The St. Pat's 5k marks a year since my first 5k ever. Last year I was happy to run it in just under 30 minutes. I never would’ve imagined that I would shave off a good chunk of time only a year later. 25:57.9 was the official chip time for my 2nd St. Pat's 5k... My new personal record.
The race started right outside the state house and basically went straight up and back Smith St with one turn onto a side street that loops back to the main street.
Of course there were huge groups of people waiting to run. This time, we didn’t even try to push through the crowd to get closer to the front. We hung back a bit and I was actually able to start running once my foot passed the starting line. It was still a struggle to get through the swarm of humans but it spread out as the race went on. Luckily, it wasn’t like the CVS 5K -–which was ridiculously crowded.
As the race was about to begin, I spotted my friend Aura. Aura is a mutual friend whom I got the pleasure to meet during the CVS Downtown 5k back in September. She also ran the Newport full marathon while I only did the half. At the St Pat’s 5k, I was happy to see her and I gave her a goodluck high-five before the race begun. Little did I know just minutes later we would be pacing and pushing each other the entire way. We both did better than we had anticipated.
If it weren’t for Aura, I probably would have slowed down just after the only hill of the course.
Throughout the race, I kept looking at my watch and realized that my pace was a lot faster than my average training pace had been. With this pace, I knew I was going to beat my PR from the Jingle 5k. Because I was going faster than normal, I began to get muscle fatigue during the last mile. I wanted to slow down but with Aura at my side, she pushed me along until the end.
Honestly, when I started this race I really didn't have much confidence that I would beat my PR from the Jingle 5k. Training has been difficult through the winter season and I haven't been able to run nearly as much as I have desired to. So with limited opportunity to get out there and run, I was highly impressed with the final results. It certainly has given me the confidence and motivation to get my butt into gear, especially for this half-marathon coming up May 1st. Eeek!
25:57.9... not too shabby. Time to update my PR Tang! :-)
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