This was my first 10K race. Overall it was a positive experience despite my lingering cold, lack of running fitness (RECOVERY!) and the dreaded hills. The weather was amazing. Maybe a bit too warm. It felt like spring.
As a resolution run, there were many walkers out on the course. I do wish the organizers would have better corralled the participants--especially considering the bottlenecking that occurred during the trail uphill portion of the race. Oh well. It was a resolution run. No harm. Happy that many went out for a walk or run when many Americans do not do a darn thing.
Did not expect the half mile major hill at the beginning of the race. My Timex data says that it is a 5.4% grade. Honesty check: I don't know what that means really. Quite abstract bit of data. This darn cold and the high number of participants on that uphill trail meant that I wasn't going to make any good time on that section. I didn't fight against the universe and went with flow.
I ran the rest of the course the best I could. I could feel that my lungs weren't 100% with my cough. Ran across finish as it read 1:07:30. Chip time was 1:07:00. Hey! No messy seconds holding on! Cool. I just realized that since this is my first 10K, it means AUTOMATIC PR!
I'll have to do much better next time--which may be in February. This next one won't have hills. Or decent views.
10ks are the holy grail. Can't run 'em like a half marathon, can't run balls to the wall like a 5k.
ReplyDelete5% grade hill: How high the climb is in ft divided by the distance climbed in ft. Multiply the answer by 100.
You're welcome :)
Happy New Year Tara!