First 10+ Mile Week!

Photo credit: Real Simple

I logged my first 10+ mile week running last week! I had to squeeze in three training runs and a race to do it, but I did it, and it's only up from here! I think the most important thing is that I feel great: no pain, no soreness, no tiredness. My runs were tough, but not unmanageable. I can't believe how far I have come in the past year; a year ago, I could not even run three minutes, and now I'm running two miles at a time on my best days.

How did I do it? Well, I am using Ease Into 10K to prepare for the Tufts Health Plan 10K for Women I am running on October 10th. The plan calls for three interval-type runs a week, but I missed my third run of week 1, so I did it last week.

Monday
EI10K W1D3: 2.2 mi., 13:11 avg. page
This was a 29-minute run with a 5-minute warm-up and cool-down, then alternating running for three minutes and walking for one minute, five times. My pace time includes warm-up and cool-down (Do all of you runners down there include these times in your pace?) I did this run on the treadmill at the gym, and I even used a one percent incline for the second half.

Wednesday
EI10K W2D1: 2.66 mi., 12:47 avg. pace
Week 2 ramps up to 34-minute runs with four-minute running intervals. I also did this run on the treadmill.

Friday
EI10K W2D2: 2.9 mi., 11:44 avg. pace
I love seeing that average pace increase along with my mileage! I know you're only supposed to increase mileage or intensity, but this run was on the road (and I don't have a watch), so it's hard to gauge my pace. This was a tough run because it was hot outside, and I was dehydrated. It was a good lesson for race day on Sunday, but I didn't really pay attention to it.

Saturday
5K race day! 3.1 mi., 10:55 avg. pace
This time does not include warm-up or cool-down, so this is a more accurate reading of my actual running pace. I used the race as day three of my training program because the running time and distance are close enough to what I was supposed to do that day, and I had already registered for the race. I didn't follow the EI10K prompts during the race; looking back, I probably should have. I ran the first 1-1.5 miles straight through, keeping a steady (albeit too fast) pace. The second half, I had to take a ton of walk breaks because I was so hot I felt like my body was shutting down. Tough lesson, I know. I finished with a gun time of 34:08 and a net time of 33:49, which is almost a full minute slower than my last (and first) 5K. Pretty disappointed about that, but running is all about dealing with the conditions thrown at you on that particular day, and the conditions were tough. I really was not happy with my race performance though because I was expecting to do so much better than I did.

This week, I move onto week three of the program, which requires five-minute run intervals with one-minute recoveries in between. I'm really going to push myself to stick with this and run in the allotted times. I would love to finish the 10K in under an hour.

Ok, now I have a question for you: Are you enjoying these run updates of mine? I know I just started really getting into running, so my long-time readers are probably wondering what is going on here. I want to know your thoughts.

Happy Tuesday!