A 5-Mile PR!

My right hip and leg were a bit sore this morning--I didn't stretch as well as I should have after my long run on Sunday. I went to the gym even though it was a lovely day because my friend and sometime gym partner Betsy's birthday was yesterday, and I wanted to take her out to lunch. Which is much easier to do if you're in the same place for a while before lunch. So there I was, back on the indoor track with the lap counter in my hand, clicking my way through 32 laps. I really should have dialed it back a notch with my sore hip and leg, but I didn't. I wanted to run 16 laps, walk one, and then run the other 15 laps. No gel or pretzels or Sports Beans today--just water during the walk lap.

Five miles is an odd number, and maybe that's why it doesn't appear on the schedule very often. To my surprise, I have only run this distance twice before: once waaaaay back in February, and once at the five-mile race last month where I rocked it.

Well, today I totally kicked its butt. Even with walking a lap in the middle, I finished five miles in 51:14, good for a pretty blistering (for me) 10:15 pace per mile. I don't think I have ever held a pace that fast over this long a distance. I did a 10:01 once, but that was only a three-miler.

Eleven-minute miles (or possibly even a touch faster?) for the half marathon are looking like a pretty good bet right about now.

(P.S. "PR" stands for "personal record"--your personal best time for a given distance.)