Human Race 8k – 29:06, 13 second PR!

I’m pumped to have run a big PR!

I wanted to start out a little faster and latch onto a group of faster women.  Typically I race from behind, taking the first mile slower and then ramping up my pace.  But, that often means I’m not really “racing” with others – I’m simply moving up through the pack.

I’m not sure if that’s the best strategy for me, although I guess it did result in a new PR.  My legs were pretty dead after about a mile and a half, I’m sure because of the shock of going out sub 5:30.  Granted, downhill, but still.

I hung on for the rest of the race, but it was just that.  I just made myself keep my eyes on the group and not let them gap me by too much.  Nothing exciting, nothing fancy.  I was passed by a couple of women between miles 1 and 3 and couldn’t do anything about it.  Again, not typical of me, which is why I wonder if I couldn’t have raced stronger if I had held back more that first mile.

Melissa, a former Run N Fun teammate nipped me at the line (darn that finishing speed!), but I was just pumped to have finished so close to 29 minutes.  My previous best was 29:19 in 2011.  In 2012 I think I ran just under 29:30?  I was secretly hoping to break that 29 minute barrier.  Guess next time I’ll have to find those extra 7 seconds! 🙂

I was able to connect and cool down with 2 of my athletes afterwards, which was super fun.  It’s very cool to be able to live through their successes. Both ran PRs (!!!), even though one of them was because she had only ever run one 8k before, and she was pregnant… but still… a PR is a PR, right? 🙂

Now I’m excited to start the last 2 month push for Fargo. 2 weeks of that will be a taper, so it’s really just 6 more weeks of mileage and hard work.  Bring it on!