» Lessons Learned from My First 10K

The 10K – an excellent distance – not too far, but respectable. A 10K can give you the confidence to pursue a duathlon, triathlon or a marathon. What should you know? What sort of training is involved?

In training for my first 10K I wanted to know I could run the distance and then some. My weekly distance run was an even 8 miles. My other run training was speed work – .25M as fast as I could alternating w/.25M at my distance pace; followed with  intermediate running of either 1M or .5M at a faster than distance pace but slower than .25 pace. On alternating days I cycled anywhere from 10 to 20 miles depending on my weight training. Cycling pace was a steady 90 -100 RPMs varying the difficulty of the climb.

I cleaned up my diet two weeks before the race, eating nothing but fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, poultry, nuts, seeds, oatmeal, brown rice and soy protein powder. No sugar, bread, refined or processed foods of any kind. Three days before the race I stopped drinking any caffeinated beverages, allowing me excellent night’s rest. On the race morning I had a cup of coffee, oatmeal w/protein powder, fruit and nuts, and orange juice two hours before the race.

At the start of my race (approximately 6000 entrants divided almost evenly between male and female) I jogged slowly, warming up and gauging the crowd of runners. I knew & understood my body well enough to know that I could always speed up, but if I took off too fast I’d be gasping for breath and developing a case of nerves at best or a side stitch at worst. I came equipped with my iPod shuffle and some favorite music. As I got comfortable with my pace I was able to easily speed up and push it, passing on the outside of the pack and feeling very good about that. With the inspiration of my music, the confidence and competitive spirit inspired by running with such a huge group, I progressed well.

I took advantage of the early water stops but bypassed the last water break as I’d read somewhere that water ingested 20 minutes or later before the end of the course wouldn’t have an effect. My pace picked up because I felt strong, but I never hesitated to slow a bit if I felt out of breath. I knew I was making excellent progress toward the end when I was passing the smaller, lighter (and therefore faster) men in the last half mile. At the end I poured it on knowing that I’d be unhappy if I felt anything less than completely exhausted at the end of the race. Great result – 19th in my age group & under 1100th place overall!! Quite exciting!!

To briefly deconstruct:

1. Train so you can run a greater distance than your race. 10K=6.2M
2. Start slow and gauge your pace with that of the other runners
3. What inspires you? music? self-talk? Use it!!
4. Pace yourself throughout your race and speed up or slow down as necessary
5. Drink water during the first 4-5 miles only
6. Pull out all the stops at the end and sprint for dear life reaching the finish line gasping and panting.
7. Awesome!! Schedule your next race!