This fall has been all about running. After a long and happy triathlon season, I decided I was determined to find myself as a runner again. I LOVE running. Nothing beats a sunrise, chilly effortless run. Over the past few years, the effortless runs have been few and far between. The joy was still there, but I seemed to slug through more runs than not. So this fall has been about doing what I want, when I want. No mileage goals, other than to be smart, no paces, no watch, simply running for the joy of running. And my running is coming back, slowly but surely. I would love to chase a half marathon PR in the spring, so right now is all about building a safe and easy base.
Enter the 10k. Do I have any business running/racing a 10k right now? No. The last time I have done any running faster than base pace - September 16th. And that workout was when I decided I did not want to do any more structured training this year. But the 10k has always been a good test to see 'where I'm at'. And I wanted to spend every moment I could with this girl before she heads off across the country for bigger and better things.
So 10k it was. I decided I would run smart. I had no business chasing a PR, but I wanted to try to descend into a faster-than-tempo pace and see how it felt. I have run right around 50 a few times off the bike this year and felt HORRIBLE, so I decided it would be great to just run faster than that and focus in feeling GOOD.
I didn't look at my pace other than when it beeped the mile splits, and consciously pulled it back after I saw the first mile split. First mile? 7:08.
Well...there goes that plan. New plan - hold on. Don't die.
7:15
7:22
7:23
7:33
7:30
(last bit at 7:19 pace).
Final (chip) time: 46:00, 7:25 pace
Did I run smart? No. Did I descend. Clearly not. But I am really happy that I didn't blow up, that I ran hard until the end, and felt happy and strong the entire way. This is major improvement on every 10k run off the bike I had this season (and last), so I feel like it's going the right direction.
Next step? 5 mile turkey trot in my neighborhood Thanksgiving morning. New goal: run smart, even splits with a faster average pace than this 10k. (Related goal: run with my man, don't get in a fight during run, make sure he does not attempt to 'race')
Side tangent: I have run a 10k faster than this two times before. Once off the bike (45:44), once as part of a OLY triathlon relay when I swam and ran (44:02). The best part of this blog (and reason why I continue to write) is that I can look back on these races and compare splits and my attitudes/thoughts about the races. It's so interesting to compare splits and see just how much a small difference each mile can add up to almost 2 minutes at the end of a 10k.
Enter the 10k. Do I have any business running/racing a 10k right now? No. The last time I have done any running faster than base pace - September 16th. And that workout was when I decided I did not want to do any more structured training this year. But the 10k has always been a good test to see 'where I'm at'. And I wanted to spend every moment I could with this girl before she heads off across the country for bigger and better things.
 |
| Post-run, pre-drinking. I swear |
So 10k it was. I decided I would run smart. I had no business chasing a PR, but I wanted to try to descend into a faster-than-tempo pace and see how it felt. I have run right around 50 a few times off the bike this year and felt HORRIBLE, so I decided it would be great to just run faster than that and focus in feeling GOOD.
I didn't look at my pace other than when it beeped the mile splits, and consciously pulled it back after I saw the first mile split. First mile? 7:08.
Well...there goes that plan. New plan - hold on. Don't die.
7:15
7:22
7:23
7:33
7:30
(last bit at 7:19 pace).
Final (chip) time: 46:00, 7:25 pace
Did I run smart? No. Did I descend. Clearly not. But I am really happy that I didn't blow up, that I ran hard until the end, and felt happy and strong the entire way. This is major improvement on every 10k run off the bike I had this season (and last), so I feel like it's going the right direction.
Next step? 5 mile turkey trot in my neighborhood Thanksgiving morning. New goal: run smart, even splits with a faster average pace than this 10k. (Related goal: run with my man, don't get in a fight during run, make sure he does not attempt to 'race')
Side tangent: I have run a 10k faster than this two times before. Once off the bike (45:44), once as part of a OLY triathlon relay when I swam and ran (44:02). The best part of this blog (and reason why I continue to write) is that I can look back on these races and compare splits and my attitudes/thoughts about the races. It's so interesting to compare splits and see just how much a small difference each mile can add up to almost 2 minutes at the end of a 10k.
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