TITLE: A New PR in the 5K
AUTHOR: Eugene Wallingford
DATE: December 12, 2004  2:03 PM
DESC: Recent speed work paid off yesterday in a new 5K PR.  But many goals remain to be reached.
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I accomplished one short-term goal yesterday morning: I PRed
my final race of the year, the Snow Shuffle 5K.  My previous
best had been a few seconds over 22 minutes, and I was aiming
to break 21:42, a 7:00/mile pace.  Despite being bundled up
on a chilly day, I ran a 21:25.  Hurray!

After my marathon last year, I found that this is a great time
to go for a personal record in a shorter race.  Marathon training
helps you build up aerobic fitness and plenty of muscle, and
that's a great base for anaerobic training.  So, since the
<A HREF="http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog/archives/monthly/2004-10.html#e2004-10-18T11_24_18.htm">
   Des Moines Marathon</A>,
I've been working on my short speed.  It paid off.  The good
news is, I think I can run faster...  The weather and clothing
certainly weren't ideal for racing, and I even ran the first
mile too fast.  So watch out for me next April -- I'm going
to try to do myself one better!

This was my first race in the 40-49 age group (ack!), and my
PR was good for only fifth place in the category.  In my
neighborhood, the 40-49s are fast.  So I have plenty of goals
to shoot for.

I went out this morning for an easy 12-miler, but a weather
front is moving through the region right now and it threw
some serious gusts of wind my way.  The most remarkable one
came seemingly out of nowhere at what must have been 40-45mph,
caught me headlong in mid-stride, and nearly knocked me on
my behind.  I've never felt such a belt!  The universe is
reminding me to be humble, I guess.  A good thing to be
reminded of every now and then.
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