A few years ago, the S.O. and I ran a new, small 5K in our hood and we both placed fairly high. In fact, I got third overall, even after stopping to chat with the S.O. for a bit. Clearly the race was VERY small. Fast forward a few years to a move in venue and lot more runners, the Running for All Children 5K has become a fast race with a 10K, mile, and family fun run. The race benefits All Children’s Hospital in St. Pete so it only made sense for the director to move it from my hood to St Pete.
I had decided to run this 5K a little late as lately I’ve just been sort of going with the flow on these shorter distance races. Granted, I am not exactly training for a 5K and my legs weren’t super rested going into it. I felt I could run a 23 or 24 and be happy with it.
On Saturday I met up with several friends from Tribal Multisport plus one of the athletes I coach who was running the 10K. We milled about and all got in our warm up runs. The 5K was set to start at 7:30 AM and as I lined up I chatted with a local running friend.
The horn sounded and we were off. My goal for the first mile was 7:30. All I wanted to do was run a 7:30 and try to hang on with consistency and not bleed terribly at the end. I just wanted to finish not feeling like a total disaster.
The first mile ticked off at a 7:21. Oops. I was a little fast. I tried to hang on but by the second mile I was at a 7:35. And then mile three was a bleeding 7:41. So yeah, positive splits but no eight’s, small victory. The weather was really nice for a Saturday in May, it wasn’t exactly Beth-PR-Temps, but it was way better than normal. My finish time was 23:59 (according to my Garmin).
All of my friends did great with several age group awards and PRs. I was 5th in my age group and know I’ve got some work to do to hit those low 22’s and 23’s again. I actually got really pumped up at track yesterday in hope that I can still get faster in the 5K. The race is well organized and for a fantastic cause.
Post race, I met another group of friends at the beach to get in an open water swim and have a tasty lunch.
I hope you all had great weekends and Mothers Days.
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