Previous PB:  36:37
New PB: 35:15

I was a bit surprised yesterday when I mentioned to someone that today’s race would be my 20th. I’ve come a long long way since my first race! And I aim to go further still with my goals for the year.

This race was pretty important to me. I wanted to redeem myself after my last race, where I finished with a PB but felt I could have done better.  So discussing the strategy for today with my coach, I knew what I had to do to really prove myself and test my training. And I trust my training. I really do. I’m in great hands with Luke as my coach, the running I’m doing is perfect for my abilities but also stretches me in order to improve. I’m loving every minute of it.

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Race morning was a leisurely one. I got a bit of a lie-in as I only live a mile away from the start. I had my breakfast then spent some time reading and playing with my cats. I usually try to get to a race an hour early, but today the plan was to use the walk to the race as a warm up so I left later than usual.

This was the first race where I did a proper warm up, and I know it helped. Before today I was always afraid a warm up would use up too much energy, so I avoided it. Today, I knew that a warm up would help me get past that ‘first mile sucks’ hump so I did a very easy mile from my house to the start, then after I dropped my bag off and took my usual start line photo, I did a few strides which got the legs loosened. I felt pretty good when I went to line up for the start.

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Well, this was it. The big test of my fitness and abilities since the marathon. The Donore Harriers Jingle Bells 5k Race.  I’d been told so many times that running a marathon would mean an improvement in shorter race times. In the days leading up to this race I was feeling anxious, because I didn’t want to run it and discover that nothing had changed. I wasn’t chasing a PB for the sake of a PB, but I really did want to see that I had improved as a runner and that I’d be able to give it my all in a race and see a difference.

If nothing had changed, I would have been so dejected and disheartened. So I went into the race a little bit afraid, a lot nervous but also very determined.

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Before I started marathon training I was running a lot of 5ks and thoroughly enjoying them. Then marathon training took over and I focused my efforts on getting in the distance.  The last 5k race I ran was way back in March! Now that the marathon is done and over (it’s been 6 weeks already!) I’m back to training for 5ks, only this time I’m training to run them faster. I call it ‘Project Speedy’.

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On Sunday, 15th March I ran the St. Patrick’s Festival 5k. I didn’t get a PB like I hoped but I did learn a lot of good things that will help my future running/racing plans. I can’t say this was my favourite race of all time, but I think it was the most beneficial one!

Before the race I took my usual photo of the start line, which was also the finish line!

So what did I learn from running this race?

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The Donore Harriers Jingle Bells 5k was my last race of the year so I decided to forget about trying for a PB and not worry about my time; I just wanted to relax and enjoy the race.  It worked! I really enjoyed this race with its festive atmosphere, beautiful scenery and easy route.

I had a few experiences along the way that reminded me how much I love running and how much fun it truly is. Not just for me apparently, but for others too.

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