>PR.. was I supposed to do that?

>I ran Race for the Cure 5K this morning here in town.. it’s always nice to not have to drive miles and miles for a race. I was up at 4:15, a very normal time to get up when we have a 20-miler in front of us. I dozed until about 5:45 and then called Amelia.

She came over and picked me up and then we headed down to the start line. We found Gabi, Darla and Cindy, all ladies from church (well you know Gabi!). I thought for sure it would rain this morning, but it turned out to be beautiful!

Gabi and I didn’t want to run too fast, but we both had the same train of thought: What’s the point in running this if we’re not going to try to PR? So we tried to start out slow, and that just did not go well. We were weaving in and out of so many people. I’m more used to the races now with time corrals. Anyway, the first mile of this route is very familiar to me; I’ve run it many times on four and five-mile runs in every kind of weather.

It’s a hilly, twisty route, honestly not my favorite. There was no three-mile marker from what I could see, but I know the neighborhood well enough to gauge how far I was (and I have my trusty Garmin). I went without music… I love the sounds of feet on the pavement and everyone’s breathing.

I had no trouble mentally this morning, but my legs started burning around mile 2 and I felt like my heart was going to beat out of my chest (not in a bad way though). I finished at 27:56, pace 8:57! My last 5K was in November at 28:43, so I definitely PR’d. I’m not sure if I’m “supposed” to do that one week post-marathon, but I did.

After Gabi and I were done (she finished before me), we saw Cindy cross the finish line shortly after. Gabi and I went back to run across the line with Amelia.. she did great! Right around 40 minutes for her first 5K! So proud of her. I think we might do the Washington Cherry Festival 5K in a few weeks. The three of us went out for breakfast afterwards and despite all the extra traffic in Peoria, we didn’t have to wait that long.