A colleague at work sent around an intra-office email 10 days ago asking for volunteers to run with him in a 10K. It was the 2010 Ricky Byrdsong Memorial "Race Against Hate" in Evanston, IL on Sunday, June 20, 2010.
Just a few days before the email I completed a 1 hour run and covered about 5.70 miles. A 10K is 6.2 miles (that's just another one half mile more than what I just ran) and I felt reasonably confident that I could do it.
A friend of mine had been encouraging me to step up my distance from 5K to 10K for several weeks already and I had read something on a running website that suggested that signing up for a race is good motivation for stepping up the training for it. I knew the value of this latter bit of advice as it is why I've been signing up for 5K races in the first place.
The confluence of these "signs" convinced me that it was indeed time to go for a 10K race.
I signed up for the race and then this past Monday after work I mapped out 6.2 miles in my neighborhood and late at night I set out to run a trial 10K. I finished it in 1 hour and 14 minutes, and my thighs, knees and shins were fairly sore afterwards. But the slow pace and soreness notwithstanding, I proved to myself that I can run 6.2 miles.
The rest of this week I didn't run. I got a lot of advice from other runs that I should save my legs this week. I decided to heed this advice (a few people said I should run but I opted not to). I lieu of running I cross-trained on a stationary bike 2 times this week and to do a light weight training workout. On Friday night I did run around a fair amount with my kids. We raced to the park and then did sprint races on the basketball court. These were my only workouts leading up to today's 10K race.
This morning I got up at 5am and showered, got dressed and had a protein drink. I took a large cup of hot black coffee with me in the car and ate a banana along the the way. I arrived at my colleague's house in Evanston at 6:40am. He already picked up our race materials so we put on our racing bibs and walked over to Long Field which was the staging ground for the run.
We arrived at Long Field at about 7:05am. We stretched, got some free sports drinks from the sponsors and then stretched out as we waited for the 7:30m start. I told my colleague that I run slow and that he should have no worries about running ahead in the run.
At 7:30am the race was underway. It was a nice course that took us along the lakefront. In fact, the lakefront was visible for most of our run.
It was cool out this morning and partly sunny (by the end of the race it was overcast and it started to drizzle on my walk back to the car). At one point in the race we could see the downtown Chicago skyline as we ran.
The race organizers made sure to mark each mile. This was a great help. I don't know if this is how all 10K races are organized but I liked it. It helped me maintain my pace and it allowed me to focus on the smaller goals of each mile.
Running next to the lakefront was nice but the paths were narrow and there were a lot of runners. Many of us were novice runners and slow runners. Some were inconsiderate runners as well. What really bothered me were the couples and the groups who ran shoulder to shoulder and blocked the path. I and others had to detour from the paved path onto the damp and muddy grass to pass these groups. It wasn't a big deal but it did create a distraction.
I ran the race without any music. I found that running without music is actually more enjoyable than running with music. I can look around, I can think about things and I can motivate myself as I run. I think I will start running without my ipod (this doesn't apply to the treadmill - running without music on the treadmill would be too boring).
The last three quarters of a mile was a straight-away. The finish line was visible and this helped keep me running steady. Because I ran so slowly, but this time in the race I was sharing the road with the 5K fun walk folks. In fact the bulk of the folks on the road were walkers and I had to zigzag around them to the finish line.
I ran hard through the finish line. I felt good as I finished the race. My colleague had moved ahead right at the outset and was waiting for me at the finish line.
I feel blessed to be healthy enough to run as much as I am. I love the feeling I get during and after I run. Running has been a great way to lose weight and improve my cardiovascular system.
I've signed up for one more 5K for the summer. It's The Chicago Volunteer Legal Services' "Race Judicata" on July 22nd. I'm not sure when I'll run another 10K this summer. I'll definitely try to add miles to my long runs beyond the 6.2 miles that I'm able to do now.
The next big goal I'm focusing on (there may be some smaller goals in between of course) is a half-marathon during Thanksgiving weekend. That's 13.1 miles on at the end of November. I've got about 5 months to add another 7 miles. I feel very confident that I can do it.
