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!