Saturday morning rolled around and Lisa met me at my house around 7am. We rode our bikes down to Seal and we surprisingly couldn't find any bike racks! We were about to lock them to a tree in a residential complex, when an older woman came out and offered to let us use her garage. She was so kind and all I kept thinking was "Is this for real? Wow there really are still nice people in the world!!" So we parked them in her garage and walked over the to starting line. There were so many people!
Me and Lisa at the start
Tons o' people
It was the perfect weather to run in...overcast and a little chilly, but comfortable. The run started just after 8am and we kept at a slow and steady pace.
Me and Lisa approaching mile 3
To be completely honest, my lungs started to fatigue before my body did. It was around mile 3 and my lungs wanted me to stop but my legs were ready to rock n roll! This is wear I really had to slow down to focus on my breathing. At mile 5, I felt like I was going to throw up. I walked over to the side of the road to see if I had to and nothing. But that feeling didn't go away for almost the entire mile.After walking for a while trying to get my stomach under control, I went at an easy 12:00/mile pace and I felt fine.
Running along the channel
As I turned the corner heading to Main St., I passed mile 6 and Lisa was there waiting for me after she had just crossed the finish. I picked up a little bit and when my Garmin read 6.08 miles I sprinted like there was no tomorrow towards the finish. I am by no means a fast runner, but one thing I can do is finish strong! I sprinted my heart out (and my little lungs too) to the finish line. I finished in 1:15 even which I'm completely okay with! I had fun and that's all that matters.
Done!
Lisa rocked her first 10K!
Happy to be done!
We ate a banana and drank some water, walked around the finish for a bit then decided to crusie home. We picked up our bikes from the nice lady's garage and cruised home. So on top of running a 10K, we also biked a 10K! What a *perfect* way to start our Saturday morning!
One major thing I took away from this weekend's run is about my lung capacity. I need to work on increasing my lung capacity because they tire before my body does. I've read that sprints/fartleks will do the trick. Does anyone have any other suggestions? I'd really appreciate it!!!Thanks!!!
YAY FOR RACES!! Sounds like a blast! But I'm sorry about your lungs...I'm sure it's just because, like you said, you've been sick and haven't logged as many miles. While something like the stomach flu can dehydrate a person temporarily, it's easy to get back in the swing of things by drinking more water. A cold or flu virus are a completely different ballgame because there's not much you can do to heal your lungs except WAIT! But yes, fartleks and any kind of speed work would definitely help because you'll be forcing yourself to go faster and breath harder, eventually getting used to the more difficult aerobic exercise! Anyway, I hope you heal up soon and your next race is a little more comfortable :)
ReplyDeleteCongrats on a great race!!! I'm inspired and I can't wait to run my first ever 10K race :)
ReplyDeleteGreat recap. It was a nice day to run. My son did the 1k and loved it. My wife pushed the 2 girls in our double-stroller for the 10k, and I huffed out the 10k in 1:30 (which was 30sec faster than my usual pace!). From the start, my heartrate seemed to be keeping up ok, and I stayed in zone 3, sometimes even zone 2, but wanted to push it, but my legs were burning and knees and hips. Weird how body parts don't match up sometimes? Anyways, I have SO much more training to do, before my next 10K in 2 months, the Wrigley River Run.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great race! You guys look like you had a great time!
ReplyDeleteCongrats Mags! 10Ks are my favorite distance becuase you can't fake it. Holding a pace for an hour is not trivial!
ReplyDeleteThe best way to increase your "lung capacity" (aerobic conditioning) and lots of easy miles. Don't worry aboutintervals and/or fartleks or anything like that. Put your shoes on and head out the door. Those long slow miles do more to increase your fitness and speed than any short distance speed training will. When I got to 35 to 40 miles per week, I saw my PR fall through the floor. Good luck!
What Glenn said ... if the problem is with your aerobic conditioning, just ramp up the miles. Don't increase by more than 10% a week, and if you do that three weeks in a row, drop it back the 4th week by 25% to give your body a chance to recover.
ReplyDeleteThanks guys so much for your advice and encouragement! I will definitely start (and gradually do so) increasing my mileage!! :)
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