I would Have PRed!

Had I been in an actual 5K race!
As many of you know I have been in a running slump, mostly stemming from my Akron half. For that was the first time I seriously considered giving it all up and letting my body go to Hell on a scholarship. At the time I still had a full to do and I couldn't NOT do it. I had a hotel reservation, my parents had a hotel reservation, I had already registered and the thing that really drove me to power through was that I had bragged about doing one. I told EVERYONE! I had to finish it. And I did.

Afterwards I took a much needed full week off of running. The second week I tried to run again and I kept it to 2-3 slow miles. I felt slow, my legs felt drained and it just felt wrong. The third week following the marathon I gave up running and started cross training with boxing and bootcamp. And I felt alive again. Sure it hurt. A lot. But it was the good hurt. This week marks the fourth week and I had planned on just continuing my boxing and bootcamps. Actually, that's the plan until my one month unlimited package runs out, November 30. But winter is upon us here in northeast Ohio and yesterday was an anomaly. 71 degrees at noon, sunny and PERFECT running weather. How could I justify staying indoors and boxing? I couldn't!

I quickly cancelled my classes and ducked out of work a bit early. By the time I got home it was low 60s but still sunny. I put on my slime-green running skirt with the matching tank and some sleeves. Laced up my Kayano's and was out the door in less then 5 minutes. I was hesitant on which run I should do. I have several that start from my house and vary from 1 to 15 miles. Obviously, the first time out in a couple of weeks I'm not going to go for the 15. But should I do 2 or 4? I went with the 4 knowing that there was a cut through to bring me in at 3 if I needed it. And I did.

I went out strong, my first mile was 10:40 (strong for me. My normal training paces are around 11:20). My legs felt good and my breathing was heavy but not terrible. After the first mile I took a short break. My second mile was 10:20-10:30. I was amazed what a little rest and crosstraining could do. My third mile was a little more difficult with some hills. I still kicked ass and came in around 10 minutes, with some short 9:40 distances. I had my first negative splits! And, if you discount the walking parts I would have finished my 5K in about 31 minutes. Beating my previous 5K PR by about a minute!

This run may have restored my love for the sport. I'm going to continue with fast 3-4 mile runs this month. And hope that I can PR in my upcoming Turkey Trot.

*The above picture contains the best purchases/gifts EVER! My Garmin keeps me on track and my shuffle lets me jam out without the added weight of my iphone. Also, the Garmin allows me to track my progress week to week, month to month and determine where I need work.