10K Race Results

The weather for the 10K on Turkey Day ended up being 100% perfect. It was about 40 degrees and dry! It stopped raining about 20 min before the race started, perfect timing. It was a very popular race, tons of people and it resulted in my first mile being about 9:00, slower than I wanted. I ended up picking up the pace to make up for it and that resulted in a 52:44 official time. I couldn't believe it, I averaged an 8:30 pace for the race. That is so awesome! 15 seconds faster than my goal pace! I was walking on cloud 9 after the race, it was a great day and nothing brought be down from the victory of my time. My confidence is really increasing and I'm starting to believe I just might manage a 4 hour marathon next year. Running really has become a passion for me and I'm so grateful for that. Happy Thanksgiving!

Final Training Run

I finished out my last training run for my Turkey Trot 10K race this morning. It was a chilly/windy day and I struggled to keep an accurate pace on my 400M repeats. However, I managed to get the run completed before the winds really picked up, I can hear the how nasty it must be outside right now. Trees are blowing, branches scratching the side of the house, and barely a ray of sunshine coming out... not nearly enough to warm anything with that wind. I believe the weather channel said it was about 42 degrees but with the wind it felt like 35. That I believed! For the first time my fingers were actually cold inside my running gloves for the first 10 min of the run. Eventually I warmed up once my heart rate increased from the first repeat, but the wind kept pushing me. It was nice when I turned around and it was pushing me from behind and I was going downhill, felt like I was flying! But then when I rounded the corner it was a huge blast in the face/chest and thought I hit a wall. I still managed to keep my pace below my goal, but it was rather annoying to deal with the wind. So far the weather is calling for a wintry mix for race day, doesn't that sound like fun.

Weekly Improvements?

Last week I ran my 2 x 2 and really struggled to maintain an 8:45 pace through that run. Yesterday I was scheduled for 2 x 3 with the same goal pace. I nailed it, it was easier than last week, I even went a little faster and 2 additional miles. Holy crap, really?!?!? I was shocked, didn't really believe it at first. Here I am moving along quite well into mile 3 of the first set and I'm surprised to notice that my heart rate is down and I feel strong. I do my 5 min recovery... stop to pick a rock out of my shoe... and then I'm back moving again for the second set of 3 miles. I knock it out with a faster pace than the first three and practically a lower heart rate. I felt GREAT! All the crappy runs I've had this year, they are completely forgotten when I go out and have an awesome run like this. I am so excited about my 10k next week and I have complete faith that I will hit my 8:45 goal pace, and maybe even a tad bit faster!

Windy and Cold

So the temps were about 43 degrees and windy when I went out for my 8 mile run today. I was planning to head to a local park to make the miles go by faster but I opted to save drive time and just run in the neighborhood. Bbrrrr! The sun barely peaked out from behind the clouds and I felt forever in a head wind that chilled me to the bone. I was going for an easy run, about an 11 min pace, just to get the miles in and feel good. I ended up averaging a 10:35 just to keep my heart rate up and hope for an increase in my body temp. It sort of worked, I was still pretty cold during the run, but better than if I had stuck with the 11 min pace. I think its going to take some time for me to get used to the winter weather running again. I remember enjoying it last year as long as I dressed properly. It's been a mild fall so far, but this was a pretty chilly run. All that said, I finished and I feel great. Looking forward to stepping up my intensity next week as I charge into my 10K training and prepare for the Detroit Turkey Trot!