To PB or not to PB, that is the question

At the assembly league I had run what would normalise to a 23"10 5k. It was a hilly course, so in theory I should be able to break my park run PB.

Then night before was an England match, and I resist the lure of beer. In the morning I do full race preperation, with no breakfast, some strong coffee, PSP to drink. To spur me on I even load the iPod. I run in the lightweight Pirahnas. I ran in them on Tuesday, and absolutely loved them.

I start of steady and feel good. I see someone who looks like Johnny G run off the front.

I catch Richard halfway round the first lap and greet him with a jokey
"Not you AGAIN"
I keep running, feeling fast. The PB must be in the bag. On the second lap, Richard sails past in the way that he does.

I am running hard, squeezing every last drop of effort. It will be worth it for the PB that is odds on now unless something goes drastically wrong. The grass feels a bit slippy, but with this effort, it will not matter. Though I am trying race-hard, it doesn't feel as good and fast as Tuesday's club run had. Maybe I am built more for distance?

In the end the last half lap I am running up against 3 kids who I guess to be 11 or 12. They are matching me. Some how they look smoother and more natural. In the last 200 metres me and the last of the kids, start to sprint. Being bigger, I have a little more of a sprint and easily edge away to finish ahead of him. I applogise on the line, but I think he rather enjoyed the battle to be honest.

I look at the watch, my PB is 22:59", it's 23"12. Doh! I was convinced it was going to be a PB. I am really gutted.

Chatting with Johnny G after the run, he thought Thursday had taken it out of his legs. Don't know if I felt that. It was him that run off the front at the start though!

5km 23"12 (NOT a PB)