I made a new PR tonight!!! WOOHOOOO!!!
Photo Courtesy of David Colby Young - Maine Running Photographer.
I went to the WBCS 5K starting line with a lot of can-do attitude and the firm intention to push myself this time. My goal was to finish the race in 26:08 minutes, which means running a constant pace of 8:25 min/mile.
In fact, I had made a little "cushion" and set my Garmin 305 to "kick my butt" when I would run under 8:15 min/mile pace - which happened a few times along the course - but I didn't expect I would end up running an average pace of 7:50 min/mile (7.7 mph) and finishing in 24:40 minutes! LOL
My previous best time on the same course was 26:30 minutes, on the second race of the series and before I hurt my knee. Last week I made it in 27:48 minutes. Although it was more a relaxed chit-chatting run with friends than a race, I still have improved my time by 3:08 minutes this week!
Today's time was my best time in the series (so far) but also my best time ever! And my first sub-25 as well!
I guess slowing down during my training runs (easy and long runs who often tend to be tempo runs) and doing that hillwork/speedwork with the Ladies running group yesterday provided my legs some benefits.
Besides, being behind the finish line of that 5-miler last weekend and seeing competitive runners really pushing themselves until the very end of the race also brought me some motivation.
And... I like running in the rain! 
