Anywho, in the midst of vacationing, I ran a 10k with my sister Katie yesterday in Boston. This is my first 10k, after the disaster from February. It really helps to know others are there, or are on the course with me. I can't help it, I'm a social being and having support around helps me succeed.
This race was so much fun! First- I was with my sister. Second- I'm not in AZ. Third- It was cooler and I got to run through one of the oldest cities in the US, through beautiful streets and along the harbor. Fourth- I'm not in AZ. My back was still sore from flying out on Saturday, but I just wanted to enjoy myself and not be slower than an hour and a half. Mission accomplished. :) 1:20:28 was my official time. Really enjoyed myself and I feel pretty good today. Hate to say it, but I enjoyed this so much more than Pat's Run. That run is getting too big for the course they use. Plus, it's too hot and with the crowd I just don't have as a good of a time. I focus on the reason I'm involved with Pat's Run over the run itself. I'm also sure some of this has to do with the fact that I'm in a new place and it was a new experience.
This 10k was also the kickoff to my next bucket list item- running a full marathon when I'm 40. By February I will only have a couple months left of 40- but it still counts! I have decided to skip the Rock and Roll this year, and run the Lost Dutchman Marathon in February. I figure if I'm going to be out running for 6 hours, I am going to have nice scenery! This starts out on the Peralta Trail, and you run back in through Gold Canyon and end up at Prospector Park in Apache Junction. It won't be as flat of a course as the Rock and Roll, but I'm not concerned. They cut off the marathon at 600 people, and the time is cut at 6 1/2 hours. As much as I don't want to be the last person to finish, I am less concerned with that as I am with finishing in the allotted time. 6 1/2 hours is roughly a 15 min. mile average. To you non-slow runners that is nothing, but I average a 13 min. mile in a half marathon, and I believe in walking breaks. So it's definitely a concern, but also helping me frame how I train.
I'll also be posting here more. As I did training for my first half marathon, I want to document how training for the full is going! That will begin next week! I'm approaching this training a little differently than I did half training. I am going to focus more on getting to my distance goals, and less on interval training for speed. I will probably do one interval training session every OTHER week just to keep my cardio strong, but other than that it's going to be straight running. I'm excited! If you want to follow along you certainly can, you know I'll be posting links to these posts anyway. ;)
Let the games begin!
