My first 10k and where to go from here

Kristin and I did a 10k this morning. This was my first 10k, and I was not as trained up as I should have been, but I was ready.

We woke up at 5:30 to get ready and to eat a light breakfast before driving down to the race. We parked at the Old Speghetti Factory headquarters, a great restaurant on the Willamette river. From there we hopped on a bus, provided by the event, to take us to the start line 6.2 miles away at the Adidas World Headquarters (Yep, we got both Nike and Adidas in Portland). I had never been to the Adidas headquarters, and it was a really nice campus. From there we just hung around, stretched and did some people watching while waiting for the race to start. It was great watching all of these fit people and all of the nervous things we do while waiting for the starting line.

The time finally came and we made our way to the start line. Kristin had been fighting with injuries, a pretty badly sprained ankle and then some severe lower back pain, so she didn't really want to run with me because she wasn't sure how she would perform with not being able to run for the better part of the last five weeks. We started together but shortly lost track of each other in the crowd. There were almost 1,400 runners and we took over the streets.

The first two miles are all downhill, and it was awesome, everyone was running fast and having a good time. I made the first two miles at a 9:00 mile pace, which is really good for me. I had lost track of Kristin early on, so I wasn't sure where she was at, but hoping she was having a great time too. We ran across the steel bridge in to downtown Portland and we ran along the water front. While we were running, we ran across the part of the waterfront where they were having the dragon boat races. Lots of people having a great time racing these boats that look like chinese dragon boats. Around this point, we were at the 4 mile mark and I was starting to feel the distance a little and my lack of running (I like riding too much and didn't stick to my running schedule like I should have), but knew not to kick in too much until mile 5. At mile 4 a lot of people were "whipping the dog" and I just held my pace, knowing that they weren't gaining too much on me. At mile 5 I kicked it up, and so did everyone else who hadn't previously kicked it up. I started catching some of the runners, and dropping others, and I was getting dropped by others, but everyone was happy to know we were on the home stretch.

I had a rather amusing thought at mile 5. I thought to myself, hey I only have 1.2 miles left, that is nothing and I can really kick it up, just focus and keep the HR up and make it hurt to the finish. It wasn't that long ago, when I could ride 200 miles in a day, but running 1 mile sounded really painful! Now, 1 mile is an easy run that can be done without worrying or dreading. I made it the last 1.2 miles at a good pace and finished at a 9:35/mile pace for a total time of 59:35. This was better than my goal of 62:00 (or 10:00/mile pace) which I had set, but really hoped to beat 60 minutes for my first 10k. I had a great time, and really enjoyed the challenge, and the people. Kristin finished very shortly behind me at 62:30. Considering all of her injuries, that is a great time and I am really proud of her.

Where to go from here?

Well, I am announcing it officially, even though I have talked to many of my close friends.

I have really enjoyed cycling, and I have learned that I like to run, although not as much as cycling, but it is good cross training for me and it is a nice break from cycling. I have decided that over the next 12 months I am going to focus on duathlons and bike races. My ultimate goal for next year is to do an endurance duathlon. An endurance duathlon is a 56 mile bike ride and 13.1 mile (half-marathon) run. The bike is a slam dunk for me (not saying I would win), but the run I will need to work on is twice as far as I have ran so far, then I have to put them together. This may be a lot harder than I think it is, and I already think it will be hard, but with plenty of stuborness and being smart, I am confident I can do it.

Not only do I need to train with running and cycling, I will also need to shed more pounds. Training for a Du will definately help me with this, and it will keep me on my feet. The more weight I lose, the less likely I am to injure myself, and the faster I will become. I am hoping to lose 15 to 20 pounds by spring and hopefully more during the summer of next year. It will take a lot of work to do it the healthy way, but it will require a lot of self discipline with the holidays during this time too.