Sunday, November 14, 2010

5K Race day -hooray!

Me and Nik getting ready to run our best times!
Doing the happy dance, I ran a 5K today... My oh my, how far we've come.

My first 5K in March, I ran in 40:57...

My second 5K in May, I ran in about 36:00...

Today I ran a PR (that's running speak for personal record ;) and did it in 32:00 flat!  I'm so excited! It works out to a 10:19 mile and is nearly nine minutes faster since the first time.

I'm not going to lie, I pushed myself, I came out of the box running as fast I could, I no longer have the goal to merely finish, I want to run the best I can. With the finish line in sight and an eye that I could do it in 32, I picked up the pace and ran like I was being chased by the boogie man, I ran and ran hard to that finish line - my heart was pounding I was breathing way too hard but i don't care - I was soooo happy to have that time that it was worth the potential to pass out. (which I didn't) I walked it off, grabbed a bottle of water and regained composure.

What's remarkable to me is how much my body is getting better about running.  I have virtually no hip pain anymore (knock on wood)... I remember having to ice down knees, hips, and ankles after my first 5K, none of that is necessary now. I didn't even feel sore after my 8 miles the other day. I'm not saying that to brag but because it's amazing on how far you can go if you really keep at it.

Today my goal was to do it in 33mins... I would've been happy with an 11min mile. It was cool running a race and not being passed by, by everyone and actually doing some of the "passing" by myself!

Yay, Jeff! WAY TO GO with your bad self!
Also very cool - I ran with friends Nicole and Jeff - Jeff placed 2nd place in his age division - HOW COOL!

And Nicole also set a PR (29 mins/30 secs?) Nik, if I'm wrong, let me know... She came in fourth in her division!!  So great :)

XO

Jen

9 comments:

Unknown said...

WOW!!!! OMG!!! Congrats Jen!
I predict under 30 soon!

and Nicole and Jeff!!!

Unknown said...

Thanks, Ang... I was huffing and puffing the whole time but I was hell bent on getting 33 - and I got 32! woo hoo.

Anonymous said...

First - You look so thin and gorgeous in that photo girl! Weight loss journey achieved!

Second - Rockin' time. I think 5ks are harder than halves because you have to push to the limit the whole time. Awesome job, congratulations!!!

Unknown said...

Thanks Lesley! :) You're right, it was a different experience because I'm used to holding back in pace most of the time to reserve fuel and this was the first time I really ran it like I was in a race and not just trying to finish... It was a good running experience and a perfect day for a run!

Sara said...

Congratulations - AWESOME time! I enjoyed reading your post! ;)

Unknown said...

Thanks very much Sara!

שאול said...

Hi Jen,

32/5 isn't 10:19 mi/hr - it's 6.3 mi/hr.
I doubt that you can sustain this speed for so long.

Did I miss something?

Shaul

Anonymous said...

32 minutes divided by 3.1 miles = 10.32 min/mile.

.32 min * 60 sec/min = 19 seconds

So her pace was 10:19 min/mile which is

60 min/hr / 10.32 min/mile = 5.8 miles/hr

Unknown said...

Thanks Leslie - Hi Shaul, thank you for stopping by. Are you thinking a 5K is 5 miles? It's 3.1 miles... I wish I could run that fast for 3 seconds, never mind 3 miles! :)