5k Race PR

Going into the 5K I felt that I could get a personal record above my PR set almost a year ago.  I thought I could decrease my pace down to 7:25 and come in just under 23 minutes.   I knew that I had to do a 2 mile warm up to get past the aches in my knee and ankle.  I felt tired and slugglish in the warmup and the doubt (hmmm, who keeps inviting doubt into my thoughts...no more party invitations to doubt!) crept in again.  Completing the warmup I quickly found my friends and chit chatted with them for 10 minutes until the start.  Once the race started, all aches, all doubt, all reservations were gone.  I just ran. 

I knew after mile 2 that I had a PR and would be come in under 23 minutes.  I only had my Garmin display pace and mileage and didn't know my total time.  When I turned the corner for the finish line I was shocked to see the clock clicking over to 22 minutes.  22 minutes?  Holy Moly!!  How did I manage that?  Running in the 22's seemed so far out of reach.  My ending time was 22:13 and I was the 11th finisher. When I crossed the line I was announced as the 3rd female to finish but the unofficial results show I was 4th (I think the 3rd person to cross the finish line, Jayme, is actually a male) and I'll check the official results on the web to verify.

I'm pleased with my race time and how far I've come in the last year with my running.  I'm also very happy for my friends running their very first 5K and doing so well.  Now I have two more people at work to talk about running with.  That will keep them running...they'll see me coming and run the other direction because I love to talk about running.