Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Still going

The week after the Army 10-miler I ended up not running. I justified it by telling myself I needed a week off after the race! Last Tuesday I ran 3 miles at the track and Saturday I ran 7 so I'm still in the game. I can't run this Saturday, but I'm meeting up with at least one other person on Sunday to run the scheduled 6 miles. Knowing I have someone waiting for me will make me get up and go. Tonight the coach wants us to run 4 miles at race pace and I have no idea what's scheduled for next Tuesday, which is our last formal run as a group before the 10K. I can't believe it's almost over! There isn't another program I can join before I move, so I'll be stuck on my own after November 2. It's going to be hard to run on my own especially with the weather getting colder and not having access to a gym anymore. Luckily I'll still have my 2 classes which are going very well.

My strength training class has been awesome and I'm definitely getting stronger each week. I've already added more weight in each exercise. The personal fitness class is good too, it's just hard to do both cardio and strength in 50 minutes. I would love to do 50 minutes of just cardio but that's not how the class is set up. I just need to add more cardio on my own. I'm only running twice a week (with the group) and I really should add a third day on my own. Did I mention it's getting colder and I don't have access to a gym? :)

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

The results are in!


I finished the Army ten-miler!!! It was so amazing and I loved it! I ran the entire 10 miles without stopping even once. I ran slow, but I ran nonetheless. I am extremely proud of myself. We ran past the monuments (Washington, Lincoln, & Jefferson), the Kennedy Center, and the Capitol. Soldiers were all along the course at water stations, medical aid stops, etc. The weather was beautiful and it was all so great. My time was 2:05:12 so when I finally got to the finish and stopped after running for over 2 hours straight, a wave of emotion came over me. My feet were very sore and I was grateful to be done but I was proud that I had accomplished something so great. It was a wonderful experience and I'm going to try to come back next year to run it again. I have never wanted to run a marathon and after running the 10-miler I have a lot of respect for people who run for 4+ hours. I still have no desire to ever run a marathon and I will not feel any less of a runner if I never complete one. It is not a goal that I have. I would love to run a half marathon, 13.1 miles, but for right now that is the most I will attempt. Mostly, I would like to improve on my 5K and 10K times. My biggest goal is to become a stronger, better runner.

I'm still in the 10K training program. The 10K is November 2, so I will be running with the group until then. Tonight we ran at the track and did 4X800. I don't have any times but I was taking it a little easier than usual. Total I ran 3.5 miles tonight. This weekend I'm supposed to run 7. I'm working Saturday so I need to try to make it up on my own on Sunday. From now on we're going to be decreasing our long run mileage so we don't tire out before the race. After the 10K I'm hoping to resume training on my own and run a few more local races. It won't be easy to do it on my own, but after having the coaching for so long I at least know what I need to do!

The picture up top is at the start of the race at the Pentagon. There were over 26,000 registered runners. I didn't even cross the start until 20 minutes after the gun went off because there were so many people! The picture below is me right after I finished holding my finisher's chip!