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! :)
