After my awesome performance at the Cedar Point race, I set my sights on training for a 10 mile race – my goal is to run the Crim this year. I have been super diligent about my training plan, and it is definitely paying off. I have been doing run/walk intervals… I’m sure there’s mixed feelings out there about that. Shoot, even I have mixed feelings about it. Can I run a 5k without walking? Yes… I can run a 10k without walking! But I’m faster if I run/walk. So that’s what I have been doing.
Today I ran the Bee Healthy for Life 5k. I work for St. Mary’s, and the profits from the race will directly benefit my patients. Some of my patients were running or walking the race today… their first time ever running after successfully losing weight! I ran today with my boss, who was nervous for this race because it was his first official 5k. I knew he would be faster than me, but hoped that he would push me to run faster. I had originally decided that I would run the whole race because that was his plan.
The gun went off and we were on our way. As I thought, my boss was faster than he thought he would be. :) He tried to keep me in his sights but eventually I just waved him on. Races are personal… I know how awesome it feels to be your best! As I reached the first mile, I could feel myself wearing out and slowing down. I decided to switch to run/walk intervals. I was surprised when my Endomondo app told me that I had run my first mile at an under 11 minute per mile pace! I kept up my running pace and speed-walked my walking intervals. I reached my second mile and was just barely over 11 minutes per mile. As I reached mile 3, I thought that I wasn’t going to PR because my pace had dropped to 11.5 minute miles… but I still pushed on, trying to conserve a little for the very last stretch of the race so I could sprint in.
When the finish line was in sight, I pushed it into full gear and sprinted out the finish. The clock read 37 something. I was thinking okay I still did great… I wasn’t thinking about the fact that the 10k race had started a few minutes before the 5k had started. I caught up with my boss and he asked me if I PR’d. I checked my Endomondo app and saw 3.16 miles in 35:05… YES! I definitely PR’d! Even if it wasn’t official, this was good enough for me! My boss and I walked up the trail to cool down, then headed back to the event. We went to check out the official results. My boss finished 3rd in his age group – AMAZING for his first 5k! I found my name… I finished 9th in my age group… and my official results had my chip time at 34:52, a pace of 11:14 min/mile. A PR 7 years in the making!
My new official 5k rankings…
- St. Mary’s Bee Healthy for Life (June 27, 2015) 34:52, 11:14 min/mile
- Race 4 a Reason (October 26, 2008) 35:22, 11:23 min/mile pace
- Cedar Point Millennium Force 5k (June 13, 2015) 36:23, 11:43 min/mile pace
RD on the Run 
2 thoughts on “Race Recap: St. Mary’s Bee Healthy for Life 5k”