The Running Librarian

In 2004, I ran my first marathon in 4hrs36min. 12 years later, I'm going to attempt my second marathon. I just hope to finish it...

Monday, May 08, 2017

Two races down, three to go

I am happy that Spring is here and the weather is slowly warming up. It makes such a difference for the long runs outside. 

So far this year, I've run one 5k race and my first ever 10k race.  The 5k race was in March and it was brutally cold. I didn't worry much about my time, as this was more of a training run for me. 

For the first time ever, though, I decided to treat the 10k race like a race. What I mean is, I decided to push myself and see how fast I could go, without injuring myself.  My goal for the race was to run it in under 60 minutes and I did it with a time of 57 min, 14 seconds! I came in 6th out of my age and gender category.  I was very proud of my friend who ran the 6k trail race and placed 3rd female overall! She actually would have placed 2nd, but the organizers were a bit confused and directed her the wrong way, allowing the girl behind her to cross the finish line ahead of her.  Oh well...she and I both know that she placed 2nd, really. 

So now, for the next race, I need a new goal.  I'm not sure if 55 minutes is manageable- that's shaving off a lot of time. I've got about 3 weeks to train to do this.  I'm finding the training plan is working well, though I'm not really doing all of the runs- nor am I going as far as I should be. I think that if I can get in a bit more mileage each week, that will help.  The speed runs are making a huge difference for me, I think.  My stamina has really improved.