Friday, December 17, 2010

The Journey of 6.2 miles - Check!

OhmygoshI'msounbelieveablybehindonblogging.
Just going to forge ahead.

Remember when I decided to train for a 10K? Well,
my to-do list now reads like this:

10K - CHECK!

(I live for those check marks).


I ran the entire 6.2 miles of the CATwalk around the U of A campus AND I ran it at a 10:37 pace, which was much faster than I expected. I did not pay any attention to my pace or times while training until the last long run I did before the 10K, and then I got all interested in what time I would finish in. My "goal" became to run it in 1 hr and 15 minutes, but my secret goal was to finish in 1 hr and 10 minutes, so when I crossed the halfway mark at 31:30 I was surprised and proud and I welled up a little, especially because I had just seen this:

and I ended up finishing at 1:05:51. Jubilation!

I was surprised at how emotional I was over this accomplishment. And at how much I really enjoyed the training process.

With Wilma the Wildcat, our mascot.
(BB burst into tears the moment Wilma looked at him.)


The Gory Details

If you're interested, here are the gory details of the entire run:
The first half of the race was tough. Way harder than I expected. I actually thought "Am I going to be able to do this?" I was really surprised because I had ran 5.5 miles twice before the race and felt great, I had never felt that weak, even though the 4th mile would be tough, but then I would get into a groove and feel really loose and feel like I could run a lot longer.

I had a friend from work that was also running the race, so we ran the first two miles together - she has a good 6 inches on me and is in training for a half marathon, but was getting over a cold so we decided to start the race together.


After the race she told me she was surprised at the pace we kept (she knew that I hadn't been worrying about times at all, just running to finish the distance), and that we crossed the 1 mile mark at 9:40. So that explained why I felt so drained so early on in the race - I was trying to keep up with her!


The race was also tough because everything was different from my normal runs - I am not used to running with someone, I didn't know the course, we were running on a rough road with lots of potholes, and it was really hot out. I had almost changed my mp3 playlist for the 10K, and I was so relieved that I didn't because it was one thing that was familiar.

I fell back from T about the two mile mark.

Once I crossed the halfway point I got into a comfortable groove and since the race was two laps of a 5K, I knew the course the second time around, and I felt really good the rest of the race. I definitely felt my body want to stop about the 5.5 mile mark, like it was saying "Okay! We're done now right? This is where we always stop!?" but we kept on going, and finished strong.

And that's my 10K adventure! Would I do it again? Definitely!
In fact, on Thanksgiving Day I ran a 4 mile Turkey Trot in Olympia, Washington with my sister, brother, brother-in-law, and niece! And it felt awesome - it was a perfect way to start Thanksgiving. I never understood those people that truly enjoyed the running and not just the feeling of accomplishment or fulfilling a workout obligation afterwards, and now I have been converted. So converted that I even ran those 4 miles IN THE SNOW.
(You know you're from Arizona when you really want to insert a word between "the" and "snow").


Evidence

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