Can you believe I have never officially ran a 10K? Somehow I went from 5K to half marathon. It doesn't seem like there are a lot of 10K's in our area. I've wondered many times how I would do in a 10K.
Last year when I was training for my marathon my chiropractor specifically advised against running any races or doing speedwork. I was mainly trying to maintain some level of fitness and avoid further injury.
The past couple months have been great. I've been running injury free. I actually started slipping in some speedwork and have been excited to see some of it paying off.
Carl is running the Striders Winter Circuit this year. Having not raced for almost a year, I decided it was time to give it a try. At the last minute I registered for the 10k, a brutal hilly course. It was a nice clear morning... quite cold too! As soon as we got there I turned on my Garmin only to find it registering "0" hours of battery left. I turned it off and waited until we were lined up to start it again. I was hoping to get at least a couple miles out of it.
I had heard the route was hilly but I didn't actually look at an elevation chart or anything. We started off with a little hill and then it was down hill for the next 3 miles. My watched turned off during the first 1/2 mile. I jumped in behind some guy and set my pace to his. I knew I was running faster than I should but I really wanted to see what I could do. At the 3 mile mark I realized we would be running back up the hills we just came down.... just over a block.
I was holding a real good pace up those hills until mile marker 5. My muscles were screaming and I actually walked 30 feet or so. That last hill was so long you couldn't really see where it ended. It sure was exciting to finally see the top of the hill knowing there was a short downhill from there to the finish line. My speedwork has been great and I gave it a little kick there at the end.... 50:38 (8:09 avg). Hubby came in at 54:11;)
5th place in my age group
22nd female
94th overall out of 400 runners.
Total climb: 534 ft.
Total elevation change: 1063 ft.
I'm good with that:)
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wooowhoooo! wow.. you did GREAT! awesome job! Congrats!
ReplyDeleteYou are so awesome! That looks like a tough race and you got a great time! I'm glad you're staying healthy and able to slip in some speed work. It seems to make the time go by a little quicker and adds some variety. Great job!
ReplyDeleteYou are fast! How did beating the hubby go?
ReplyDeleteGreat job!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment, Mel. You are so sweet! And you're right, I'm so lucky to have such a good running partner and friend! The Ragnar is gonna be such a party! The salt is just little salt packets. On one of my posts further down it links to an article in Runner's World that gave me the idea. I can't believe how well it works for me. Thanks again.
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