Monday, April 21, 2008

I think I might be a runner now

I ran my first official post-c25k 5k on Saturday morning. Yaaaaaaaay!!!

I enjoyed it thoroughly. My husband and I invited lots of friends to join us at the run, and since there was a 10k, a 5k, and a 1k, there was a little something for everyone. Our group had a total of 17 people running or walking – 7 of us ran the 5k, 3 of us walked the 5k, 4 of us ran the 10k, and 3 of us walked the 1k.

When it came to the seven 5k runners, I was right smack in the middle in terms of finishing times – two guys finished significantly ahead of me, two finished later, and three of us were right in the middle. I was the only female who ran the 5k – most of the women walked the 5k or 1k, although one ran the 10k (she graduated from the couch to 5k program in July of 2007).

My official chip time was 32:08 minutes. I am completely satisfied with this time. My goal was to be at or near 35 minutes; I beat my goal!

I ended up running the entire distance with my husband, which was fun – we’d planned on running separately but figured we’d start out together and separate once one person needed to slow down or speed up. But instead of separating, we stayed together the whole time. I think his ability to run faster than me was offset by the fact that I’d trained more consistently, and I'd recently done much longer training runs than he’d done.

The run felt very right to me. I feel like the couch to 5k program prepared me for the run … well, it prepared me for everything except dodging strollers and waist-high children, anyway. There were LOTS of little people who would sprint forward and then abruptly stop, and lots of folks moving not-so-quickly while pushing strollers. I don’t know if my time was hurt by the obstacle course-ness of the beginning of the race, or if I actually ran faster to get out of the first-mile chaos.

Unfortunately, my knees are a little sore. I think I upped my distance a little too quickly in the last couple weeks. I’m going to rest my joints for a day or two (maybe I’ll do the recumbent bike tonight rather than running), then get back to 30 minute runs 3 days a week.

I’ve definitely caught the running bug. Right now I’m contemplating doing a 5k a month through the summer, and then beginning to train for a 10k towards the end of the summer or in the fall. I need to figure out what 10k will be my goal race and plan around that. There’s a 10k in August, but I’m not so on board with doing a 10k in August in Texas. I’d rather do a 10k after it’s cooled off a bit.

I also need to settle on a 10k training program. I was originally leaning towards Hal Higdon’s 10k program for novices, but now I’m considering the Becoming a One Hour Runner program instead. I really like training based on time instead of distance … I think that works better for me.

It’s good that being active is the game plan – with the way I ate on Friday and all weekend I’ll need to find ways to burn calories. I had some stress eating on Friday, then on Saturday we went out for pancakes after our race, and then we went for beers. On Sunday I did fine all day, but we had Stars hockey tickets for that night and I went a little crazy on the stadium food. The scale and I … let’s just say we’re not friends this morning.

Thank goodness for Kathy’s “one perfect day” challenge … hopefully that’ll get me back on track.

40 comments:

Pattie said...

You ARE a runner, m'dear - no doubt about it! You can wear that title proudly!

YAY YOU!!

Amy said...

Congrats! Look at all these goals your reaching!

Good for you!

Erin said...

That is awesome! What a great accomplishment! I hope your knees feel better and you continue to enjoy running!

Paul said...

Congratulations on this great accomplishment! You have every reason to be proud of what you've done, and it sounds like you're already working on your next goal. That's pretty inspiring.

As I've mentioned before, I'm thinking about running. It gets rather warm in Phoenix during the summer, so I'm contemplating this at exactly the wrong time. ;-)

In any event, good job!

Miss July...not...yet said...

That is so great! congrats on the time and staying with your dh the whole way!

Anonymous said...

Incredible! Congratulations. What an amazing time, too!!! I'm totally with you-- I'm going to start Hal Higdon's 10k training, but plan to run another 5k in May and one in June before trying a 10k in July or August... or September, or maybe all three! Distant goal: Chicago half marathon in August, 2009!

Anonymous said...

Well, that is just awesome! I'm so glad it went well. You are very impressive and inspirational!

V.

Aaron Cunningham said...

Congratulations!!! Great run! Glad you were able to run with your husband too, that's really neat.

I went with HH5210 vs. OHR for the opposite reason that you are drawn to OHR. I like going with mileage. OK, more detailed, sorry:

1. I can track my pace better (in theory, I obviously can't keep my pace even to save my life) if I go for mileage based runs.

2. If I run faster on a mileage run I can finish sooner, which counts for something on a lunch run. :)

3. My follow on plan for the year is mileage based, and I wanted to make sure I was aligned with that capability wise.

4. It's easier for me to make sure I'm moving forwards towards a new race distance if I do miles vs. time.

Sorry, long winded...

Enjoy your running!

Anonymous said...

Congrats on the run and your time, that is awesome. Be proud!

MMalloy said...

