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3.4 miles in 41:59 (12:20 pace).
My "Wee Little Virtual 5K" time was 38:00. (12:16 pace)
My time was slow, but there was a HUGE headwind 20mph-ish for a good portion of my run, plus I was feeling pretty crappy when I set out.
This is finally getting easier. (I know I was just complaining about the lack of any progress last week but I have had 2 QUALITY runs in a row and I just feel like I've turned a corner in my training).
3.4 miles is the longest I've ever run (consecutively or otherwise) as is 42 minutes, and I did this without stopping. I was planning to do 3.5 but I measured wrong from my parents' house. oops.
I may be getting ahead of myself, but I no longer think it will be necessary to do each long run distance for 3 weeks because I think I could have done another mile Sunday if I'd wanted to. So my question is: do I work on speed and keep the super slow increases in mileage, or increase the distance more steadily (add 0.5 mile to the long run each week with a scale-back every 3rd week) so I'm up to 8ish mile long runs by October and the 10K distance is more comfortable?
Here it is! My first race report!
Well to start out with what you really wanna know -- Finish time: 35:43 (11:32/mile)
I got to the race pretty early - the registration info said registration was from 7:30a - 8:45a and it was about 8:10a when I got there. I didn't "warm-up" per se because I felt kind of dumb, but I did walk around quite a bit and stretch my calves and shins as much as possible. I also had to walk a few blocks to use the bathroom. haha.
There were a total of 32 runners plus 7 walkers - I thought there were more than that but I guess not. I took off too fast, hoping I could stay with the group a little, but there was no way that was going to happen. I probably could have done better had I not started off fast out of vanity. It was immediately evident that I was waaaayyy in the back of the pack. Actually I thought I was dead last and about to get passed by walkers but that didn't happen (thankfully).
I realized after 3 or 4 minutes that I forgot to start my watch so I just went off the assumption that we started right at 9 (it was probably a minute or two after) but I don't remember the split times anyway. I started out pretty even with a guy who was run/walking but he picked it up after the half-way point and beat me by about a minute and a half (speaking of the half-way point I almost choked on my water). I ended up running the rest of the race more or less even with another woman although her walk breaks took over after the two mile mark and she never recovered her pace - I ended up coming in almost 3 full minutes ahead of her. I took several very short walk breaks. Seeing my time now I'm kind of annoyed because I probably didn't need those breaks. Oh well - that's what next time is for.
The race organizers were great - for less than 40 people competing, there were probably at least that many volunteers directing traffic at turns/intersections and cheering us on. There were also a decent number of front-yard spectators. And there were a bunch of cookies, watermelon, bananas, and water afterwards. I just thought all the "amenities" were really thoughtful for such a tiny race. I love small-town Indiana.
I'm pretty happy overall with the race experience - it wasn't as embarrassing as I was anticipating and 3.1 miles wasn't really hard to cover at all. I think running in an unfamiliar place was helpful in that regard. I had no idea how far I had to go between not starting my watch and not knowing my way around the city.
Oh yeah - I almost forgot. I placed second (out of 3 - haha) in my age group - last time that's gonna happen until I run this race next year!! I did get a trophy however. And I was 13th out of 19 women overall (not counting the walkers - thankfully I beat every one of them)
I wanted to let everyone know I finished the 5K. I'll leave the details for later because ... I don't know my time yet. haha. I forgot to start my watch and there was no visible race clock (very small race) so I'll wait until they get the results up on their website (hopefully soon) and do a full report then. In the meantime -
I'm gonna do another 5K this weekend: The Wee Little Virtual 5K
I'm supposed to do 3.5 this weekend anyway so I'll do a .4 mile cooldown to finish my training workout post-"race". Disclaimer: I am not actually racing (myself or anyone else) but having to post a time will keep me accountable for running the whole distance.My "Wee Little 5K" Questionnaire:
1. When did you start running?
Mid-January (08). I started a few times over the last year or so, but finally got serious in January and have been running fairly consistently since then.
2. Did you follow a plan (C25K etc.) to get you started running? If so, what plan did you use? If not, how did you go about getting started?
I mostly did C25K, although I abandoned it around week 7/8 to do my own thing. I didn't have much use for "the plan" after accomplishing the first 25 minute run so I started working towards a 10K.
3. Why did you start running?
I study exercise as a career, and I felt like the outcast (and kind of an imposter) being one of very few non-runners in the lab. I've always wanted to be a "real runner" so I decided to give it an earnest try. And I'm getting very attached!!
4. Now that you are running regularly, what do you find to be the biggest benefits?
I don't know that I've seen a lot of benefits physically in either appearance or fitness (although I can certainly run longer, I don't know if I'm any more fit overall yet) but I just FEEL good about myself knowing that I can do it and I can talk about running with my runner friends and not feel like an idiot or a fake.
5. What are your future plans for running? Short-term and Long-range.
My immediate goal is to run consistently and continue to crank up the mileage. I want the 3-mile runs to come more easily. I want to decrease my pace to a 10:00 mile. My next tangible goal is a 10K in October. My current longish-term goal is the Indianapolis Mini Marathon in May, which is the weekend before I graduate with my Master's degree and I think will be the ultimate present. Long-long term I would like to run a marathon. I'm not sure I ever want to run more than one, but I want to say I did it. However, I'm not going to make that a concrete goal until I can realistically plan to run it in the 4:30 range (just over a 10:30 pace). We'll see how the Mini goes.
6. What are your personal goals for the Virtual 5K?
Not to walk (which I did during my 5K this weekend) and to beat my time (of course!) - my time goal is under 35:00 (sub-11:30 pace).
7. Do you have a music “theme song” that you will use for this race?
I do not - sorry if that's boring. haha. I just listen to whatever.
I've been keeping up with the running 3x a week and the cross-training on other days, but I have a confession to make:
I'm not getting any better.
I'm still slow. Running is STILL hard. I love the way it makes me feel and I enjoy it but it's SO hard. I did 2.2 miles yesterday and it was sheer torture. My legs were so so tight. They finally loosened up after about a mile and a half after like 3 stops to try to stretch, but the stretching hurt so I didn't keep it up too long. This is the first time (at least lately) that I've had this allover calf/shin soreness but I may have to look into stretching pre-run if it happens again.
Running 30 minutes is not easy for me. I'm glad I didn't choose the one-hour runner program because I'm not confident I can do it. I know I can add on the miles even if I do have to take a walk break, but I'm trying really hard not to take them (no walking yesterday - I stood in place and stretched quickly so I still RAN the whole distance).
Anyway. Confession time over. This is the last week of 10K week 1 and I am celebrating with a 5K on Saturday. A teeny tiny one that's nearby. I'm really excited because
1. it's close (about 30 minutes away)
2. parking will not be stressful (it's a teeny town)
3. last year anything under an hour would have been third in my age group - there were tons of 45+ers -- meaning the chances of me coming in dead last are rather slim
4. I'm fairly confident it will not be flooded out
So there's my next race. After this I am not planning anything concrete until October, though I am considering some things. We'll see how this one goes.
Finally. My first 5K. Third time's the charm, right?
My goal? under 40:00
My less realistic goal? 35:00
I might not make either one. But that's okay. That's what goals are for.
Wish me luck! (again)
In other news, I am going to start working on my pushup fitness with another "program" that's hit the C25Ker's leading to 100 consecutive pushups in 6 weeks. I'll do my initial test tonite and let you know where I'm starting and the plan.
