5K BASELINE

I did it! Yesterday, in the wee morning hours I headed to the gym (still too cold outside for my comfort) and climbed on the all too familiar treadmill with one purpose in mind. My 5k baseline. Right now I am trying to see just how fast I can get my 5k. I’ve done all the distances (except the ultras) and have chosen this goal for my motivation.  Being a busy Mom of three young children, the training fits in nicely with needs of my kids.  Plus it's just so dang fun!  I'm a little competitive and the short distances (5k/10k) is where I've seen success so why not try to go for the gold, right?

Back to my baseline. In order to formulate my goal pace I had to have a place to start.  So after a warm-up mile at a 9 min. pace...I went for it!  As I was going I decided that I wanted to try to get below 24 min. (I'm probably more competitive with myself than anyone else).  Well, after a couple miles I realized I was going to have to pick up the pace if I wanted to accomplish that so about every 1/4 mile I increased the speed a little bit.  Still, by 2.75 miles I was going too slow to beat 24 minutes and so I started running as fast as I felt I could go to the end...7 min. pace...6:30 min. pace...6 min. pace...5:54 min pace...HOLD IT.....I made it! BARELY - 23.59 minutes. Whew, how's that for cutting it close? The computer spat out that my average pace was 7.44 min.  Not too bad, I'm happy with it.

Now that I've got my baseline I can set a more realistic goal instead of just pulling one out of the air. And here it is - sub 22. By the end of this running season I want to be able to run a 5k under 22 minutes. Can I do it? I think so! I usually do better running outdoors and I have my first race in a couple weeks to test out my ambition. Wish me luck!

Fitness tip - To set a realistic goal, figure out your baseline.  What can you already do?  Then go from there.  Best wishes toward your goals!