frozen 5k & a new PR

in 2010 i ran the frozen 5k as the first of my "12 in 2010" new years resolution and got a new 5k PR with 23:54. i didnt run this race again the following year, but in 2012 i ran and got another new PR and finally the 22:xx i had been working towards for a long time, running it in 22:02. i ran very consistent miles and executed that race better than any 5k i had ever done. i won 3rd in my age group and vowed to quit running 5ks forever.

last sunday was my 11th 5k since that race. i listen to myself well.

this years running of the frozen 5k was a very late decision. like the week of. i had planned a not so surprise bday dinner for the bff and invited a bunch of people to also run the 5k the following day, but what i forgot was that she told me she couldnt do the race because she had a massage scheduled. whoops. so i was happy i didnt have to run the race anymore since its been -45 degrees here lately and i deleted the invite to the race from the facebook page. then on friday before the race i got a text from one of the party attendees that she and her husband had registered for the race. great. now i had to run.

ive been having pretty good runs lately. my legs have turned over well, recovered well, and i thought i just might be able to do fairly well (hoping for 22:xx but was going to be ok with 23:xx. or 25:xx. or staying in bed all day). also the race starts at 1pm and the weather was looking the best it has all week, with sun and potential for temps in the 30s. alright, lets see what i can do. at dinner sat night i was also informed that my friends husband had decided he would pace me. guess there was no turning back now. (he wanted to pace me to go 21:xx. yeah. freaking. right! i told him 23. he laughed at me. why do i have mean friends?!)

i got to the race early and went for a mile warm up with sarah and jim. the weather was great, but jim kept kicking up slush at me and my feet were getting wet. the race is very small and had no official start line, so as the time got nearer we stood right in front with all the fast people so we wouldnt waste any time/distance. a guy got in his car ahead of us, stuck his head out the window with a bullhorn, and did a small countdown before yelling go. gotta love small town races.

the first quarter mile is uphill, and my average pace was reading 6:59. story of my life... take off too fast and die at the end. im glad i had jim and sarah there, both kept me in line and we slowed down. the first mile was really slushy and slippery and we had to keep weaving around and trying to find grip (i dont run with any sort of spikes on the snow). we got to mile 1 and turned onto a main road that was much dryer and clearer, and jim said "lets go. we gotta make up some time".

mile 1: 7:25

the next mile seemed to go by so fast. roads were clear and we just went. i kept jim slightly ahead of me and just followed his lead. i hadnt wanted to look at my watch and just trust him (which i did), but shortly before mile 2 i looked at my watch and saw average mile reading 7:15. i wasnt expecting this. every now and then jim would give me a thumbs up... i wasnt sure if that meant "youre doing well, were on pace" or "we need to speed it up". i didnt ask, just kept running. i also didnt confirm with him what finishing time/pace we were actually going for. oh well.

mile 2: 7:01

since i had done this race before i knew where i was in terms of the finish line, and knew there was a final hill to get up. sarah was just up ahead of us and we passed a woman shortly before the final turn. i didnt look at my watch any more... i knew i had 22:xx even if i slowed down a little (which i knew jim wouldnt allow me to do). my breathing was all over the place and he kept trying to slow it down, telling me to take deep breaths instead of panting. my legs felt great and i just kept pushing. the final hill was tough but we pushed hard.

mile 3: 7:04

coming around the corner for the final section of the race was really hard. jim was a little ahead of me and sarah just ahead of him. he kept turning his head and telling me to push it. i felt like i was giving it all i had after what i had just done. as we turned and saw the race clock, i was in shock. i didnt see 22:xx.

3.1 finish time: 21:56 (final pace 6:44)

holy. f. what just happened?! i went to hug jim and accidentally punched him in the face. im so nice! thanks for pacing me, let me punch you! i couldnt believe it, but i was ecstatic.

smiles for PRs!

ty and brayden had great races, and sarah got a PR as well! we ran a cool down mile and headed over the awards (and took lots of pics, duh).

 it ended up that sarah and i were 2nd and 3rd in our age group... but the woman who was first in our age group was also the 1st woman to finish, so we got 1st and 2nd! and sarah got a sweet trophy! we were also 4th and 5th women overall for the race. overall a great day with great friends!