The 5K run sounds awesome, You rock!!! 32 minutes is fantastic, way to go!!

Grumpy Chair said...

That is just great! Congratulations to you and accomplishing your C25K goal!

Chanda (aka Bea) said...

Wow! Way to go on the 5K, that's a pretty impressive accomplishment and you should be waay proud of yourself.

Sorry to hear about your craptastic day on friday, I hope everything turns out well, I'll be sending you good thoughts this week.

Da Doo Run Run said...

I'm so proud of you! Looks like we run at about the same pace currently. Great time! Good job!! Woo hoo!

I'm going to check out that one hour runner thing. I am also more attracted to running based on time.

Yay you!

Kara said...

Congrats on beating your goal! That is so awesome. I love when I do things way better than I thought I could.

Brigitte Ballard said...

I ran a 5k on Saturday and my legs HATE me today. I am having problems walking down stairs. I like your idea of running a 5k per month. There is such a high when running the 5k, but today I feel a little down.

Kate said...

I'm so glad you decided to jump in on the challenge! What a great way to get back on track.

Kristy said...

Congratulations on a great run and thats really sweet that you and your hubby ran together. Very nice and hopefully great company.

healthy ashley said...

Wow! You're already on to a 10K! Hello, kick in the butt for me!

(And congratulations on making such great time on the 5K!)

sauchagirl said...

Happy! That's so awesome that you did it and feel so wonderful about the run and you want to continue upping your distance. Great time too! Thinking about you and your results tomorrow.

Cammy@TippyToeDiet said...

Oh yeah, I'd say you're a runner! And a pretty fast one at that! Congrats on getting your first one under your belt.

little ol me said...

You didn't beat your goal. You CRUSHED it! Of course you're a runner. And isn't it just amazing??!?!!

RunToTheFinish said...

I am soooo excited for you!! It's just a super wonderful feeling to know you can do it!! Way to go!

Ready Maid said...

I KNEW YOU'D DO IT! I've been watching and cheering from Hot Springs, Ark.!

Just had somebody ask me today if I wanted to register for a 5K. It'll be my first one...ever!

Anonymous said...

Well done that was a fantastic time, you must be feeling so proud of yourself. You are a huge inspiration to me to keep trying this running thing.

*rushes off to find out what this one day challenge is* it may be just what i need :)

Anonymous said...

Running is fun, isn't it! I feel addidcted to it a bit. And I am quite pleased I found a resolution to my knee problems so I can continue running.

You did fantastically with the 5K You should bve very proud!

Manuela said...

I never thought you were anything else!

Congrats on completing your 5K. You're an inspirationg for me!

Anonymous said...

FANTASTIC! I am so proud of you! Congratulations on running your first 5k race. :)

Anonymous said...

It just takes a lot of patience and endurance to run. That's personally why I love it so much because it takes a lot of mind over matter in order to not want to quit when you are getting tired. You should try using an exercise vest. It will really increase your endurance.
-Brad

SO said...

Congrats! I just started running myself. I have been working out with a personal trainer by the name of Roland Semprie in downtown Toronto. He encourages that I run 1.5 miles on training day and days when I’m not training to increase my speed and time. I have been doing thing for the past 3 months, and I must say the results are incredible, I can run 1.5 miles in 10 min, when I used to take me 18 min. Since spring has sprung, I'm going to start running outside as well!

The Diet Solution Program said...

I envy you.

I've always loved hitting the weight room, but a treadmill is my number 1 enemy!

For cardio I've started to jump rope, I just imagine I am Muhammad Ali and start swinging away.

Oh, by the way, the visions of Muhammad Ali usually disappear once I trip up about 30seconds into my jump rope routine, but I'm getting better! :)

Lindsey said...

Congrats! I've never been a runner and then I found the couch to 5k plan, downloaded the chubby jones podcast for the C25K and will run my first 5K on Friday (Nov 6th)!

I hope I do as well as you.

Patrick Kallie said...

Running is my passion! a have been a n avid runner for about 7 years now. I usually run 5 days a week.

Fitness Equipment said...

Congratulation! You would be a great runner!

Jump to Tone said...

I used to have a love/hate relationship with running - like I wanted to do it but less than five minutes in I would feel so demotivated. It was only til recently when I discovered a good set of tunes, that for some reason unlike other music, really made running very enjoyable for - like the songs made me run longer and so I achieved more. Unfortunately for me I over did it and my weak knee can't handle the jog sessions anymore. I am envious of those of you who can keep at it without any knee issues. But I have my rebounder that I use to compensate for it - I do jogging on that because it is less impact. Hopefully once my knee is strong again I can try going back to it.

Kinesiology Tape said...

You did the good job.
But it is amazing that you completed the race with your husband!

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Eat Your Words said...

I love how you list your goals and put your results out there! The details are awesome!

Dan said...

Thats a great list of goals. Keep it up running girl :)

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