Another PR

Ran my first race of 2013 this morning-- the Mayor's Cup 5K. It's a race that has grown in popularity in each of the seven years it's been run. Over 1500 folks toed the line for the 8 am start. Proceeds go towards the mayor's pre-K initiative, which is a special cause-- it gets kids learning and reading at an early age, and it encourages exercise in a region that needs all the fitness it can get.

Not to be forgotten is that we raced on April 27, a day that will live forever in our city's history. The F4 tornado that shredded our city two years ago on this day. For us, it's a memory similar to 9/11 and the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion. I remember that day and those hours like it was yesterday-- the buildings I drove by that day that were gone by evening, the time we spent in she shelter on the UA campus, and the friends we spent time with that evening. Even the brief thought that these may be my last few moments on earth.

We also remembered the folks at Boston Marathon whose lives are changed forever. Terrible things happened to people who are runners and support a major running event. It still breaks my heart-- it was an attack on innocence-- an attack on the running community of which I am a member.

I'm a little spoiled in that I don't really 'prepare' for races at this point-- a three-mile race doesn't intimidate me. I was more focused on getting to the front of the corral, hitting splits, and hopefully putting a good number on the board. It was also good to see some of my running friends, many of whom I don't get to see much anymore now that my time at the running store is over.

Last year, I had a minor hamstring issue and was unsure how I'd do. It turned out to be a non-issue, though the tight course and other traffic didn't help. This year I managed to get closer to the front, so I didn't have to weave through as much traffic. I even ran past our Thursday night trivia bar.

My goal this time out was to set a PR, beating the 23:07 at last year's Holt 5K, likely the toughest course in town, where the third mile is a solid uphill climb. I thought I could do better on a flatter course, but you just never know on race day.

As always, it took about a half mile to get my pace dialed in-- 2:05 and 1:47 for the first quarters, before I got settled. The course was similar to last year, we just ran it in the opposite direction. We headed down Paul W. Bryant Drive, past the football stadium that also bears his name, and through the Walk of Champions. So yeah, football is a pretty big deal around here. Also present near the stadium were the Central High School cheerleaders, plus Big Al, the UA mascot, with whom I slapped a high five. I thought it was nice that they all (plus the Bryant High cheer squad) wanted to be there to support the running/fitness community.

After that first half mile, I really red-lined it, running faster here than I do for my weekly tempo sessions, so I did question my will a little bit, finding comfort in the solace of a short race, knowing it'd be over soon. At about mile 2.5, I even passed the mayor, who has been a bit of a rabbit for me in the last few years. He's a distance runner himself, and a good one, at that. This was also something to hang onto toward the end, knowing I reached another goal.

I turned the last corner at 21:30 with a PR pretty much in my pocket, and I even thought a 21-something a remote possibility, but I didn't have anything left to give, so that (new) goal will live another day. I had to be happy with a 22:14, a new 5K best by nearly a minute, and a 43rd place overall finish, which put me in the top 3% of a race where I'd felt good about a top 10% finish.

So I ran hard and well, and I found another example of what I am truly capable of.