Breaking a Barrier: 5K in 18:06

On June 14th I ran a 5K in 18:06, which meant I finally broke a goal I had for most of the year of breaking 18:10. Below you see a picture of Jake Logan and myself after the race:

This race was the 2008 Run for the Pies in Jacksonville, FL. I had tried several times this year to break 18:10 and failed. I did 18:23, 18:31, 18:49, 19:01. I was getting slower and starting to worry I would not ever make the goal. I was probably racing too much.

When I was doing the Run for the Pies, I felt good. I was very optimistic that I could make the goal. About 2/3rd the way through the race I started to have my doubts, but I was able to quickly let go of them and just run. I remember turning the last corner, maybe 1/10th of a mile from the finish and running hard. I could barely see the LED clock in the distance and it read 17:30 or so. I knew if I pushed hard I could make it, so I gave it everything I had. When I went through the chute, as goofy as it sounds, I put up my arms like I had won the race. It was the first time I was ever completely satisfied with a run. I knew how hard I had worked, and how many times I had failed to run 18:10. Breaking 18:10 put everything right with the world. On top of that, since I ran less than 20 minutes, I won a delicious apple pie (my favorite!) and I came in 4th (out of 69) in Men’s 30-34, 22nd overall Men’s (out of more than 600).

Of course, such satisfaction is short lived. We must go on to other goals. In my case, I have two: on 8/1/08 I’m going to run a mile in 4:59 or less at a track meet in Gainesville; on 12/6/08 I’m going to run the St. Jude’s Marathon in 2:59:59 or less.