This past weekend we spent the Easter holiday down in Marion. Darren spent Saturday morning golfing, so to fill up my morning, I wanted to find a local race. Luckily there was a 5k just down the road, so I quickly jumped in on this action.

The Go the Distance 5k was put on by the Marion Boys and Girls Club, all proceeds going directly to them. They had a huge carnival set up for kids and a fun run for the little ones. I picked up my shirt and bib, did a short warm up jog and I was ready to go. I was a little nervous because I didn’t know the course at all, and I knew absolutely no one that was there.

We started and I quickly took off to find the perfect pace. I got into my groove and checked my watch, 8:15 pace. Way too fast, but I didn’t feel like I was going that quick, so I kept with it. First mile and I was still at 8:15, not bad, but I knew I had to slow down. I never remember my second mile time, but I slowed the pace at one point to about 8:45. Second mile is always the worst. I had one mile left, and I was feeling pretty good. I followed the girl in front of me until about a half mile left. This is where my memories of cross came back, and I was excited to sprint into the finish. We came down a small hill, and I rounded the turn right at 25:55. New “adult” 5k PR!

I was pretty pumped with my time, and even more excited that my knee pain was pretty minimal. I felt great and I was surprised that I was able to get my time down without doing any sprint workouts this year. First a RP in the 5 miler and now in the 5k, makes me wonder if I can get a PR in the half this year! Next up on my year of races is the half…..