After being cheated out of a PR in my last 5k, and seeing how fast I ran the first 5k of my half marathon last weekend, I knew I'd be getting a PR today. I didn't know by how much, but I knew I was capable of under 18:30. My previous PR was 18:34 from like 7 years ago, so this was a long time coming.

It was such a nice morning. Pretty cool for this time of year in Phx. Only about 80 degrees. I ran into an old friend at the start, and saw a couple others I recognized from DM (Jim P. and Donovan K.), but had never met in person, but I wasn't able to talk with them.

My goal was to run 5:55s. My first mile popped up as 5:40, and I was feeling pretty good, but my second mile fell to a 6:06. Don't know how that happened. No worries though, I knew I was still ahead of PR pace. I could see Jim just a little ahead of me, and I knew that if I kept him in my sight, I'd probably do alright. Over the next mile, I gradually got closer and closer to him, and ran a 5:53. All that was left was make it to the finish line. Just after mile 3, some high schooler caught me, and I stuck with him across the line for a 20 second PR!

I wanted to talk to Jim afterward to thank him for motivating me, but he disappeared. So, if you read this Jim, thanks for pushing me this morning! It was also nice to run into Brian S. afterward, and Adam R. during the race. Great job everyone!

Official stats
Total time - 18:14
Overall place - 42nd
Age group - 5th