NJMP 10K

I haven't got around to writing much about my training lately, but I have kept up with doing it. Yesterday, I ran the 10K at NJMP. It was actually at 6PM and of course it turned out to be one of the hottest days of the summer.

The course started on the Lightning Course and after a lap around there it headed to the outside. It was combined with a 5K so that was rather interesting. One of the good things was that I've been to the track before so I had a rough idea what to expect (although I didn't find a course map until close to the start).

Unlike the fast paced 5K start a few weeks back, this pace was nice and slow. There were really only about 20 people from the combined field ahead of me. I did what would've been an ideal first mile, except for the heat.

Even though I was comfortable early on, it was evident that I needed to slow down. The first couple miles seemed like forever. They didn't have mile markers around the track so that was really frustrating. I only had a rough idea of my pace.

The first water station wasn't setup until the 5K turnaround point, which was over two miles from the start. That was just too far out. I was spend and just trying to survive when I got there. The heat was unbearable.

The one nice thing about the water station was that they had towels. That really helped cool my head. I picked up the pace significantly after that. There was also some shade no longer after. That helped me stay pretty strong.

Again I began to wear down though. The second water station was at the 10K turnaround which I would guess was around the 4 mile mark (again the course was poorly marked). I got to that station and began to significantly pick up the pace one more time. Two guys continued to walk after the station, so I was able to pass them.

I pushed fairly hard to stay away from them. At that point, I at least knew where the next water station was (again at the 5K turnaround point). I was tired, but I worked hard knowing I'd get a short break when I got there. I didn't stop as much through that station because I knew I was only about a mile from the finish.

The guys I passed earlier, must've walked through that station too. They were nowhere in site as I neared the end. No one was near me in the front either. Most of the final 5K was essentially run alone. That made it really tough to put up a good time.

When I got near the finish, I was quite sure how everything finished up in the infield. I pushed hard, but wasn't able to sprint because I didn't know how much further I had to go. I finally got my sprint going when I saw the finish line and I ended with a 52:45 time. A kid on a bike got in my way near the finish too.

The time was really disappointing. I was hoping for a 45 or 46 minute run. I really knew going in that the heat was going to hurt my time though. If the water stations were more frequent, I probably could've shaved 3 or 4 minutes off my time.

I've run two races now and both in terrible conditions (rain and heat). Neither gave me a good gage of where I'm really at right now. I didn't get to push my legs to the limit in either one of them. I was happy just to make it through this one. I finished 1st in my age group, but I think the only other person in my age group was one of the Top 3 finishers.

I'm now getting into my marathon training schedule. I believe I have 78 training runs scheduled now through November (including cross training). This week will be a bit tough as it'll be a jump in mileage. I'll be doing three runs of 3 miles and concluding with a 7 mile long run on Saturday.

Originally, I was going to take tomorrow off and run three straight days. I'm not that sore today though since I didn't work my legs too hard yesterday. Therefore, I might take a rest day on Tuesday or Wednesday to break up the three straight days.

It's going to be a fun journey trying to train for the marathon. I still remain very hungry. I'm finding that staying focused on a goal is keeping me enthusiastic. Also, still trying to better my old running times is keeping me very motivated too. Eventually, I am going to reach that level again and go beyond. For now, I just have to accept how far I've come. I've lost 15 lbs and can run at a level that a lot of regular runners can only dream of.