The Nest

First 10K

Posted Wednesday, July 09, 2008 12:11 PM

Today I broke the 6 mile mark on a run.  I haven't done that since high school/college, so I am calling it my first 10K as a renewed runner :)  Andrew and I got up early and were on the road before 7am since today is supposed to be another hot and humid day. 

I have done 5mi. easily plenty of times before, but I have put up mental roadblocks that kept me from going to 6 and beyond, but it really wasn't that big of a deal.  It helped that we picked mostly flats and downhills, so we could keep up the pace.  It's good for stroking the ego to pick runs like that when you start out at a distance I think, because it will up the motivation and the "that wasn't so bad" feeling afterwards.  And we only took one walking break at 4.5 mi.  So, overall, not too bad.

Ms. Nancy&Mark had asked about tips for beginners.  I am full of them!!  Some of the best running plans push the walk/run training, where you take walking breaks when you feel fatigued.  That way, you are more likely to finish your workout, and less likely to injure yourself, and most importantly, more likely to go out again!  Some runners are purists and say that isn't running, but you have to start somewhere right? And everyone is different, so it may or may not work out for you, but it helped me get back in shape.

I also think having a reasonable goal in mind is a huge motivator.  Andrew and I picked out races for once a month so that we would not slow our training and we would have time to recover if we had injured ourselves.  That and registering and paying ahead of time keeps you motivated to run because now there's $ invested!!  :)  Hope that helped ladies!