Just keep running

I haven't written here for a LONG time. The main reason is not a great one--I got a little more busy at work (it's always busy, this was just a bit more), and things like blogging/journaling took a nose dive. Fortunately, running did NOT. As I'd already learned about myself, I do best when I have a specific training schedule. This time it was from Jeff Galloway instead of Hal Higdon, and building up to a 10K in mid-September instead of a half-marthon in November. Which means some of the time & distances required are similar to what I was doing last summer.

A goal I'd set for myself was to run a PR in a 5K this year, and I did that on August 2nd! It was at the Free To Breathe 5K in Playa del Rey. This was the same 5K I ran at the start of my training last year, which was my previous PR! (Not the first 5K I'd ever done, but the first since I became a runner.) It's a clichéd "flat, fast course" that even has a downhill near the end without having an uphill part! That's because you walk the uphill to get to the start, then during the race you get to run down at the end. Maybe that's why my times are best there. Certainly the ocean breeze & view helps, too. Or maybe they don't mark the distance correctly. :-) Whatever it is, I'll take it.

My time was 27:52, a 9:00 pace. My notes say I had 8:52/9:50/9:00ish for my splits. Too fast at the beginning, too slow in the middle, but at least I finished faster at the end. I feel very good about this run. It's fun to compare this run to last year's. Back then I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. I ran holding a small water bottle and my phone/MP3 player in a holder in my other hand. Though my time was pretty good, I didn't look like it in the photo. I've since learned to beam for the camera, but there wasn't one at this race. So I took my own photo at the end. I didn't bring my own water, and I didn't stop for any on this shorter distance. I didn't do any run-walk-run for this distance, either, but I definitely am on my training runs. I'd read about leaning into a downhill and taking advantage of it, something I'm sure I didn't do last year. I proudly took home the race t-shirt, but I ran in my own gear.

What's also incredible is how I see some of the same people in these races. Maybe they see me, too. These events are drawing me from 45 minutes away, and I run at pretty much the same pace, so perhaps it should be no surprise that we see each other. It's just that LA is so big, I'm always surprised when I see someone I recognize.