My First 10K!
I've been looking forward to this day for a long time now, and finally I reached the point where I felt confident venturing out on a 10k training run. The fact that I mistakenly set my alarm for 6am, and not the intended 7am, did not trip me up. I lay in bed for about a half hour, then got up and slowly woke up with some stretching. This was a good idea as I felt much better about the prospect of having a good run once I headed out the door at 7am.
I walked, as usual, for ten minutes to get the blood moving a bit. I also decided to do a counterclockwise version of my now familiar loop, thereby avoiding a steep downhill portion near the beginning of the run which I was afraid would hurt my body in various places. After walking east for the prescribed ten minutes I started into my first ever 10k.
The ankle felt OK, as much as I expected it to, and the normal creaking and groaning of my lower extremities were evident as always in the first 1-2 kilometres. I kept the pace in the 5:30/km range for this section as I eased into the run. In fact I tried something new: given the fact that it was very drizzly and chilly I wanted to get my heart rate up faster than usual, and also I wanted to be as light on my feet as I could on account of the ankle, so I started of with a higher cadence than normal and smaller stride length. This worked quite nicely as within the first kilometre my heart rate reached 160. I will have to remember this technique prior to the race, or perhaps in the first portion of the race...
Anyway, after about 2k I was starting to feel good and began to lengthen my stride a bit until I was running in a form that is now familiar and comfortable for me. Not too long in the stride, not too much pounding of the pavement, and concentrating on keeping my shoulders level and relaxed. Slowly my average pace began to drop one second at a time until, at the 5k mark when I pressed my lap button, it read 5:25/km with a total time of 27:08 for the distance.
I definitely felt strong at this point and cardio was not an issue. My heart rate was in the low 150s, right on target. For the second 5k I decided to push a little harder and wanted to negative split as much as I could without spiking my heart rate past 160bpm all that much. I had entered Taylor Creek Park by now and it was quite peaceful, a great atmosphere. There was almost nobody else around, just a couple of walkers, quite a few squirrels, and no other runners! I thought this was strange, but perhaps everyone is going to the Toronto Waterfront Marathon or something...
Anyway, at about the 6k mark I was heating up and pulled off my long-sleeved t-shirt, which would remain bunched up in my right hand for the rest of the run. There's got to be a better way, but I have no experience to guide me as far as attire goes. I was concentrating more on my form and my pace, and was maintaining a 5:12/km pace at this point. As I continued to run through the park I was still feeling strong and thought it might be fun to get the average pace for the second half of my run under 5:10/km, so I attempted to lengthen my stride rather than actually push harder. This worked and I steadily took seconds off my average pace for the rest of the run. The second 5k was completed in 25:35, at 5:07/km average pace. Mission accomplished! I had finished my first ever non-stop 10k run, and it felt good - no injury problems as far as I could tell.
The total for the 10k looks like this: 52:43, 5:16/km avg pace.
Garmin don't lie.
The google image of my run.
After icing and showering, then scarfing down some food, we headed out the door to Ashbridges Bay Park so that Owen could practice running through the 1km cross-country course with his school team. Of course, I ended up jogging with the kids against my better judgement, coffee in hand for the first portion! I had taken a couple of Ibuprofen after showering and my ankle was feeling awesome as a result, but of course I was concerned to not hurt it. I don't think I did any damage, but I will ice again now that I am home. Owen ran another lap with his friend Aiden for a total of 2k: way to go guys! Here are the proud kids, a little bushed, with Malcolm taking part in the picture:
Have a great weekend everybody, and All the best!
I walked, as usual, for ten minutes to get the blood moving a bit. I also decided to do a counterclockwise version of my now familiar loop, thereby avoiding a steep downhill portion near the beginning of the run which I was afraid would hurt my body in various places. After walking east for the prescribed ten minutes I started into my first ever 10k.
The ankle felt OK, as much as I expected it to, and the normal creaking and groaning of my lower extremities were evident as always in the first 1-2 kilometres. I kept the pace in the 5:30/km range for this section as I eased into the run. In fact I tried something new: given the fact that it was very drizzly and chilly I wanted to get my heart rate up faster than usual, and also I wanted to be as light on my feet as I could on account of the ankle, so I started of with a higher cadence than normal and smaller stride length. This worked quite nicely as within the first kilometre my heart rate reached 160. I will have to remember this technique prior to the race, or perhaps in the first portion of the race...
Anyway, after about 2k I was starting to feel good and began to lengthen my stride a bit until I was running in a form that is now familiar and comfortable for me. Not too long in the stride, not too much pounding of the pavement, and concentrating on keeping my shoulders level and relaxed. Slowly my average pace began to drop one second at a time until, at the 5k mark when I pressed my lap button, it read 5:25/km with a total time of 27:08 for the distance.
I definitely felt strong at this point and cardio was not an issue. My heart rate was in the low 150s, right on target. For the second 5k I decided to push a little harder and wanted to negative split as much as I could without spiking my heart rate past 160bpm all that much. I had entered Taylor Creek Park by now and it was quite peaceful, a great atmosphere. There was almost nobody else around, just a couple of walkers, quite a few squirrels, and no other runners! I thought this was strange, but perhaps everyone is going to the Toronto Waterfront Marathon or something...
Anyway, at about the 6k mark I was heating up and pulled off my long-sleeved t-shirt, which would remain bunched up in my right hand for the rest of the run. There's got to be a better way, but I have no experience to guide me as far as attire goes. I was concentrating more on my form and my pace, and was maintaining a 5:12/km pace at this point. As I continued to run through the park I was still feeling strong and thought it might be fun to get the average pace for the second half of my run under 5:10/km, so I attempted to lengthen my stride rather than actually push harder. This worked and I steadily took seconds off my average pace for the rest of the run. The second 5k was completed in 25:35, at 5:07/km average pace. Mission accomplished! I had finished my first ever non-stop 10k run, and it felt good - no injury problems as far as I could tell.
The total for the 10k looks like this: 52:43, 5:16/km avg pace.
Garmin don't lie.
The google image of my run.
After icing and showering, then scarfing down some food, we headed out the door to Ashbridges Bay Park so that Owen could practice running through the 1km cross-country course with his school team. Of course, I ended up jogging with the kids against my better judgement, coffee in hand for the first portion! I had taken a couple of Ibuprofen after showering and my ankle was feeling awesome as a result, but of course I was concerned to not hurt it. I don't think I did any damage, but I will ice again now that I am home. Owen ran another lap with his friend Aiden for a total of 2k: way to go guys! Here are the proud kids, a little bushed, with Malcolm taking part in the picture:
Have a great weekend everybody, and All the best!
posted by Vava at
12:56 PM
8 Comments:
Great job on the run! I was considering for about 2 hours one day signing up for the toronto marathon because I have off tuesday and wednesday and figured I could make it a long weekend, but flying out there and all the logistics didn't work out. I guess you are around there somewhere. Have a great day!
Great job. Excellent pic at the end too. Way to go.
Nice job on the 10k -- that's a great time.
The kids are cuties!
Great job!
Way to go. It's nice to see that the boys also have the runing bug.
Keep up the good work, and way to take care of yourself afterwards.
Conratulations! You did a wonderful job. It is even better that you felt strong and no issues with the ankle!
YAY!!! CONGRATS!! YOu did a most excellent job and I'm super glad that the ankle didn't give you any probs ;-)
I'm sure that felt soooo good. CONGRATS!!
That is awesome! Congrats on the huge accompishment!
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