On Saturday, my best friend (Heather) and I ran a 10K. I registered online early last week but Heather didn’t get a chance to, so we drove to the course early. Neither of us had ever been to the town where the race was held, but it turned out that it’s not too far from where we live – 40 minutes according to Mapquest – in early Saturday morning traffic we made it in 30 minutes. We got there so early that we were the first runners to arrive. After Heather registered we still had an hour before the race, so we asked for a copy of the course map so we could drive it, just to be goofy. We had fun checking out the hilly, wooded and picturesque course.
The weather was overcast, 60s and a little windy. The field consisted of about 40 runners. Smallest field either of us had ever run in… But of course, Heather knew someone there: A 73-year-old man she used to work with who regularly runs marathons. We chatted with him until the start, which was 20 minutes late. Bonus.
I felt a little stiff, had the normal soreness. Then I saw the mile one marker… I used my badass Nike running watch to mark the split. Nine minutes and something!?! No way. I’m a consistent +10 minute miler. I shrugged off my doubt and kept plugging. Mile two: Another sub-10 minute. What the heck is going on? Mile three: A 9:00 flat! Mile four’s marker had blown away in the wind but mile five’s split indicated two more sub-ten minute miles… I couldn’t believe it. About two-tenths into the sixth mile, I saw Heather running toward me… She had just won the women’s division with a 37-something minute time, a PR for her. She drafted for me (or I drafted off of her) for the last mile or so.
My finishing time: 57:30. Ho. Lee. Crap.
Todays’ run confirmed that, for me, cool weather is the number one factor for speed. The other thing I did differently was to follow some Runner’s World tips for hills… Uphill, I concentrated on pulling my knees as high up as I could. Downhill, I shortened my stride and tried to make my body perpendicular to the hill. Dang, were those downhills quick.
I can’t believe I blew away my previous 10K PR by almost 6 minutes.
Previous PR: 1:03:15
New PR: 57:30
I love to run, especially on days like that one. Woo hooooo!
I know how great that feels. Unfortunately my running has progressed enough in 4 years that I’m not seeing huge PRs like that anymore. But it was good while it lasted.
My last PR worthy of major celebration was at the Carlsbad 5000 in 2001. I ran a 24:30 or something within a few seconds of that. I figured out afterwards what the pace worked out to be - 7:54 ish. Woah, let me tell you, I felt like a real runner after that. Having run something in the 7 minute range. No way!
Unfortunately I’ve slowed a bit since then - stopped doing speed work and other tough training.
But I know what it feels like. Feels good, don’t it??
I ran my first 5K ever saturday – 31:01 (10 minute pace on the nose)
I had horrible stitches at about 1.5 mile, which I’m sure had nothing to do with the 12 pack I drank fishing with some buddies earlier in the day, but I was pleased to make my first PR…
then I read your post and realize that this Runner’s World stuff works! alright!
When I was a teenager, my regular training pace was between an 8:30 and 9:00 minute mile. It would be great to get back to that as a training pace… but to run without pain and with joy are my goals.
Almost there with the pain and I have joy about 80% of the time…
Canthearya, do the Runner’s World subscription, $140 pair of Nike Shox (and a pair of NB 805’s), cooltex socks, racing shirts, and 5 day/wk training schedule count towards addicted?
I think I’m there.
The hot weather killed my outdoor training for sure – I run 8-8:30 miles when training inside, 9:30 when it’s 75-80, 10:00+ at 80 deg F and up.
