Broken Heart 5K

John Kilpatrick Sat Feb 16, 2013 2:54 pm

Decided basically on a whim to run a small 5K race just because I miss getting out there. My training has been awful in consistency with injuries and have only done maybe a couple of speed workouts in the past 6 months. I was so nervous at the start of the thing - felt like my first race all over again, which isn't far off because the last race I ran was November of 2011. I had in my mind that I wasn't going to look at my watch at all but just run hard but relaxed and see what happened. I thought that I could maybe hit somewhere in the 22 minute range, but really had no idea what would happen. Once the thing started it was just another run - my pace felt OK and I just tried to stay consistent. By the end I was huffing pretty good but didn't feel like it was necessarily my all-out strongest effort. Good news was that my leg/knee felt OK throughout.

Could not believe it when I approached the finish line and saw the clock. I finished in 19:23 with splits of 6:12, 6:20 and 6:15 and 36 seconds for the last tenth. I am ecstatic that a)I didn't hurt myself and b)I haven't completely lost all speed. Gives me some confidence that if I can ever get back to normal I will be OK. Haven't had any good running news in what seems like a long time so it feels really good!!

Michele "1L" Keane Sat Feb 16, 2013 2:59 pm

Congrats, John - that is awesome!!!!

Wish my legs would have that kind of memory!

Chris M Sat Feb 16, 2013 6:37 pm

Nice! That's a strong return after a huge layoff from racing. And the pacing is pretty good showing that you didn't blow yourself up doing it. Usually when I get a time like that its 5:XX, 5:XX and then like 6:50. Take it easy on the leg after that fast an effort. Tell yourself that you won't do anything faster than the 7:XX range for at least 3-4 days to allow yourself to absorb the race.