We could not have been more blessed with beautiful weather to kick-off training for our first 10K. Typical 10K training routines are 12 week programs, but we have 18 weeks before our race this March. With the extra time, we have blended our perceived best parts of a few programs to create a custom0-super-training program!
We began with a 5K at a nearby park: Cochran Shoals. Neither Charles or I had been there before, but we will be going back. The path was wide enough for walkers, bikers, and runners going in both directions, there was a good deal of shade cover for the warm days (like today), and they path was made of pact gravel: undoubtably more forgiving for our knees.
Cochran shoals has a verity of routes and paths with total distances for everyone from novice to experienced runners. Today we enjoyed their 5K path, and anxiously looked for the mile markers they have posted along the rout. In addition to the path markers, we both use MyMyRun on our phones for tracking distance. I am anxiously awaiting the fit-bit that is on this year’s Santa List; so I can ditch my clunky iPhone for something more streamlined.
Now to the real excitement: Today’s run was a PR for both me and Charles! We completed the first 3.13 miles in 28.20 – a full 54 seconds faster than our previous best. For two people that have not run a 5K in over 6 months, we were very excited to have improved our time. This just serves up one more piece of evidence for the benefits of attending boot camp.
I am interested to see how much more we can improve that time next week. As impressive as today was, I am sure it would have been better if we had drank some water, or not enjoyed those beers yesterday during the GA tech Homecoming tailgate… C’est la vie, I suppose. Another blessing of the Cochran shoals path was the flat terrain! Charles and I are accustom to hills that gain 100 ft of elevation over a half-mile, so the 100 foot gain over 3.13 miles was a kiss from heaven. And was likely a reason for the improved time: but we are not going to turn our nose up because of that. We have several training days on the rolling Chastain route that will have us climbing and falling like an irish countryside. And those days will likely be slower but help strengthen our legs, lungs, and resolve for running.
MOre updates to come. I am sure I will find re-reading this in March quite amusing…