In the middle of last week, I found out about a 5K/10K happening here in town this Saturday. I was immediately tempted to sign up, although since the start time was 8AM, that didn’t make me jump. I already had to get up early for choir on Sunday morning, and this was the first Saturday when I had nothing planned since March. I even tried to get some runs planned with other friends. But eventually, I gave in to temptation, set my alarm, and registered on race day.
I also debated what I would sign up to race, but decided on the 10K. After all, since I can do a 10K without even thinking twice about it, might as well, right?
The first race I ever did was the Disneyland Family Fun 5K, but since I was more than a mile into it before I was out of the crowd enough to run, I don’t really count that as a real race. That was also almost two years ago, so it was before I started running as much as I am now. Since then, the only races I’ve done are mud runs, where mud and obstacles (and crowds) can slow you down. When I go for runs, I often don’t time myself, but when I do, I’ve noticed that my 5K hill time is still about 45 minutes.
All this to say that I wasn’t sure what time I would get. I decided I wasn’t going to push it and concentrate on running the entire way. I would just be happy with anything under 1:30.
So you can imagine my surprise when I got to the first mile marker, and one of the race organizers was giving the time and he said we were at 10 minutes. Oh well, I’ll slow down, I thought. Mile two, it was the same thing.
The course was an out and back for the 5K and a second out and back for the 10K. I hit the turnaround at 30:35. Suddenly, I was very excited. Maybe I could finish this in under an hour. So I began to push it a little more on the second half.
I was a little disappointed when I crossed the finish line at 1:00:46. But only for a minute. I just ran a one hour 10K. A year and a half ago, I couldn’t have done that. Heck, I still can’t wrap my mind around that time. True, I was about the middle of the pack and the guy that one finished in 35 something. But for me, this was very impressive.
This also came at a great time since I have been struggling with my double digit runs. I actually had to walk at least a mile in Wednesday’s 11 mile run since my knees had been bothering me since the very beginning of the run. I felt great almost the entire race and didn’t feel exhausted when I finished.
But I want that sub-hour 10K. There’s another one here in town on July 4th, and I am going to enter and I am going to finish in under an hour.
3 comments:
I am so proud of you! Look at all you've accomplished. I hope you are keeping track of the number of "official miles" you are doing. I'm at 90+ with mostly 5Ks. The longest I've ever done is a 13K.
We were "left in your dust" at the Disneyland race - but we had the chance to share the day with you and with Sue Ann. This is a day that we will always remember with pleasure.
That's a good time and you should be happy with it! I like the attitude of trying to beat it come July 4. You kind of set the bar in this race and then you have a target for the next one, and now that you know what it takes I'm sure you will be focused and prepared for your sub-hour 10K. Well done!
Shirley, I agree, the Disneyland race was lots of fun. If I did it again, however, I would probably take it slower and bring my camera. That's my biggest regret about that day. I think I was somewhere around 45 minutes for that race, which was my first ever.
LB, I am happy with that time. I had no idea what to expect since I had never done a 10K without mud and obstacles before, so it was definitely a bar setting race. And July 4th gives me something to train hard for after Tough Mudder in two weeks in between all the ultimate Frisbee I'll be doing this summer.
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