Wednesday, November 02, 2005
10 Miles enroute to 13.2 Miles
After talking to Chris earlier this week he wanted to have everybody's comments on the 10 mile race. So here I go...
After running the 8k and 10k races, I was hoping I could do the 10 miler somewhere between 1:30 to 1:40 hrs, with the goal being as close to 1:30 as possible. Since I set up my Garmin to auto-lap every mile and my customized screen is set to BPM, Lap Pace, and Lap Distance, I was not keeping track of my overall time. It was a very exciting thing to approach the finish line and see the clock below 1:30 and being able to cross the line just under the 1:30 mark.
I had never run this distance before, and I think it was a good thing to run it for the first time in a race environment. The most I had ran in training was 8 miles (twice before) and by the end I was really bored. It also helped that the course was downhill.
One thing I have learned since I started training is that the first two miles are the most difficult because your body just doesn't want to run. After your heartrate gets up to a good target zone (160-170 for me) then it becomes really easy to run. The reason I bring this up, is that on this race the first mile was easier because I was concentrating on trying to pass a bunch of people in front of me and trying to get to my pace, but my body reluctance to run caught up with me between the first and second mile until my heartrate reach my target zone. Anyways, my lesson learned is for the next race to try to move up a little bit on the starting line to begin running with people close to or faster than my pace.
As for how I felt during the race, I have to say that I felt great during the first 6 miles. Between 6th and 7th I began feeling tired, and lucky enough this is when I got stopped at the intersection of Broadway and Euclid so that 30 second break was appreciated. After that I got stopped again at the 8.5 mile mark (right before crossing under I-10), and that also helped. On Chris' posting, he mentioned the gel intake. I took some at the 5 mile mark and took some more at the 7 mile mark. This time I tried a trick that the guy from Fleet Feet gave me, which is to premix it with water. This worked great because I bought a small bottle to carry the gel on my fuel belt, so I was able to premix it at home. This took away the disgusting sensation of the gel. This is one thing I will continue to do on future runs.
Switching gears a little bit, I am feeling tempted to attempt the half-marathon this weekend in Vail. I know it sounds kind of crazy, and I know it is a month ahead of schedule, but here is my rationale. According to the training guide we are following, the week before the half-marathon we are suppose to do a 10-mile run; well guys, we just did our 10-mile run. I know this half-marathon is going to be neither easy nor fast since the first 6.1 miles are slightly uphill, but I am feeling good. What is your opinion? should I try it or am I really thinking way too much of my abilities?
Anyways, this is another very long post... but I didn't want to finish it without saying CONGRATULATIONS to all the GANG for finishing the race last weekend. To be honest I thought we were all crazy when that night at 58Degrees we decided to do this, but I am certainly glad we did because I never thought I would enjoy running so much.
After running the 8k and 10k races, I was hoping I could do the 10 miler somewhere between 1:30 to 1:40 hrs, with the goal being as close to 1:30 as possible. Since I set up my Garmin to auto-lap every mile and my customized screen is set to BPM, Lap Pace, and Lap Distance, I was not keeping track of my overall time. It was a very exciting thing to approach the finish line and see the clock below 1:30 and being able to cross the line just under the 1:30 mark.
I had never run this distance before, and I think it was a good thing to run it for the first time in a race environment. The most I had ran in training was 8 miles (twice before) and by the end I was really bored. It also helped that the course was downhill.
One thing I have learned since I started training is that the first two miles are the most difficult because your body just doesn't want to run. After your heartrate gets up to a good target zone (160-170 for me) then it becomes really easy to run. The reason I bring this up, is that on this race the first mile was easier because I was concentrating on trying to pass a bunch of people in front of me and trying to get to my pace, but my body reluctance to run caught up with me between the first and second mile until my heartrate reach my target zone. Anyways, my lesson learned is for the next race to try to move up a little bit on the starting line to begin running with people close to or faster than my pace.
As for how I felt during the race, I have to say that I felt great during the first 6 miles. Between 6th and 7th I began feeling tired, and lucky enough this is when I got stopped at the intersection of Broadway and Euclid so that 30 second break was appreciated. After that I got stopped again at the 8.5 mile mark (right before crossing under I-10), and that also helped. On Chris' posting, he mentioned the gel intake. I took some at the 5 mile mark and took some more at the 7 mile mark. This time I tried a trick that the guy from Fleet Feet gave me, which is to premix it with water. This worked great because I bought a small bottle to carry the gel on my fuel belt, so I was able to premix it at home. This took away the disgusting sensation of the gel. This is one thing I will continue to do on future runs.
Switching gears a little bit, I am feeling tempted to attempt the half-marathon this weekend in Vail. I know it sounds kind of crazy, and I know it is a month ahead of schedule, but here is my rationale. According to the training guide we are following, the week before the half-marathon we are suppose to do a 10-mile run; well guys, we just did our 10-mile run. I know this half-marathon is going to be neither easy nor fast since the first 6.1 miles are slightly uphill, but I am feeling good. What is your opinion? should I try it or am I really thinking way too much of my abilities?
Anyways, this is another very long post... but I didn't want to finish it without saying CONGRATULATIONS to all the GANG for finishing the race last weekend. To be honest I thought we were all crazy when that night at 58Degrees we decided to do this, but I am certainly glad we did because I never thought I would enjoy running so much.
