I was driving the boys to track practice last night. Mr. Neon was meeting me there. I got this crazy idea in my head and decided to bounce it off Mr. Neon. I called him and told him that instead of the prescribed mixed interval workout, I was going to attempt to break my 5K PR.
“Tonight?” he asked.
“Tonight,” I said.
I haven’t PR’ed anything in nearly 2 years, with the exception of a sad 11 second 10K PR. It counts, but my hip was in BAD shape. I’m just glad I was able to hold my fitness level.
I use a combination of heartrate and the McMillan Running app to determine what pace I should run my workouts. McMillan is based on a race PR. Right now my 27:19 two year old 5K PR is still my fastest PR at any distance, so I’ve been using it for my paces. BUT! My paces lately have been feeling a bit too easy and my HR isn’t getting into the zones that I should get it into.
So what do I decide to do? Run a fast 5K, just because I can. The temperature was relatively was cool, I was well hydrated, and I had access to a track. The only downside was that it was 6pm in the evening, not an ideal PR time for me who is normally an early morning runner.
I set off too fast. It hurt. I wanted to stop after each lap around the track. I ran near perfect positive splits (8:18, 8:28, 8:36). And yet, I managed to do it. An entire minute off my old 5K time. McMillan is now telling me that I should be able to run a 2:01:41 half. Should I line up with the 2:00 pace group? Could I do it? 9:05 pace for most of the race. Whew. That’s speedy.
Mr. Neon told me this morning that I won’t know unless I try. That’s what I’m going to try and do. There’s a high chance I’ll crash and burn. But the good thing about running is you always get another chance. There are always more miles left to be run.
Stay neon.
Neon Runner Girl 