My First 10K Experience

Well, of course I finished!  And I'm pretty happy with my time.  :)

A couple of people have already asked me, so I thought I'd better post an update fast.

Did I enjoy it?  For the most part, yes.  Did I reach my goal?  Pretty darn close.

Going in, I wanted to run 10 minutes per mile.  I finished with 10 minutes and 7 seconds per mile.  Chip time of 63 minutes and change.  Not too shabby for me.

I have to say, the race experience is completely different from training.  It wasn't the downtown Houston streets that got to me.  Nope, the streets downtown are honestly no worse than the sidewalks in my neighborhood: uneven, unlevel, and somewhat littered.  But, they were a LOT more crowded than suburban sidewalks, even during the morning "get the kids to school" rush.  Even more crowded than Memorial Park at peak hours.  Even worse than the Warrior Dash I was in last fall.

There were 13,000 people all leaving from the same Start, racing toward the same Finish.  And not everyone played by the rules.  Slower runners (and walkers) did not keep to the right.  People passed on both sides.  Runners jostled each other as they fiddled with the settings on their iPods.  I can't count the number of times someone stopped running and started walking right in front of me.  It was mayhem, people, just mayhem!

Okay, that's a little dramatic.  But I learned a lesson - courtesy is not common, and it goes straight out the window when the starting gun sounds. 

So, what else did I learn?
- There are hills in Houston and I need to train for them. 
- Right about the time you hit your personal wall is when some guy behind you will start a conversation on his iPhone ("It's okay, I can talk, I'm just running a 10K."). 
- There is a vast array of sounds that come out of the runners, especially after mile 4.  Some are funny.  Some are not. 
- Go with the downhill; you earned it on the uphill. 
- Always wait until the last table at the water stations.

Coming up this week: Strength training with Week 4 of Mesocycle 2 in Cathe Friedrich's STS, 17+ miles of running, and 2 days of high intensity interval training.  I'll fill you in on my thoughts about the importance of strength training for runners after leg day on Wednesday.

Until next time.
Start slow, finish strong.
http://pages.teamintraining.org/txg/rnr11/mdavisou4m

This week's training update

Well, I promised everyone that I would keep you posted on my training progress, so here goes.  I ran 20 miles last week.  20 miles!!!  Me!  Wow!

Tuesday was my tempo run at 4.5 miles, and that went not-so-well.  We had our annual awards presentation Tuesday morning, which meant I had to forego my usual work-from-home and drive into the office.  Then my boss won this HUGE award so of course we all took her out to lunch.  And that lunch was my downfall.  Instead of listening to my usual voice of sanity, I got something a co-worker recommended and it was wonderful..... until it was sitting in the bottom of my stomach like a chunk of lead 4 hours later.  I sucked it up and ran, but it was not a comfortable experience.  Live and learn.

Wednesday was our Team in Training track practice at Memorial Park.  I was a little nervous about that because I am still serious about completing a 2nd round of Cathe Friedrich's STS. And Wednesday is leg day for me.  Knowing the team practice was a walk/run, I pushed myself until my legs were SHAKING, then toweled off and drove into the city for practice.  Live and learn again.  The cardio really helped break the latic acid loose from my tired old legs and I felt great at the end.  Go Team!

Friday was my looooooong run.  I woke up early, fueled properly, and then procrastinated until I absolutely, positively HAD to start or I was out of time for the day.  The dread factor had kicked in and I was really nervous about the run (especially after the whole Tuesday experience).  Finally, I psyched myself up, stuck a Gu in the pocket of my super cute Lululemon running capris, strapped on the iPod and hit the bricks with the mantra: start slow, finish strong.  With each mile that passed, I told myself, "now you just have to do that X more times."  I had a little victory party when I passed the halfway mark, rallied myself past the 2/3 point, and kicked the last half mile.  I ran 9 miles without stopping.  What an accomplishment.

This week will be my drop-back week, as I will be running in the Houston Rodeo Run 10K on Saturday.  I have a time goal in mind, so I want to taper off the miles and focus on performance.  Wish me luck!