My first 5K of the year was on Sunday, and was quite the race! It was also my first Women’s Distance Festival race of the summer. I’ll be hitting at least three more to get the participation award (they’re usually great), besides, they’re fun!

I’ve run this race almost every year since 2005, where I ran a 27:19 that remained my PR until last summer (26:47).  Of course that was about three minutes faster than I’d ever run a 5K before at the time — the course was short that year!

The following year they added a parking lot to the loop to make up for the missing mileage, and the course has pretty much been the same ever since.

This year there was a change. It was a double loop as it’s always been, but they took that parking lot out. Instead near the end of the second loop, we added an out-and-back spur.

I started out with a quick pace, surprisingly close to the front of the pack.  I glanced at my Garmin a few times and slowed down a touch when I was seeing numbers I didn’t think I could maintain!

I was happy with my first mile split: 8:38. Shortly after the first mile marker there were some hills as we started the second loop, but I actually managed to speed up, 8:23.

I was trying to hold it but lost a little speed on that last mile.  The second loop started to incline a little bit, and then we turned off to run that spur. Going out it didn’t seem so bad, but the way back was a gradual incline. And when we finally got to the top and turned back into the loop, it was uphill!

The last .25 was tough.  I was breathing hard and struggled to keep up the pace, knowing I was almost finished. Mile three: 8:47. The final turn into the finish chute is downhill!

I finished in 26:20 — a 27-second PR. Woo-hoo! (Garmin mileage = 3.08. I’ll take it!) I also placed 3rd in my age group, 25 out of 97 overall.

Out of the five times I’ve run this race, I think I placed 3rd four times. (Gotta love small races!)  Usually the award is a craft of some sort. A hand-painted piece of wood with a runner girl on it, a glass votive with tumbled rocks and silk flowers glued in …

But this year was the 30th anniversary and they had official awards!

And I won a random prize for a free pair of running shoes. Yippee!

I’m sure all this speed work is helping! That’s why I happily suffered through 14x400s last night.

2:02 goal. It was another chilly night (below 60F), which made it a lot more pleasant on the track.

1. 1:56 (too fast, as usual)
2. 2:03 (bah, too slow!)
3. 1:58
4. 1:58
5. 1:58
6. 1:57
7. 2:01
8. 2:00
9. 2:01
10. 1:59
11. 1:58
12. 1:56
13. 1:57
14. 1:54

Looks like I took a little break in the middle, but I’m happy I could pick it back up again.

Phew!