By far, this was my best 5k to date. I got to the Parkway early enough to put in an easy couple of miles to stretch out my legs. I did some stretching and then I ran into MrPH from the running forum I frequent (Kickrunners.com). We saw loopy at the starting line and went over to say hi to him. (By the way, he kicked butt tonight and placed third. Way to go loopy! MrPH ran a great race as well and got a Masters PR.)

The weather was warmer this evening than last month but far less humid. It almost felt cool. Early in the race I checked my pace, 7:27. I slowed myself down and bounced between 7:40-7:50 for the next mile. First mile done in 7:45. I felt great and kept it up. I passed the wheezer, whom I feared would be annoying me again tonight, at mile 1.25 and saw her briefly around mile 2 as she caught up to me, but not for long. Tonight I was feeling strong. I finished my second mile in 7:54. Awesome. Two miles under 8:00. I knew that the final 1.1 mile was going to be tough. I still had my dreaded hill to contend with. I got up it fine but once at the top I was beat. There is a nice long decline at this point which I really used to my advantage to catch my breath. I knew I would be slower the rest of the way, my third mile averaged out to be 8:09. Yet, I still had enough in me to pass a few folks and really reel it in.

MrPH is standing under the bridge near the finish line yelling that I had less than 25 seconds to go to beat my PR. That was a great help. Thanks MrPH! I ran under the clock at a time of 24:47, but for whatever reason the guy punched in my time as 24:51. Whatever, a PR is a PR, and that is what I got tonight folks. A new PR.

By the way, Theia, I was hanging on to the “puke factor” at the end of the race and thinking of you. :)

Time: 24:47

Split Times:
Mile 1 – 7:45
Mile 2 – 7:55
Mile 3 – 8:09
Mile 3.1 – 0:58

Overall: 76/150 (50.7%)
Age Group: 4/19 (21%)
Gender: 21/58 (36%)