Spikes and a PR

Yesterday I got new spikes. We had ordered them in the mail, and they arrived yesterday, which was very convenient seeing as how today was my last race of the season.

This is the first time I have ever had spikes. They replace the flats I got in the fall of my senior year of high school, which were the first flats I ever had. Before that, I raced in sneakers.


Here is a picture comparing my flats to my spikes.

When I told my mother I got spikes, she thought I had just gotten the little sharp metal thingies and attached them to my old shoes. But this is not the case. "Spikes" are shoes with screw holes so that you can attach little sharp metal thingies to them.


Here is a picture of the bottom of my flats as compared to the bottom of my spikes.

Today I ran the 5k on the track for the first time ever. I ran a PR, because the first time you run something, your time is a PR, since it is the fastest you have ever run it.

It was also a relatively fast time. I ran really slow last week, so my goal was to run at least as fast as 7-minute miles. My first mile was 6:35, and my second was apparently 6:50. I ran the last mile faster, and had a lot left to kick at the end, meaning that I should have run faster the rest of the time. I missed qualifying to continue my season by 27 seconds (I ran 20:41; qualifying required under 20:15), but 27 seconds is kind of a lot, so I am not terribly saddened. I will certainly run my second 5k of all time even faster. This will probably be at RPI in a couple of weeks. It will be stellar.

And now that I have spikes, if anyone attacks me, I can fend them off with 14 little sharp metal thingies. Awesome.