New PR!

It just felt right.You ever had one of those days.  The sun was out, the temp was warmer and I knew if I went and applied myself I could make a PR.

New PR:

5 Km : 19:49
10 km : 41:02

This brings me so much closer to realizing my goal of a sub 40 10k.  I felt pretty tired just before the 5 km mark, but I pressed through and let up a bit adding over a minute to my second split time.  But that being said, I still rocked my previous bests.

43:10

First timeI had brought my stop watch in a long while.  43:10 for my 10 k, and that was me pushing pretty hard.  Another thing to look back on and be glad for in the last two years is to think that certain goals were impossible.  Fo rme right now, I would love to crack the 40 minute 10 k.  A difficult endevour, but I know I can do it.  I use to think runnign past a 1/2 hour was a huge feat.  There is always someone who trumps your efforts, and always someone just starting and needing encouragement.  I find it a funny mix of humbling to know you will never be right on top in front, but that you can do  fa better than you ever thought if you apply yourself! 

Of Short Shorts and Torrential Rain

Flash Flood! I went on my 10 k today, it was nice weather, overcast, but not too cold. I was trying my new shorts out. Now let me tell you, I ordered these running shorts from an online store. What I knew was they were short. I was not expecting this short though. I bought them because it was them, which showed more leg, or it was compression shorts which showed my bits n pieces. Lesser evil? Well I am not one to be too carried away with how I look, but it is a new game when this type of short is introduced to me. I took one look and laughed. This is new. These shorts are short! The reason for them was simple. Lack of chaffing, freedom of mobility for my long runs. Also these were about $ 20-30 less expensive than compression shorts, so they won out. On e day I'll maybe wear BOTH together and then I'll be done with it. When I'm rich.

So I took off on my run today, new short shorts on, feeling a new found leg freedom. It was actually a great sensation. Like running around in your underwear or something. On my 7th km, a saw a rain storm coming. What i didnt see coming, was the flash HAIL storm, and then buckets of water that would drench me within 1 minute flat, so much so that my shoes became instantly heavy with water. The hail actually stung a bit, and all I could do is laugh. It will become a metaphor in my life. You can't predict the storm, maybe you can somewhat prepare, but all in all, it is just something I need to eventually laugh about. I am thankful I only had 13 more minutes of running after that flash flood to get home. I am also ironically thankful for my new short shorts, which did NOT chaff on my legs, unlike the other shorts I have which would cover more leg and rub me raw. And I might add, I can now say I look officially like a serious runner, and you WILL NOT catch me in the supermarket with these babies on. You just won't , so don't ask.

DEAD legs

I followed up my Seawall run with a 10 k yesterday morning. I must say, this is where my stubborness kicks in. Push myself hard and then instead of taking the recommended easy run after my long, I decided to push it and see how fast my 10 k could be. Well it wasn't. My time was well over my personal record. At 46:00 I now see there is a reason to take it easy. I had a lot of gusto at the beginning, with a first split of 21:28, but soon after the split I felt like my four year old was dragging behind me slowing me down. I was sucking wind too hard to keep the pace up, and i felt my speed quickly wain as my legs became heavier.
Oh well. My goal is a sub 40:00 min 10 k. But Rome wasn't built in a day! I really hate speed work, but I feel its a goal I will feel very satisfied in if I can achieve it, a sub 40min 10 k. It will happen... what I am relizing it some track work , interval training, and hill work is the prescription to faster times. With the marathon in the fall approaching, I need to both keep my distance goals in mind and tax my body in time efficiency training. Can distance and speed go together? Yes I beleive so.
RunnersWorld has some great articles about this subject which I will post as follow-up comments.
I will be working my way up to over 30k for my long runs, but doing some hill work and some dreaded intervals. I think I may need to ask for reinforcements for this, though. A friend to help keep my momentum up. Let me know if you have any advice on this front

First Race

My first race was this year. It was a 10k in my own home town of Oliver, BC. One of the great draws was that every entry got a bottle of wine from a local winery, which our town is famous for making copious amounts of. Yipee! It's like Canada's little Italy.
I had only ever ran a race before in grade school. My one memory of this was the pride I had in a cross country run in grade 6. I was placing 9th I believe. I have always enjoyed running even then. At the last turn of this run in which I was doing so well, I made a terrible mistake. Some people were flagging me down calling me over, to which I misinterpreted as the right direction to run. It wasn't. Instead, I cut across a field I was supposed to be circling, and then had to double back to get back on track. Thanks a lot, idiots! So my placing slid into the droves of other kids that did NOT make that mistake.
That was my only memory of running in a race until my grade 12 year when we had a track meet school wide. An 800 meter dash , which I thought I could handle, turned into an embarrassing drop out due to a crazy bad asthma attack. I have asthma by the way.
This race was different.
Here are a couple of my own observations from the race experience. First, the crowd being so tight at the beginning was a challenge. Just trying to weave without being too jostled and to maintain my own pace rather than a pack pace was off-putting. The next thing was my own inner dialogue! I realize...I AM VERY COMPETITIVE. Internally, I want to take down anyone in front of me. I hated the sound of approaching footsteps from behind. Mentally, my desire fro personal excellence gets thrown out the window for the sake of just kicking ass. This is a discovery of great importance for me. I have alway gravitated to sports that are individual. This way I could avoid comparing myself to others accomplishments.
At 35 years old, I was entering it totally prepared and experienced in the length and knowledgeable to a degree of how I would do. My goal was to a time of a sub-45 minute run. My personal best as far was 42:30. But I know myself. I know my nerves would definitely try to usurp my training. I get anxious and over think everything. This makes me hyper aware of how tired I feel, and psychologically plays against me.
I had two friends running the race as well. One I knew was much faster than me as we run occasionally together. He was the man who I found to be very inspirational in keeping at my discipline for the long haul. The other gentleman was a local principle of a high school, and from talking I knew I would place before him most likely.
The people who showed to the race were such a great way to connect to the bigger world of running. There was a diverse array of ages, levels and backgrounds. I met people I knew but had no idea they were runners.
Trying to take it easy on the first split turned out harder than I thought. I did run out of steam,but pushed trough that weariness to make a time of 43:20. A respectable time for my overall goal.
Things I didn't expect that I will know for next time: I will be very sore the next few days after. There will be people with elbows crowding me. A negative split requires patience and discipline in training so that race time will be more automated. People at the races are on the whole just excited to be around other runners. For myself, my goals are the most important thing, not the outcome on the whole. Although now I have a better idea as to what time and effort it will take to place more competitively. This is a revelation. I want to run a sub 40 minute 10 k.