6/22/09 - Stadium to Stadium 10K

On Saturday, I ran my first 10K race ever. I ran it in 35:45 which is an average of 5:45 per mile. I finished in 5th overall out of over 1000 participants. I treated the race as basically a Saturday speed workout, and I didn't really rest for the race. I think if I had rested and focused more on the race, I could have been a minute or two faster. The focus right now is the marathon, and maybe I will specifically train for a 10K later. The race starts at AT&T Park, the SF Giants stadium, and finishes at the 49ers Stadium. It was a pretty cool race and was very well organized. A 10K is 6.2 miles, and the course was pretty flat. There was one hill around mile 3, but other than that it was basically a straight shot. Being in 10K shape is definately different than being in Marathon shape. I didn't have that "kick" at the end, and it was sortof frustrating. One guy passed me with a half mile to go, and I just couldn't kick it into that next gear. However, I felt like I could hold the pace I was holding for another few miles. If I was training for a 10K, I would probably be running 10-15 less miles per week but with more speed oriented training. Overall, I was really glad that I ran the race. The results are here: http://buzzwordproductions.com/results/Stadium/OVER-5.HTM

Even though it was only a 10K, it was really good to just get in that race mentality. It was a dress rehearsal in a way. Just setting everything out the night before, and planning what I eat the morning of race day, and how I organize and warm up before the race was good practice. I ran about 2 miles before the race, with about 3/4 of a mile to a mile of it at race pace. I also did a good dynamic warmup. I didn't really warm down afterwards the way that I should have but I just got caught up in the race hahaha.

The rest of the week wasn't bad, considering that I was focusing on the race all week. On Monday, I was so sore from the 21 mile run the day before that I took the day off. I was planning on getting 4-5 miles in, but I had to take the day off.

Tuesday, I did my 13 mile run, and I ran it in 1:29.55. I was really pumped about that because I had been trying to run that run under an hour and half for a few weeks now, and I had been 1:31 and 1:32 the last 2 weeks.

Overall, this week I ran 50 miles. It was a little bit of a recovery week, at least in terms of mileage. Next week I plan on having another tough week, and I plan on running 20+ again on Sunday. 5 weeks till race day!! Considering that the last week and half will be mostly taper and resting, its getting close!

Monday - rest
Tuesday - 13 mile medium long run, 1:29.55
Wednesday - 4 mile run
Thursday - 7 mile tempo run
Friday - 1 mile, race day warm up
Saturday - 10K race: 35:45. Total 9 miles w/ warm up/down
Sunday - 16 mile long run