A Month of PRs

BAM!  BOOM!  POW!!  Just like that, I ran three races in September and got a personal record (PR) in each.  The first was the Labor Day 15K put on by Thruston Racing.  I ran the 5K course last year and won 2nd place in the Clydesdale category.  This year I rose to the challenge of the 15K course.  I wasn’t heavy enough to race as a Clydesdale, so I was competing in the Male 35-39 age group.  Even though I had run my first half marathon just a couple of weeks before this race, I had the shadow of a painful 15K from back in January hanging over me.  I was determined to best my performance and enjoy the race at the same time.  I finished in 1 hour 29 minutes and 18 seconds; well over half a minute faster that my previous time.  I was stoked and ended up winning 5th place in my age group!  I also felt much better afterwards, which I’ve chalked up to three things:  improved fitness through better training, the right running shoes, and the right nutrition (in my case, GU Energy Gels).

Of course, my girlfriend Kathryn was there to support me and celebrate with me.  She rocks!!

The second race was the Toyota Tour des Fleurs 10K.  I missed out on this one last year, so I was really excited to finally get a chance to run this race.  A LOT of people turned out for this one so I started out slow.  Negative split racing struck again and I was bookin’ it on the last couple of miles.  My favorite moment was coming down to the finish line and running past some drummers from one of the local high schools.  They were playing a really cool cadence and I was running the last few yards to their tempo.  The race photos even caught a really good picture of me smiling and having a good time just before finishing in 55 minutes and 16 seconds.  I beat my previous 10K PR from October 2008 by almost a minute!

The final race for September was the Autumn Equinox 15K, another Thruston Racing event.  Once again, I had run the 5K last year and won 1st place in the Clydesdale division.  This year I was going long.  The hardest part of getting a PR comes when you do your next race at the same distance.  You’re just wondering how the heck your supposed to do better than last time when you remember giving it everything you had.  How can you give more than everything?  Maybe if your everything is more than it was last time…

Evidently I had more on September 26th 2009 because I demolished my PR from the Labor Day 15K less than three weeks earlier by well over 7 minutes!  My finish time was 1 hour 22 minutes and 6 seconds.  This was a stunning accomplishment that still amazes me today when I think about it.  I needed that because apparently all the fast folks decided to turn out for this one and I ended up sans medal.  Also, Kathryn was sick and couldn’t come with me to the race.  But she would make it up to me next month…

jb