Longtime runners

Those of you who have been runners in the past... what do you consider your PRs?
I ran xcountry in highschool and was much much much faster than I am now. 11 years and 3 babies later I am back into racing and even when I run a great race, I compare to my old HS times and feel disappointed. My fastest time after babies is over 3 minutes slower than my HS PR. Do you just let go of the past and start fresh?

Re: Longtime runners

I ran in my early 20's, but not for long. I then took several years off and went back to it about 7 years ago. I tend to go by my recent years. I know back in the day, I have run extremely fast races, but I wasn't as obsessive as I am now and didn't really track; therefore, I just go by the past 7 years, which is my "recent race history".

You shouldn't be disappointed, you just had babies a few months ago and will probably continue to get faster. I will say that this past year I have PR'd in a half marathon, 5k and 10k and had baby #2 just over a year ago. I did my first post-baby race about 5 months later, a 4-miler and tied my PR (not that I've done so many 4-milers). I then did a half 3 weeks later and ran my fastest time to date...but then beat that time 5 months after in a different half marathon. So I definitely think the further pp I got, the better I raced. Your body is still recovering, and hormones definitely stick around for a few months. I pretty much had back-to-back pregnancies, one being with multiples, so I knew my body was already due for a recovery mode.

I bet you will truly impress yourself - although I think you did awesome in your last race :) Remember, us moms don't have a ton of time to commit to training, so just racing alone is a HUGE accomplishment!!

Message edited 12/11/2010 3:11:55 PM.

Re: Longtime runners

There is no way I'm touching my HS time for 5K - 19 minutes! I use Post Babies PR (4 minutes slower!!)

hmmm - maybe if i was that weight i could get closer? I'm all ready for age 40, so I can go into masters running! lol

Message edited 12/11/2010 5:03:44 PM.

Re: Longtime runners

I feel the same way! I ran xc and track in hs and my times are def not as good now, BUT i did run the LI half and I had never accomplished anything like that before so I was pretty proud of myself for that! I used to run like 20-21 min 5k in HS and nowadays if i can break 25 I am very happy! I'm not running right now since I'm PG though. I miss it and hope to get back into racing much sooner than I did with DD. Good for you for getting back into racing so quickly!!

Re: Longtime runners

Re: Longtime runners

I have no children and I was not very good at running in HS, even though I ran all three seasons.

With that said, I currently train much harder than I did in HS. In HS, I thought a long run was a 5K. Now, that would be like a rest day.

I am currently 3.5 - 4 minutes faster than I was in HS. I base my PR off of a 5K I ran last year (although I think the course was .02 short)