A New Personal Best

Today sets a new personal best for me.  It is not a PR, but it is really close.  It was not a race, but I ran it almost like a race.  Today's run was one of the best I have ever had and came very close to being a PR, even though it wasn't a race.

Since today is a holiday and I am at home I decided to not get up at 4:40 to go running, but rather sleep in a little bit..... OK, a lot.  I rolled out of bed just before 9:00 and decided to head out for a run.  My running partner is out of town so I could run whatever I wanted to.

I actually set out for a 4 miler, but about 1/2 mile into it I decided I would change that up and see if I could finally break into the 7's.  I have been flirting with the 7's for about a month now and have gotten as close as 8:02, but have not been able to break through........ until today!

The first mile didn't get me there (8:08), but it put me at the pace that I needed to be at that would get me there in the second mile.... all I needed to do was keep it up.  The second mile felt great, but I really could feel that I was pushing the limit a bit.  As I rounded the corner coming up on the last 2 tenths of the second mile I looked down at my watch and knew that I would accomplish what I set out to do.  The second mile did in fact turn out to be my first 7:xx mile in over a year.

Just over a year ago I was running most of my races in the 7's, including my 10k's, but then as many of you know that all came to an abrupt end when I was tripped in a race and fell and broke my collar bone.  After 8 months of not running, I was nowhere near the 7's.  I have now officially made it back to the 7's and I am happy :)

My second mile turned out to be a 7:36, so I didn't just get into the 7's I blew past the top of the 7's and settled just above the mid 7's.  As if the second mile was not good enough, I was in a good groove and continued to run what felt good.  My third mile was even better than number 2, clocking in at a 7:19!

I finished off the run with a .1 so I could call it a 5k, plus I wanted to see how close I could come to my Racing PR of 23:23 for a 5k.  I came much closer than I would have guessed.  This is the fastest 5k training run I have ever run, with a 23:49 and a 7:40 pace..... and I came in just 26 seconds above my 5k race PR, a race PR set over a year ago before my injury.

If you cannot tell from the way this is written - I am very very happy! :)

8 comments:

  1. Way to go! It's a brilliant feeling when everything comes together and you're in the zone, no matter what it is you're doing.

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  2. That is awesome. Just imagine how much faster you could go with a rabid dog on your heels... well maybe just some competition would do :)

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  3. I think I will opt for the competition. A rabid dog would probably do the trick too, but wouldn't be nearly as fun. :)

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  4. Wow, that was a nice run! I know what you mean about "getting into the 7's" again. I recently crossed that threshold myself and it felt great. A tempo run like that should set you up for a faster base pace even in your slower runs. Don't do like me, though, and start "racing" too much of your training. I did that a few years ago and became chronically overtrained. Something I'm committed to NOT doing anymore. But congrats on the great run!

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  5. Thanks Colin!

    I have already noticed my slow runs speeding up over the past month or two. I need to do the same and make sure I don't race every run.... I could be that type as well.

    Thanks for stopping by!

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  6. Thanks Colin!

    I have already noticed my slow runs speeding up over the past month or two. I need to do the same and make sure I don't race every run.... I could be that type as well.

    Thanks for stopping by!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks Colin!

    I have already noticed my slow runs speeding up over the past month or two. I need to do the same and make sure I don't race every run.... I could be that type as well.

    Thanks for stopping by!

    ReplyDelete