran a local 5k race.  I was coming off my previous 5k at Musky Fest and was really hoping to redeem myself.   I have been putting in some hard work at the track working on my speed and I was really hoping this would be the time it would pay off, to see a 20 instead of a 21. 

Jake agreed to pace me, and to guarantee a PR all I had to do was hang on to his heels.  We got to the park where the race started to pick up our numbers.  Since its a local race we knew a lot of other people there.  Its always fun to do a hometown race too.  There was a great turnout and the weather was pretty perfect too.  I set out for a quick warm-up then changed into my flats.  I took one last bathroom stop then we lined up.  There were a lot of kids doing the race, so I wanted to make sure I was at the front of the start to avoid any blocks. 

Then we were off!

check out Jake's sweet outfit :)

We did well at not starting out blazing.  I'm getting better about that, so I just let people bust out ahead of me, I knew I would catch them eventually.  I felt good and steady, and I just told myself to focus.  Mile 1 split was 6:35.  My breathing felt good and controlled and I just kept my eyes in front of me. 

at about mile 1.5.  Look!  Our strides are the same!

The crowd was really great, lots of people cheering and waving.  I tend to get tunnel-vision in races and don't pay attention to people spectating, but I always appreciate a hoot and holler!  Mile 2 split was 6:39.  We turned a corner and I knew we were on our way back to the park to finish.  This is when I started to feel tired.  There was  a woman who had been a good 400 yards in front of me the whole time, and Jake said to me he could see her legs getting tired, that I could catch her.

We got into our last loop to the finish and I felt my legs get tired and start to give out.  I told Jake to go ahead and just let me be on my own.  I think my words to him were "see ya later!".  He took off and I got tough with myself.  I told myself to man up, and go catch that woman, who was now a little bit closer to me.  I rounded my last corner, mile 3 split was 6:33, and gave it everything I had, and squeaked by her.

hard to see, but this was when I made my move!

coming into the finish

I gave it one last kick and pushed it through the finish.  Nubbin split was:32 sec., a 5:40 pace.  The whole race I didn't look at my watch once, I relied on Jake to give me split times and make sure we stayed on track.  When I crossed the finish line, and pressed "stop" on my watch, I looked and saw 20:21!  I did it, finally!  And not only did I get a sub-21, I crushed my previous PR.  I was just hoping to get a few seconds under, but to get it by a good 45 seconds was just awesome.
* I should note that the official results have me at a 20:24, the other times were from my Garmin.

This is proof to me that I do have it in me, I can be faster that I thought, and that if I just let myself run, I can do it.  Do I have a sub-20 in me this year?  It's seeming more and more likely, and I kind of love it :)

So thanks to Jake for pacing, not an easy job, especially when pacing me ;)  Thanks Nichole for the tough track workouts- they are paying off in a big way.  Shooting for a time in the 19's is scary, because its just seems SO FAST, but it's also pretty exciting that it's so close, and something I never thought was possible.

also, ya cant beat a homemade trophy :)