I posted a while ago about my hits and misses regarding my 2008 100-day fitness challenge goals. One disappointing miss was that I did not have a chance to run a 10k for a Personal Record. This Sunday I belatedly reached this goal. I ran the Superbowl 10k in 51:32.02.
However, the 10k was just one part of a day full of running goodness. I had a total running mileage of 18+ miles. First, I woke up early to warm-up with a 2.5 mile easy run. Everything seemed to go well, except I was experiencing some soreness in my ankles and shins. Usually I wouldn’t give these minor aches much thought, but I was looking ahead to the rest of the day and wondering what I was getting myself into.
Next was the Superbowl 10k. Runners’ Wolrd’s training calculator predicts a 4 hour marathon time if you can run a 10k in about 52 minutes. That was my goal. I have found that with any race longer than a 5k planning and strategy are near necessities ( see, e.g., my first 10k’s explosive vomiting finish). I planned to run at about 8:22 min/mi and stayed right on that pace and was even able to push it a little in the last mile. My next 10k goal will be to finish under 50 minutes (yikes!).
Oh and there’s more: On advice of a friend and local running expert I took a couple of hours to recover from the 10k, then headed out for 10 extra miles. I knew this last stretch would be tough, so for the first time, my I Pod accompanied me on a long run. I had fun listening to music, and given that the USATF recently lifted the ban on headphones at most road races, I briefly thought of putting together a marathon mix for Austin. On second thought, however, I still enjoy listening to my own rhythm and focusing on what is happening both inside my body (though often unpleasant in the extreme) and in my surroundings. At some point, I may decide to run a race with music blasting, but not any time soon.
Speaking of the Austin Marathon: Sunday begins the one-week countdown of madness and tapering! Wish me luck.
I posted a while ago about my hits and misses regarding my 2008 100-day fitness challenge goals. One disappointing miss was that I did not have a chance to run a 10k for a Personal Record. This Sunday I belatedly reached this goal. I ran the Superbowl 10k in 51:32.02.
However, the 10k was just one part of a day full of running goodness. I had a total running mileage of 18+ miles. First, I woke up early to warm-up with a 2.5 mile easy run. Everything seemed to go well, except I was experiencing some soreness in my ankles and shins. Usually I wouldn’t give these minor aches much thought, but I was looking ahead to the rest of the day and wondering what I was getting myself into.
Next was the Superbowl 10k. Runners’ Wolrd’s training calculator predicts a 4 hour marathon time if you can run a 10k in about 52 minutes. That was my goal. I have found that with any race longer than a 5k planning and strategy are near necessities ( see, e.g., my first 10k’s explosive vomiting finish). I planned to run at about 8:22 min/mi and stayed right on that pace and was even able to push it a little in the last mile. My next 10k goal will be to finish under 50 minutes (yikes!).
Oh and there’s more: On advice of a friend and local running expert I took a couple of hours to recover from the 10k, then headed out for 10 extra miles. I knew this last stretch would be tough, so for the first time, my I Pod accompanied me on a long run. I had fun listening to music, and given that the USATF recently lifted the ban on headphones at most road races, I briefly thought of putting together a marathon mix for Austin. On second thought, however, I still enjoy listening to my own rhythm and focusing on what is happening both inside my body (though often unpleasant in the extreme) and in my surroundings. At some point, I may decide to run a race with music blasting, but not any time soon.
Speaking of the Austin Marathon: Sunday begins the one-week countdown of madness and tapering! Wish me luck.