PRs

I keep telling myself that one of these races I am going to totally flake out and do horribly. Fortunately, it hasn't happened yet. I've run 5 5Ks this year - one in April in Vienna, VA and 4 in upstate NY. My first 5K in like 20+ years was the one in April, and finished in 28:40. I was absolutely thrilled, since I didn't expect to finish faster than 30:00. That finish put me in 6th place in my previous 30-39 age group.

Then the biggest loser competition ended, we moved upstate and my running took a nosedive. If I got on the treadmill twice a week for 40 minutes at a time, I considered it a success. So I ran my first upstate 5K in mid-August and finished in 29:07, which, although slower, was enough for a 1st place finish in the 40-44 age group. My second upstate 5K was at the end of August, and a 27:55 finish on a course with a steady hill for about 3/4 mile was enough for 4th place. Well, actually, it's a long story, but there was a mixup with the timing chips, and the 1st place finisher in the 40-44 group finished behind me, so I actually finished 3rd.

On to October. I've been steadily putting in the miles on my treadmill since September (81 total miles, 47.5 running and 33.5 walking) and so far this month, not including the 5Ks, I'm at 35.5 total miles (8.75 walking and 23.65 running). I've been trying to work on speed - either running mile repeats or running shorter distances in faster times, and I think I'm on to something. Last Saturday, I laced up my shoes for the Scarecrow/Safe Journey 5K in downtown Fairport. It was a beautiful fall day and the course was nice and flat along the Erie Canal. I ended up in 12th place in my age group (unfortunately for slower runners like me, there are much faster running mamas!!) but set a new PR at 26:43.

And then there was today. I was not optimistic about today's "Moore" than a Race 5k through the streets of Sodus, New York. The boys and I drove the course (backwards, in typical "E" factor fashion...) and it seemed hilly, not straight and the wind was whipping in from the north off the lake (Ontario, for those of you trying to figure out where these places are!). It seemed like a recipe for disaster - mentally I wasn't in to it, there wasn't really a "start" - a police cruiser went by us and then all of a sudden people started running, my steady-eady Seabreeze hat kept blowing off my head - I absolutely cannot run without it- and I was fixing it while running. So I figured, hey, not every race can be a PR - there are always going to be races where things just do not click and this looks like one of them. So imagine my shock when I got to the first mile marker and saw a 7:47 on my watch. I thought, not possible. These old bones are just not capable of running that fast. And yes, as is my habit, my next two miles were "a little" slower (that's putting it nicely). But I managed to finish in 25:42, shaving a minute off my last 5K time on a course that was hillier, windier, had both more turns and more traffic. I guess my mind may not have been into this race, but my legs, lungs and feet showed up and were ready to rock!

Anyways, now it's on to training for the Newark Turkey Day 5 miler. I see lots of mile sprints in my future to get ready for it!! But for now, it's time to get ready to use the grill and enjoy this beautiful fall evening in Bristol Valley...


That's me thinking, did I really finish in the 25:00s????????