Smashing a PR

I've felt pretty good lately, so I knew my 5 mile PR was attainable. But today's result was completely unexpected.

Like usual I got to the race pretty late. With the weather so nice, there were a ton of people. (5,000 announced, but 4,174 finishers.) The baggage area was a mob scene, and I got to the race start only a few minutes before the horn. The road was completely packed, and I was left standing on the grass nearby. I had to duck under the tape and join the crown after a minute or so. I ended up crossing the start line more than 2 minutes after the horn.

For the first mile, I was so annoyed at the traffic. I tried to stay on the side, but I really couldn't get any momentum going. I had to stop to a slow jog more than a few times. I remember thinking "Oh well, no PR today". When I got to the first mile marker, after thinking I was going so slow, I was shocked to see my watch reading 8:47. (Which was about my old PR pace.)

I don't know why I never learn. I think if I didn't start in a crowd, I would start way too fast. When I'm forced to run "slow" in a race, I probably run at a speed that's better for conserving some energy.

Anyway, after a mile it started to open up a touch. It was still crowded, but there were spaces to move into. I was happy about that first mile's time, and I knew I could speed it up and set a new PR. I was really feeling it.

8:52
7:43
7:40
7:31
7:15

As you can see from my splits, with each mile I felt better and better. I was keeping up the pace, and I knew I was going to be able to hold it for the whole race. It really felt great. I even had enough energy to really pour it on for the final stretch.

I finished with a net time 39:00, for a pace of 7:48. I basically smashed my old PR by almost a minute a mile. I'd be worried that they measured the course wrong, but the GPS data confirms it. Wow.

What's cool about this PR is that it makes me realize how much more I have in me. I don't think I'm anywhere near my potential in terms of speed. I think the speedwork and taking a few pounds off helped, but I'm in the process of doing more of both. I expect to keep upping the PR speeds for each of my distances.

Speaking of my diet, I was pretty good on Saturday. When I went out Saturday night I had a diet snapple, while my friends had shawarma platters. Today was the wedding, and I'll pay for that. But I wasn't too bad, and so I think it's fair to say I "survived" the weekend ok. Now back to our regularly scheduled program...