Not a Pretty PR- Updated

Jake and I both ran the Seton Soles 5k- this was his first 5k since returning to running (3 weeks ago).

It was warm, about 70 degrees by the 8:30 start time. It was a pretty big 5k, with 637 finishers. We knew there were a lot of walkers, so we started near the front, maybe 5 rows back or so. I've read enough and been told enough to "run my race, my pace" and I didn't do it. I allowed myself to get caught up with faster runners and I started out WAY too fast. I knew it. I must have checked my pace on my Garmin 10 20 times in that first mile. Each time I saw a pace starting with a "7" I knew I was too fast and wouldn't be able to sustain that speed. I tried, though not very hard, to slow it down. First mile split was 8:07.

I tried to find my pace in the second mile. I knew I needed/wanted to be around 8:41. I just couldn't find it. I was either in the 7's or 9's. I ended up walking for the first time (of too many) in the second mile. The water station was a little before the 2 mile marker and as he passed me a guy said, "You go, girl!". There weren't very many women around me. I got passed in mile 2 by a woman in her 70's. I saw a few ahead of me, but I was running with the big boys for the first time in my life. Second mile split was 8:56.

The third mile wasn't much different- more walking. At about 2.8 miles I was going to pass a guy who was walking. As I caught him I said, "C'mon let's finish!" and he groaned but started running again. I wanted to walk and I needed somebody to push me just as much as I pushed him. Peer pressure is a b**** sometimes. When he picked up the pace he pushed hard. We ended up walking one more little stretch. I told him we still had a minute for me to PR despite my terrible run and he asked, "What time? 30 minutes?" When I told him under 28 he commented it was no wonder he felt so tired. We sprinted it out to the end. Third mile split was 9:10. Last tenth (0.16 on the Garmin) was 8:40 with a best of 5:57. I did say sprint!

After I crossed the finish line I walked back toward the course to find my camera (stashed in some bushes just before the start) so I could take pics of Jake as he finished. I heard somebody call my name and my marathoner-to-be friend was there. She came to watch us run (and the kids and I are about to go watch her somewhere around mile 21 of her race). Jake wasn't far behind me at all! He finished in 30:05, smashing his goal, even though he was a little sick over "leaving 6 seconds on the course."

We waited around a little while to see results posted. I was pretty sure I hadn't placed in the top 3 of my age group, but you never know. I didn't. My time was 27:37 with a pace of 8:53 (still a PR by 19 seconds) and I finished 5th (out of 36) in my age group. I finished 140th overall (out of 637). I have to be happy because it was still a PR, but I'm not happy with how I did it. Totally positive splits, didn't stick to my pace, and walked way too much. Our gym is starting a 90 day weight loss challenge, which I'm not participating in, but they're kicking it off with a 5k on Tuesday. I'm going to run that and work on finding that elusive 8:41 pace.

There was another 5k in our area yesterday that I didn't choose because the age groups were bigger. Go figure, I would have been first in my age group in that race. I'm going to add another 5k to my calendar in May. Jake has to work that day, but I've already booked our babysitter and I may even let her and the kids come to the race.