Speedy? Me?

So all this running might be paying off. I ran Bucky' Race for Rehab 5K instead of a running time trial as part of my recovery week. It was the same course as the Valentine's Day 5K, providing the opportunity to compare and see if I could improve on my 22:00 performance on the bitterly cold day in February.

One of my season goals is to run a sub 20:00. In the race registration bag, Runner's World provided a chart that showed the necessary pace to finish a particular time for several race distances. To go sub 20:00 in a 5K, you need to be faster than a 6:30 pace. Gulp. My first thought was to rethink my goal. Nerves aside, it was a beautiful sunny day. Just cool enough, but not so much to be chilled.

I started near the front to avoid the slower starters. However, this induced me to run the first mile a touch fast. I split the first mile in 6:23. Whoa. Too fast. (But it felt so good.) I backed off and settled into an aggressive pace to make sure I would push myself.

Throughout mile 2, I stuck with most of the group and even picked off a couple of guys fading. Granted, they were nearly twice my age, but a pass is a pass. I crossed the 2nd mile mark at 13:00, for a 6:37 split, leaving seven minutes to go 1.1 miles. I would need to run at a 6:22 pace to get there in time. I knew that it wasn't happening today. (That's why a sub-20 is a season long goal.)

At about mile 2.5, there's a hair-pin turn at the top of a small incline. It totally sucks. The combination of the curve and hill zap any momentum that you have for the home stretch. I hit the hell already thinking I'm dead. I feel like I'm in molasses but I press on to the finish, which is also up a small hill.

I turned the final corner and saw the 20:xx on the clock. I didn't expect to see that, so I was excited and stopped my watch at 20:37. A PR by over a minute from last November's 21:49. Now to repeat the run after a swim and a bike.