My Last 5k race for the year...
 

..and it was my fastest yet:)
I ran it in 22:40, ya, I know its not super fast, but I did come in 4th out of 10 in my age div. (40-49). Next years goal is to break into the 21:00 mark...I hope.

A year ago, I never thought that I would be into running 5k races, but this race will have been my 11th since 7/3/10.
Sure is fun....:D

seems fast to me. Congrats on the PR!

Thanks

Color me impressed!
 

Amazing time! Congrats!!!! :)

That's awesome! Congrats to you :).

Hmmmm....I've been doing some post race analyzing and I've come up with why my time was soo much faster than normal..

At about the 2 mile mark, I found myself between the super fast group and not so fast group with small groupings between.
I had set my sights on passing an older runner that looked like he's been running for quite a few years (looked like he was on running team). As I closed the gap on him, I can tell he heard me coming up fast and he started to increase his pace- great, a little drag race.
I did overtake him but he wasn't gonna let that happen with out a fight- we exchanged leads a couple of times, but I also noticed how distracting this guy's running style was.
His arms are were flailing everywhere, he had a weird running gait, I could hear his feet slapping the pavement and he was doing this groaning, almost yelling type of noise and I thought WTF?? How annoying because I can hear all this with my headphones on,..ugh.....then I caught a whiff of his B.O.-no effin' way was I going to be stuck behind a smelly and obnoxious runner, I'm thankful he didnt eat beans;)
So, we came up to the last long straight away with a slight incline and I punched it. Luckily for me, I had some pounding metal pumping out of my headphones that helped me keep my new tempo->http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nr7NOPk7eaI
. I put some serious distance between that guy and me and I never heard from him again.
The next turn was the final 1/8th to the finish- I had no idea I ran what I did till I checked the results.
So in a way, the stinky guy pushed me to a personal record:D

2 more weeks till the 1st race of '11.....I'm so addicted to racing now....

I've been doing th Couch to 5K workouts just to be able to run 5K without walking. How fast I run it is not the point for me, just being able to do it.

Last week I ran a full 5K with no walking. It's the first time I've ran such a distance in more than 25 years. It took me 36 minutes so yeah, 22 minutes seems kinda fast.

Couch to 5K works. I still have a couple more weeks on the program and suspect I will get my time down to around 30 minutes.

Congrats! I wasn't really too concerned with my times when I first started running either, ( I ran a 27:15 on my 1st 5k).
I was more concerned with running nonstop and actually finishing and not hurting myself in the process, so ya- give it time and keep training- it's all about the journey......

Great story of motivation for your fastest time, sw07. I feel slow compared to you :D.

I was kinda hoping to break 30 min. in my first 5K a week ago, but I missed it by 56 seconds. I have beaten it in training. Not sure if it was the rainy day, working around the other runners, or a Thanksgiving hangover. Or perhaps being 43 and out of shape most of my life :p.

If you've got any speed building tips, please post 'em. I've been working on incorporating intervals lately thinking that might help.

Yes I'd love to hear some tips. I am currently running a 5k in 34 minutes. However I haven't been able to run in over a week now. We have had a giant snowstorm and it's impossible. I am freaking out a little... thinking maybe I should get a gym membership so I could train on the treadmill when I can't run outside.