A New PR and a Free Car Wash

Our club always has a bunch of runners who go to Bedford to run the annual pancake run. You know me if a race has good food, I'm there, so this morning I woke up early and headed out to race with my friends.

I ran inside to get my bib and got lucky number 177. Anything with 77 or 777 is always good in my book so i just knew that was a good sign. I headed out for a warm up with KM and B50. My girls are so great and they did 30 minutes with me despite it already being warm and Bedford having no flat places to warm up on. I wanted to get in 13 this morning. So a longer warm up was ideal to have less after the race and to keep me from running too hard and doing something stupid two weeks before pig. We discussed race plans and I wanted to be in the 7 minute range. I screwed up my workouts this week and was supposed to do a 5 mile run at 7:19 pace so I figured if I could get somewhere around 35-36 that would make up for that and then I wouldn't worry about my warm up and cool down pace. Towards the end of the run I joked that maybe I would just try to win the whole thing.

Well we got started and just like Spring Classic I was out in front. But I felt much better than Spring Classic this morning. The first mile I felt strong but even keeled I didn't feel like I was pushing too hard so i was shocked to hear 6:15 as I passed the marker. I wrote it off as being way short. At least that is what I hoped as if I really ran a 6:15 I was sure to pay for it. The second mile headed slightly uphill but we had a nice breeze coming at us that made the harder effort feel reasonable. I felt strong and just tried to keep an even effort. 2nd mile marker 7:06. Perfect. I felt like that was probably a more realistic pace and that I could hold it the rest of the race.

At the few corners we took i would glance back but I never saw any females. I was getting excited that i might be able to bring home a win. The third mile I hit 7:11. There was one water stop between 2 and 3 and I took advantage. It was really warm this morning and my throat felt really dry despite hydrating well.

The 4th mile got a bit rough with some slight inclines and the wind at our back not doing much to cool you off. I think the actual marker was a bit before the man calling times but I went with him for the split at 7:33 and 28:06. I made a mental check to pick up pace on any downs to try and hug 7 minutes to come in at 35. The last mile was a bit up and a bit down and finished on the high school track. I thought before we hit the track, please let it be less than a lap but we got to do a near full lap before we reached the finish. I held off on any kick until the last 100 meters in case any women were coming I wanted to be able to turn it on. Last mile I hit 6:58 for 35:05, a new 5 mile PR for me.

I made sure to thank all the volunteers I passed on the course today and cheered on EM's kids who were finishing their 2 mile race as I was coming in for my track finish, and I smiled big for the photographer at the end of the race. I feel like when you run a happy and enthusiastic race the karma gods have got to smile back at you and it looks like today they did.

I am super stoked. I don't think I have won a road race ever and the last cross country race I won was probably my sophomore year of high school. I realize this was just a small local race, and my pace wasn't breaking any records, but it felt good to lead a race the whole way and finish first. Also it was nice I had the option of running a tactical race and not having to push hard at the end to grab the win.

I grabbed some water and powerade and cheered on club members. EM came in 3rd and KM 4th (1st master) B50 ran great despite being hung over and having done the 30 minute warm up with us and won her age group. This race is always a blast as it is a nice race for SERC to show how talented all our runners are. Plus you get pancakes!

The girls and I got in a 10 minute cool down before heading in for the awards and the pancakes. They accidentally got two women's masters plaques and no overall plaque for women so I didn't actually get any hardware but I did get a free car wash, which in all honesty is much better than any award. I am all about prizes you can use! So I told the race director not to bother ordering an award as it would just go in my little cardboard box of random age group wins. I can't wait to go get my car washed though! It needs it!


After the awards and a pancake breakfast I headed out with B50 for another 20 minutes. It was super hot at this point and since we had just eaten we took it easy. I figure I got in around 11 today so I am happy with that.

All in all a very good morning for me! And what a great mental boost for me going into pig!