New 8k PR 4th of July Celebration

I am back from the 8k race this morning. The humidity was wild again and by the end of the 1st km I was soaking wet. I ran mostly alone, or at least without my normal running partners and that was a bit of a drag. I did manage to PR (57:15) about 5 minutes faster than my last 8k back in mid-April.

I staved off the negative thinking that I struggle with when I run alone by trying to focus on a particular runner that is ahead of me and keep telling myself that I will pass them, I will beat them. I went by several in that fashion and then got to running in sort of sync with a guy that seemed to do a random run/walk. We leap-frogged each other from about the midway point until the end of the race. The last km was mostly up some small hills that for me were killers. This guy finally pulled ahead of me somewhere in this area and I couldn't seem to catch him, though he was hardly ever more than 50 yards in front of me.

The finish line was off of the main street that we ran back in on so you couldn't see it until the end. As I was nearing the turn point, Bonnie met me in the street and gave me some great encouragement. She offered to take my fanny pack which I gladly unbuckled and gave away (it has my driver's license and Blackberry phone for these shorter runs). As soon as she took it she told me that the finish line was in sight and I heard her say go and I figured what the heck. It was time to sprint....if there was any sprint left in the old body.

It turned out that I beat the guy ahead of me that I had been leap-frogging just in front of the finish line. I don't know if he realized that in my mind we were racing or not, and I'm not even sure if he cared that I passed him when I did. It was a personal thing for me, but I'm glad I did get in ahead of him. Next time he may beat me.

No photos from this race because Bonnie ran in a 3k race herself. She did a respectable 22:13, that we think equates out to a 36 something 5k and that would be a PR for her too. This was her first 3k race.

We had a great time, there were quite a few club members running today and that made it more exciting.

Almost forgot the times:

Mile 1: 10:48
Mile 2: 11:03
Mile 3: 11:33
Mile 4: 11:42
Mile 5: 11:52
168.6 ft: 0:14
Avg HR: 160
Max HR: 184
Total Time: 57:15 Pace: 11:22

I'm not sure what was going on with my heart today. I never felt like I was in any pain, but I did labor at times. I'm thinking it may have been the combination of the heat (about 80) and the humidity (75-80%). Maybe running alone had something to do with it too. I do know that I started faster than I should have, that certainly helped to get things elevated.