10K Gold

I have quite a few 5K results under my belt to gauge my running.  Until yesterday, I had not run a timed 10K race.  Just a week ago, I recorded my first 5k run at a sub-eight minute pace (7:58).  Still I had no idea what
pace I should run or how to time it for twice the distance I usually run.

I began the week by changing my usual running playlist.  I knew I'd need to relax a little more in the first miles and be ready to pick it up (or at least maintain) in the late stretch. My 5k playlist has consisted of Avenged Sevenfold (A7X), Bullet for My Valentine (B4MV), Nonpoint, and Hollywood Undead.  To change it up for longer distance, I moved A7X and B4MV to the end of the list, added some Five Finger Death Punch (FFDP) in the middle, and started out with Stereo Hearts by Gym Class Heroes, a remix of Rock that Body by Skrillex, and Get Up by Korn to ease into the later miles.


The race was close to home on the West side of town, and it didn't take much arm twisting to get N and JG to join.

The 4th Annual B&O Express is promoted as having a section of the race run on the old B&O railroad path that has been repurposed as a "trail" for hiking, running, and even riding horses.  While it sounded really cool at first glance, the section of the B&O that we ran on was a completely asphalt-paved trail.

I didn't know what to expect, but I wanted to set a goal.  I figured since I had broken into the sub-8 range in a 5k, I could push through a bit longer and beat a 9 minute pace for 6.2.  Goal: 54 minutes.  I wanted to be under 9 minutes per mile, even though it was my first race of this length. Most of the course was relatively flat, and much of it wound through a neighborhood, so there were at least some distractions. When it was over, my result was:




Crushed my goal!  If I had known I was doing that well, I may have pushed a little harder. If you've seen the tweet or FB post from yesterday, you may note that Runtastic recorded 5.73 mile in a longer time.  Not only did I forget to stop it when I was done, but the GPS cut out three times, so it continued to record the time, but not include the distance.  N & JG both got the distance on their devices at 6.11 miles.  Runtastic is great for a free run recording software, but it has proven inaccurate on a few occasions.  At least it has helped me gauge my progress at some level.

A personally impressive achievement by me turned into a cool one for N as well.  Little did she know, after the speedy overall female winners had collected their goods, she finished second in her age group.

In all, a great day, and certainly felt spectacular to do so well at my first 10k, regardless of my age group.