Water for the World 10k

Last Saturday, I ran a 10k. It was my first 10k since Alan was born eight months ago. I set a goal for myself. I used Runners World's Training Calculator to determine what my 10k time should be if I could run a 3:58 marathon (my marathon PR, which I set the weekend before I became pregnant). It calculated that I should run a 10k in 51:47. That's an average of 8:20 minute miles. So that was my target.

I trained well, doing speed sessions and running consistently, until the last two weeks. Now typically, you taper some before a race, although for a 10k, you wouldn't tapering much. I got so busy at work that by last Wednesday, I had only run twice in the two weeks prior. I tried to catch up by running Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday before the race, but I could tell that my slacking had affected my running. My lungs were feeling it.

I figured I wouldn't be able to meet my goal, but I went with a glimmer of hope anyway. I ran hard. There were some crazy hills - some downhills that gave me a 7:40 mile, and some uphills that killed my time.

Toward the end, I always pick a runner that is close to my pace, but slightly faster, and try to catch up to them. This time, unbeknown to me, I picked one of my coworkers to try to catch (I didn't find out she was a coworker until Monday). She was strong at the end, and I wasn't able to catch her. I ended up finishing in 51:49, just two seconds after my goal time.

Although I didn't meet my goal, I was pretty close. This gives me hope that I will be able to run a sub-4 hour marathon again someday. Maybe even as soon as November.



Me at the start line. I'm on the left side wearing a pink visor and purple shirt.