34. Beat 5k Best

I set my personal best 5k time last year at the Blarney 5k and, at the time, I thought I'd never be able to beat it. My body's not really built for speed and a 3.1 mile sprint is much harder for me now than doing a 10 or 15 mile long run. My time last year was 23:46 which averaged out to 7:39 per mile. My goal this year was to do it in 23:45 or faster. I was really nervous getting ready for this race because I've never had a time goal - especially a goal that meant I'd have to run the fastest race of my life! The starting line is at the top of a hill and because of the down hill start, I started out WAY too fast. I ran the first mile in 6:28. I knew I was in all sorts of trouble and I obviously couldn't keep that pace so I tried to settle in to a more comfortable zone and just get to the finish line. I tried to let U2 distract me on my Ipod and that seemed to help. Two miles in, I stopped looking ahead and just looked at a spot on the ground 10 feet in front of me and (quickly) put one foot in front of the other. I gutted it up the brutal hill to the finish and was so relieved to see my finishing time of 22:35 - more than a minute faster than last year! My initial thought is that I won't try to beat that time but I know myself too well to say "never"!

Here I am at the finish with my good friend, Bud. He also ran in the Blarney Run and did well.