More words I never thought I would type. Even after I started running but still did not refer to myself as a runner, I said something like, “3.1 miles is as far as I will ever run, you would have to be crazy to run further than that.”
I ran two 8k races last year, including the Busch Gardens “Christmas Town Dash,” which may have been the precursor to my “mysterious foot ailment” written about in this post.
I was surprised that I could run 5 miles when I usually feel like dying after one, let alone 3.1. I realized that I actually liked these longer runs, I paced myself better, started slower and felt stronger. I think I could have run them faster, I was around a 9:15 min pace for the 8k, but I was also running with my 9 year old daughter ( she rocked it!)
There is something about the pace and the sprint feeling of running a 5k that gives me anxiety. When I was preparing for this 10k, a race I decided to run less than a week before it happened, I didn’t set a specific time goal. I wanted to finish!
I had dreams about the little golf cart (turns out it is a bike) sweeping me off the course when they had to reopen the road to the public. I did not want to be swept away on a golf cart. Or a bike. I ran 5 miles the day before the race and felt like I did a pretty good job on a trail that was hilly and rocky and resigned myself to a 6:45 am race day registration the next day.
I hear the best way to train for a race is to set an arbitrary time and hope that you don’t get “swept away” by the course marshall. I am not even sure if this is a real phrase or if I dream/nightmared being a golf-cart-driving-course-marshall-sweeping me away.
I don’t like to plan things too far ahead which confuses people as I am pretty uptight and type A but I now realize this has more to do with wanting to keep my options open for any and all variables such as weather, illness, mood etc. I do the same thing with travel plans, I hate to plan too far in advance and prefer to “wing it” with a rough itinerary.
Back to My First 10k. It was awesome. It was an unusually cool morning for the time of year, I told myself it was ok to do 10 min miles, but I really wanted to be in under 1 hour. I started strong but tried not to go out too fast, the adrenaline rush is strong in me! My first mile was a 9:20, much faster than I had “trained” for this distance and with thoughts of golf carts sweeping me away, I slowed to a 9:30, a pace I stuck to until mile 5 where I slowed even more to a 9:40. I had also given myself permission to stop and rest/walk/drink water during the race. I don’t usually stop in races but I stop all of the time when I run for fun… I like to run with my daughter so I can say it was her idea but I know it’s probably because I feel like stopping!
I did not stop even once. I did not need water, I felt like I was on a conveyor belt to the finish and managed to get to a 9:17 pace for the final quarter mile! Average pace was 9:33 and I finished in under an hour, 59:45. I actually chatted with the woman who I was following for 4 miles, staring at the back of her head in a zen-like fashion. I probably ran slower the last two miles because of it, but I think it made the race more enjoyable and helped distract me from the fact that I HAD NEVER EVER RUN THIS FAR!
I also ran this race alone, I didn’t think this was a good distance for my daughter, my son had been doing pretty intense high school cc conditioning and my husband was recovering from an injury. It was just me and it felt good! My dear husband drove me to the race and cheered me on at the end, I think I surprised him with my cheerfulness in the home stretch.
I am still “learning new tricks” but I think that you would have to be crazy to ever run more than 6.2 miles…. If you want to try something new, sign up for a 10k! You will love it!