How to get a new PB without really trying

Well the answer to the blog title is I don't really know, but somehow I managed to do it! After managing 30:41 for 5km the other night, I figured I hadn't given that my all and still had a little left in the tank. I was curious to see what kind of fitness I had.

So this morning as I lined up for my 5km race, the hopeful goal was to see whether I could manage to get under 30 minutes. I had only done that once before, and only just - my time was 29:57.

I have a habit of sometimes going out too fast, so I tried to keep things steady for the first couple of kms. I didn't check my watch until halfway, and I was bang on target, 15:02. I knew I had to keep up the pace, and pick things up just marginally on the way home. Things stayed pretty steady, and I was at 17:58 for 3km, then I got to a point on the course where a bus transitway cross the route. The local SES man this intersection, and race rules are that if a bus is coming through and the SES tell you to stop, you have to stop. Unluckily, I had to stop. It wasn't for long though, maybe 10 seconds, but I didn't have much time up my sleeve at that stage! Truth be told, the very breif breather was welcome! Anyway, on I went again, knowing I had to make up a little time. I did that, and was again on target at 4kms, so then I figured with 2km to go, I would just give it everything to see what I could do and just hang on for dear life! I knew I had managed to pick up the pace a little and reel in someone I had been chasing for a km or so, but I was absolutely astonished to cross the line in 29:16 (by my watch)!!! I must have flown in that last km!

The funny thing is, I really haven't been running at all lately. I've done 2 runs this week, one a couple of weeks before that, and that's about it. I have done a long bike ride once every week (of between 35 and 60kms) which I think has improved my cardiovascular fitness and endurance, and I have lost about 5km over the last 3 months which I think has helped.

I've signed up for the full series of these races, one each month, so I'm curious to see if I can squeeze any more improvement out if I actually do some running training! Hopefully the new PB will help motivate me to keep running some more!

And again...

Well, I've started on another comeback attempt on running. I've run a couple of times now, but I hadn't blogged about it yet just in case it didn't stick. I've also been doing some long bike rides, as I'm doing the Sydney to the Gong bike ride in a week or so.

So far, I've only done about 5 to 6.5km runs, but I have been pleasantly surprised that I have been able to run at about the same times as previously when I was running consistently. I did an informal 5km run at race pace last Friday with a group of Coolrunners, and I managed 30 mins 41 secs. My best for 5km is 29 mins 54 secs so I was pretty pleased with myself!

This morning I had to go to a course for work so I was able to get up at my normal time and fit in a run before work... I felt great going off to work knowing it was done for the day! Problem is on any normal day I leave so early I would be running in the dark, and I'm not fussed about that in my area.

This Sunday I have an actual 5km race planned, and the forecast is for rain, so we'll see how hard core I will be with my running! (And what kind of time I can post!) I've also lined up a work friend to run with each Thursday afternoon so hopefully that will motivate me a little.

Anyway, stay tuned for future posts!