Race day

[auntiemeesh]

This morning was the Pittsburgh Race for the Cure. Although I've done the 5K walk many times, this year was my first year to do the timed 5K run. I was feeling some unreasonable anxiety about it, but it was really fantastic. I love being part of a huge group like that, to begin with, and adding in the endorphin high of running made it even better. This being Pittsburgh, the route has a lot of uphill sections in it, and I was worried about that, being that nearly all my running is done either on a treadmill or a track, neither of which contains hills (well, yes, I can set the treadmill on an incline but I really almost never do). But the hilly sections were really not a problem. I ran the whole thing, except for a few seconds at the water stops (almost impossible to drink from an open cup while running) and maintained a pretty good (for me) pace the whole way. I crossed the finish line at 37:58 give a second or two, having crossed the starting line at something like 2:58, again give or take some seconds. So about 35 minutes all told, which is just about right on target for me.

I'm immensely proud of myself that I was able to get into decent enough shape to do this. Especially considering that last fall I couldn't even run two miles straight through. This has been my running goal since last October and I did better than my minimal expectations (which were just to not be the last person across the finish line).

I have two new goals, one fairly short-term and one that is definitely more long-term. Goal number one is to run in the Great Race in September (also a 5K run option) and to have a better time. I'd like to get down to maybe 32 or 33 minutes. My long-term goal is to be able to run a 10K race by the time I'm forty (which is in four years). I may be able to do it sooner, but considering that I've hit a bit of a plateau at three miles, I don't want to feel like I have to keep pushing each and every week to get there. So that's something to work for.

Comments

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

I have two different ways of approaching a run. When I'm just trying to get through to a certain distance, I tend to run pretty slowly but run the whole way. When I'm trying to increase my speed/stamina, I run faster for a time, then walk a minute or so to get my breath back, and then run faster again. And there were certainly plenty of people who took walking breaks on the run this morning, so it's clearly a valid approach. :)