New 5k PR

Yesterday I did my first repeat race and first 5k in a while.  It's a chip timed charity 5k in our town.  Last year I ran it solo and had a good time - 27:51 (3rd In my age group).  

This year the whole family signed up.  I told Little Reader that I wanted to run this solo but will run her Girls on the Run with her at her pace in a few weeks.  I wanted to go for a PR.  She understood.  Little Hugger and Little Man were planning on walking the whole thing.  My husband said he would walk, but actually ended up running quite a bit.  

I was determined to get a PR today, but I knew I would have to consistently run faster than my regular pace.  The course was easy enough - flat, and straight for a little over a mile then a small loop before heading back the way we came.  I had Endomondo set to tell me my expected finish based on current pace at each mile.  I knew I was off to a strong start in the first and second mile but by the third mile I had a side stitch and I was losing steam. But at mile 3 endomondo told me my expected finish and I knew I still had it.  Just at that moment one of the elite runners (who was already done) saw me and said,"Great job!".  I crossed the finish line with the gun time showing less than my previous time.  

Final times - 26:35 (1st in my age group), 3rd female overall.  Unfortunately there are no medals given in this race, but at least I know I got it and 1:24 faster than my previous best.

Little Reader - 34:15 (5:16 better than 6 months ago thanks to Girls on the Run).  

My husband finished in 39:13.  He had never done a race before, and admitted that while he did walk a bit, whenever he was crossing a street or running past volunteers he felt he needed to pick up the pace.  Yep, I know that feeling. 

Around 45 minutes after the start we still hadn't seen Little Man & Little Hugger, so I walked back to find them, since I knew the police were starting to open the streets up.  They were fine, just taking their time, ran the final block and finished at 1:01.