Entry form is in - Run to the G

I had such a good run this morning, 10.5 km, that I came home and put my entry form in for the 10 km race. It's about time. I've been trying to decide between this run and the Terry Fox fun run in Canberra, but the decision ended up being made for me. Deb, my sister-in-law, is having her 40th birthday party on 17th June, and there's no way I'm missing that, so Melbourne it is.

I headed out for my run at about 11 am, which is late for me, but I slept in, and then realised that I hadn't eaten all that well yesterday if I was going to run for 10 km this morning. Once upon a time I'd have had no idea that nutrition was that important. I ate breakfast and then waited for it to digest properly before heading out.

I was all kitted up with my fuel belt. I want to get used to running with it. It's much more comfortable than I thought it would be. Mind you, I'm only carrying water at this stage. I was thinking about it while I was running, and I really don't drink that much during the run. I will have to start using the spare bottles for a protein drink and something like gatorade. I haven't gotten into this stuff as yet, but if I'm going to run for more than an hour at a time I'll have to start being more organised.

My run started off well. I did the body sensing thing from Chi Running and realised that my tired knee from Thursday was in great shape today. Maybe I was overreacting on Thursday night. My right quad was a bit tight, but this eased itself out during my warmup.

My goal was to run the whole 10.5 km without stopping, if I could. If you've read any of my previous posts, you'll know I'm a run / walk person, so managing to run the whole way is a challenge for me. I broke it down into achievable goals. I'd run for 2 km before walking in the ABS fun run, so I aimed to get at least that far. Then I aimed to get to the 3.5 km mark, the 5 km mark, the 7 km mark, etc. The run was three 3.5 km loops, and I did them in 23:34, 24:00 and 24:06.

I have no real sense of the pace I'm running at. I ran too fast at the beginning of the ABS fun run (6:15 mins / km), which is why I was walking so early into the run. This morning I set myself the challenge of running at a slower pace (6:50 mins/km ave), so I was pleased with the time. Also, the run felt really good. I didn't lose control of my breathing, I had time to look around and enjoy the scenery, I managed the fuel belt, and I enjoyed myself out there. What more can you ask for?

I think 10 km is the distance for me at the moment. I was telling somebody yesterday that I was entering the 10 km run instead of the 5 km run, because it was more of a challenge. I'm not so fussed about the time I go around in, although I do like to see an overall improvement. The thing I really like about running is the way I feel when I get to the end of the run. I'm proud of myself for completing it and I feel strong and healthy. A few years ago I would never have imagined myself running across the street let alone for 10 kms, so I feel an incredible sense of achievement every time I run, even if it's only for a few minutes.

I'm seriously thinking about doing City to Surf now too.

Global Challenge update

I've been taking it easy the past couple of days, but my team is on fire. One of our members hadn't logged her steps for the first week. As she'd spent three days bushwalking, she had quite a respectable tally to add, which has our team in 22nd place today. The placings are always dodgy over the weekend as a number of teams don't update until Monday. Still, it's an amazing ranking for this early in the competition. What's even more surprising to me is that the team's average is higher than my average. I'll have to get my backside into gear! I never thought the team as a whole would be pushing me. Mind you, I don't think I'll tell them that. :-)