Perfect, Congrats.

That's the text I got back from D when I let him know how I did in my 5k race the other night.

Then he said, "That's only 2 seconds off where we thought you'd be." Or something like that.

On a hot night, in the middle of distance training, hitting a 23:50 would be good, a 23:40 great, and a 23:38 was possible. My 23:33 (or :36 - can't remember) PR would be cool to break, but in the heat of this forecast, it wasn't a given. I, secretly, just wanted to run under 24:00.

I knew the first mile of the Run for Tony local 5k would be fast -- it's all pretty much downhill -- and it was: 7:22. (I should interject a qualifier here that the use of the term "fast" is relative in this context. I'm not that fast, but these are fast paces for me!) I was actually pretty comfortable through most of that mile, but sometime after starting the second mile, I thought I'd better slow down a touch or I'll limp the last mile home.

Apparently paying attention to my pacing wasn't entirely on my mind (maybe it was my breathing, or the couple people in front of me who I knew were trying to break 24mins, too) and mile two got too slow: 7:45. Rats. Then again, it was the toughest mile of the race, with some inclines that worked your legs...

By the time I hit the end of mile 2 and knew I only had a mile to go, I was realizing I was feeling sort of ok. I mean, I didn't feel great, and I didn't feel like I could go a whole lot faster, but I felt like I could hang on. So I did. Mile 3 was 7:43. There was another incline toward the end of this mile, but I realized I was passing some people and that made me power up to where it was leveling off.

It was hot, and a touch more humid than I thought it would be, and I was still running fast. My day-long insecurities about running the 7:35-7:40 paces that D planned were not necessary. I could do it. Huh.

As I got to the last .2 of the race, I picked up the pace. The road levelled off, the turn into the finish area made, and I was sprinting to the finish. 23:40. And I didn't puke.

While it's a few seconds off my PR, I'll take it. That PR was set in March '08, and given the heat in August, and the fact that I was ok in this race, the result isn't that important. I found out I could run faster than I thought.

I checked the results later: 23rd female out of 240, 140th OA out of 518+ finishers.

I don't know that I would have used the work perfect, but I feel good about the race.