This morning, I ran a 10K — and had another good race. My Garmin says I tied with my old 2005 PR that I just beat last week, but the clock as I crossed the finish line was 10-11 seconds later. Either way, it’s still only my third 10K under 58 minutes ever — and it’s a tricky course through gravel, pavement, trails and fields. I would have been happy breaking an hour; last year it took me 1:03!

After the race, I went home, showered, and got to work. I had a feast to prepare!

Pumpkin and apple

Tofurky, potatoes and stuffing

Tofurky

My feast!

Happy Thanksgiving!

As opposed to that fake one a couple weeks ago.

I ran a 10K on Sunday. It was a challenging course; one I’ve done many times before. In fact, just a week prior we did a test run.

The weekend before the race was a humid, rainy day. Not the best conditions to run a hilly course! But we did it, and I felt pretty good. We took a few walk breaks, and ended up finishing just over an hour.

My running buddy was thrilled since she hadn’t been that fast in a while. We planned to run the race together as well. Her 10K record for this course went back to 2004, 59:22. My best time for this course was in 2005, at 59:09.

My fastest 10K ever, also in 2005, was 57:36. I joked with her that we wouldn’t be trying to beat that one. We’d both have been quite happy under an hour.

I used to consistently finish 10Ks under the 60-minute mark. But the last time I did that was June 2006, at 59:54.

That was a month before I started running with orthotic inserts to try to help with knee and foot problems I’d been having.

I have been blaming the orthotics on my slightly slower pace, but I didn’t fully believe it. Maybe I was just getting slower as I got older?

Maybe it has just taken over two years for my body to adjust.

That recent 5K would probably have broken a record, had the course been long enough. I finished a 5-mile race earlier this month about 35 seconds slower than my fastest from 2005, but 4-5 minutes faster than my 5-mile runs since then.

And the 10K on Sunday?

57:26.

I beat my previous record by 10 seconds!

I run a lot of races. Lots of 5- and 10Ks, a handful of 5- and 10-milers and a couple half marathons per year would be normal for me.

I’m not a particularly fast runner. I usually place somewhere in the middle of the pack unless the field is really fast. Then I may wind up closer to the back. Occasionally I can place in my age group in smaller races, but I’m usually just out there competing with myself.

Runners like to call their best times their “personal records,” or PRs. It feels great to beat your best time!

On record, though, my 5K PR has been 27:19 since May 2005. But that course was too short. Most of the runners knew it right away, because the times were too fast. My Garmin confirmed it. A 5K is supposed to be 3.1 miles. I clocked this one at 3.01.

My next best race time, from February 2006, is 27:58. The distance checked out for this one.

I believe these are my only “official” sub-28-minute 5K times. I’ve surely had faster training runs (and actually, I ran a 27:40 on the treadmill last night), but I don’t really count those.

I ran a local 5K on Sunday, and started out with a great pace. I hit the first mile under 9 minutes. I kept it up for the second, and was feeling great.

I was tipped off that there could be a problem on the way back. There was also a one-mile fun run using the same course, with a half-mile turnaround. So when I hit that mark, I knew there was a half mile to the finish line. And the numbers weren’t right.

Maybe we were doing a loop somewhere near the end that the one-mile runners were not?

Nope. The course was off. I did see something on the clock at the finish line that I’ve never seen before: 25:55.

I don’t know how fast my third mile was, seeing how we never made it that far. My Garmin clocked 2.92. The iPod was a bit more generous with 2.97. Still really short.

So my new fake 5K PR is a time that I’ll probably never actually be able to run.

If the course was long enough and I kept that pace, I could have done something in the 27:30 range. If I picked it up, maybe I could have achieved my fake 2005 PR time.

I think all of my PRs are from my earlier running years, 2005-early 2006. Due to some foot and knee problems, I got custom orthotic inserts made in the summer of 2006. I feel like I’ve been slower ever since.

While I am a little disappointed that I can’t count Sunday’s 5K as my new PR, I am still thrilled to have had such a good run. It’s great to know I’ve picked my speed back up.

Maybe I can start setting some new PRs!