Practice 10K

Three days ago, I went to the gym after a long and busy day at work with one goal in mind – practice 10K.  After completing my version of the bridge-to-10K program, I was able to run 60 minutes without a break but the distance covered was nowhere near 10K.  Over the past couple of months I have been working on improving my endurance and increasing my distance.  However, I never managed to run 6.4 miles (10K) without at least one or two short walking breaks.

Back to the practice 10K. After a ten-minute warm up, I started out slowly, gradually picking up the pace without going too fast to avoid running out of steam before the end. The last mile was tough but I found the strength to cover the complete distance in 64:31. I am pleased with my time and feel optimistic that I can do better.

Summer is in full force in Oman and longer runs in the heat are challenging but I can’t control the weather and I can’t use it as an excuse. My training must go forward. My plan is to schedule a few more practice 10K runs before entering my first official race in July. I would like to finish in 60 minutes or less. However, at this point, a more realistic goal would be between 62 and 63 minutes.

Over the past 5 months, thanks to a regularly scheduled practice runs, interval training, long runs and cross training I have been able to lower my practice 5k times from 37-38 minutes to 30-31 minutes. Now, I hope by using a similar approach I will be able to  improve my 10K time.

Progress – 60 seconds to 60 minutes in 6 months

This morning I ran for 60 minutes straight without a single walk break. Six months ago when I suddenly made a decision to take up running I struggled to run (jog) 60 seconds without collapsing in complete exhaustion.  When I look at my progress on a weekly basis it seems like my progress is  slow. However, when I look at the beginning and now I am amazed at the amount of progress I have been able to make in a six month period.

I adapted the B210K (Bridge-to-10K) training plan to match my running ability, not wanting to risk injury or the disappointment of not being able to reach the target on schedule. Two days ago when I attempted my first 60 minute run I only managed 40 minutes without a break. After a one minute walk I was able to continue for another 20 minutes. Every other target on the C25K (Couch-to-5K)   and B210K plan was accomplished on schedule but not this one.

Not meeting this goal was a real setback. I really wanted to be able to run (jog) for 60 minutes straight after 8 weeks of training. Initially, I tried to convince myself that this was due to running too fast in the beginning and that my first 5K was super fast. This was unfortunately not the case because my 5K time (37:00) during that run was not exactly fast.

The next day, I did some cross training and debated with myself whether or not I should just stick to running (jogging) 30 to 45 minutes and  forget about constantly trying to increase my distance and improve my speed. I constantly need to remind myself that I am running for my health and not to win races. So, this morning, I tried to relax and enjoy the quiet and cool air and not look at my Garmin while running. So when I finally glanced at it  and saw 47 minutes I said to myself 13 more minutes and I am back on schedule and I did it. I truly feel like I have reached a milestone today.

Now I have two more 60 minute runs scheduled on my B210K training plan and I am looking forward to them. When these runs are completed I am going to take a day off and analyse all of my training data and then attempt to devise my next plan and figure out what will be my next goal.

Intervals Again

7K - I can hardly believe it!

This morning before going to work I completed week 3 (day 3) of my Bridge-to-10K (penguin version) training schedule which calls for 3 repetitions of 17 minutes of running (jogging) each separated by one minute of fast walking. I covered a little over 7K and still had some fuel in the tank! (My longest run ever.)

At first, I didn’t like the idea of starting over again with intervals after finishing C25K (Couch-to-5K)  on schedule and being able to run for 30 minutes straight. (Being a new runner, I somehow felt that this would reduce the endurance that I built up.) When I was following the C25K plan I feared the longer intervals of 25 and 30 minutes because I was so afraid that I would not be able to complete them successfully. Now, I am actually looking forward to these intervals. I no longer think about how difficult they will be. Instead I see myself successfully completing each day by focusing on that day alone and not worrying about the next hurdle. I will overcome that hurdle when I come to it.

Most importantly, I realize that by concentrating on the benefits rather than the difficulties, it is much easier to complete each step in B210K.