5K #FAIL

Breakout 5k & Philly AIDS Run 5k

I was surprised that I didn't break my 5k personal best this fall. I set a personal best this spring, running the Clean Air 5k at 19:03 without doing any speed work. That was a 6:07 pace.

I started doing speed work in May under the direction of Breakaway coach Todd. By this fall, I was able to run my mile repeats at 5:55 comfortably.

I thought I would be able to hold a 6:00 pace for a 5k, thus finishing under 18:30.

I was wrong.

I ran the Breakout 5k at 19:08 (6:09 pace). My first mile was 5:50 and I probably averaged 6:20 for the last 2 miles. I was out of air crossing the finish line.





The following weekend, I tried again at the Philly AIDS Run 5k. This race was held on the same course as the Clean Air 5k. My mile split was more even: 6:03 / 6:12 / 6:03. My time was 19:11, averaging 6:09 per mile. The consolation prize was the fact that I finished 3rd overall.

It would have been wonderful to break 19 minutes this year. It didn't happen. I still believed that I became a faster runner this year at every distance.