5K Race Results, Run Less, Run Faster Book

I am very happy with how my 5K went. This is my third 5K, but my first in over a year. I have been focusing more on distance this year. It was a smaller race, so there were only a couple hundred runners. It was for a great cause and benefited parents who have lost babies in their 2nd and 3rd trimester.

I made myself keep a very steady pace at the beginning. I saw many people go out very fast in front of me, but I ended up passing most of them in the second mile.

I came in 6th out of 119 females. I don't know how I did in my age group. They didn't recognize age place winners. My time was 26:11. This is 19 seconds FASTER than my 5K in Sept. 10 when I got a medal for my age group at a different race. My average pace was 8:26. I think the combination of distance and speedwork as well as racing smarter (and my weight training) has really helped me improve my time in the last two races. I have one more 10K in a couple weeks, then I am taking a break from racing for a couple of months.

I do need to get some cold weather running gear. It was in the 40s and I wore shorts. My feet were freezing when I started running! I hope I can find some cheap and decent clothes. I am coming to realize that I need better clothes to help keep me warm and cool at the same time. Maybe I can ask for some better running gear for Christmas. I just feel so guilty spending the money, especially as we have major house repairs going on right now.

Anyway, I feel pretty good. I still don't like the number on the scale, but I feel slimmer, my clothes fit, and my races are getting better, so I must be doing something right!

I downloaded Run Faster, Run Less on my kindle. It's a 3 day per week philosophy about training. I've already been doing something similar, but I'm glad to have some specific training plans to follow. The authors advocate 1 speedwork day, 1 tempo run, and 1 long distance. The other 2 days they say to crosstrain, like biking, rowing, or swimming. Since my gym doesn't have a rowing machine or a pool, I'm going to try biking. They say these sports work different muscles, unlike the stepper or the elliptical. And, I'm going to keep doing my strength training with the New Rules of Lifting book.

OK - That's a LONG blog, but it felt good to write down the progress I've been making. Thanks for reading!