Race For The Roses- 5K

Did the Race For The Roses 5K this morning in downtown Portland. This race has always coincided with a work weekend or with a tri before and I've never run it. They had a half-marathon and a 5K, both of which started at the convention center and went over the Broadway bridge into downtown.
Awhile back I mentioned to my training partner (Cecilie) about a 5K coming up and she said she doesn't do 5K's. Then this week I mentioned the 5K again and she said "let's do it, what's your goal?" I said an 8 minute pace. So this morning we met at the start line and something I've never done before, we did a warm-up run. She took us about 6-7 blocks at steadily increasing speeds and then back to the start with 10 minutes to go. Started out and passed by the Rose Garden where the Blazers play and I had to work to stay with her as she zipped around people and got into the open. After only a half mile or less I was gasping and unable to talk, so we cruised along with her giving encouragement and saying slow down on the uphills. Before I would charge up a hill and then take a while to recover. She had me slow down going up and then charge down the hill. Passed the first mile at 7:32, I was ready to start walking, but we held a steady pace as I just thought about breathing in and out and getting enough air. She would know somehow when I could take more and speed up and then slow when I was too far out. We passed the second mile with a 7:37 pace for that mile. She said "just do an 8 minute pace now and you've got 24 minutes." All I wanted to do was lay down and go to sleep or something to make the run stop, but this whole race she was doing just for me, so quitting was not an option. Up the ramp to the top level of the Steel bridge and then down to the home stretch. As we turned the last corner I knew I was going to make it!! Crossed the finish line, looked at my time and felt instantly better. 23:49 for a 7:40 pace- a new 5K pr and one of my goals for this year accomplished (a sub-8 5K). I think I was anaerobic the whole time, but it worked! I came in 80th out of 663 and 7 of 20 for my age group. Cecilie actually came in 2nd for her age group, but we didn't stay for awards, we got what we had come for- a pr! They had a Chipolte's booth and Tillamook smoothies and Gleukos- a pretty good post-race spread. They gave us a rose at the finish of course and a nice medal.