Eight Days out from First 10K

I look forward to running in Colorado in about a week for the annual BolderBoulder which takes place every year on Memorial Day. While I have been running and training for this event, I do not feel as though I am ready. I did have one of my best runs so far this year this past Thursday, but the others have not been great. Feeling lousy with breathing or following a run have all been part of the process. I am very excited to be running in Boulder, CO and to run in my first 10K.

The training and motivation has not been very strong at all this year. While I am putting in the effort to run at least three times a week, I have often times found myself having to talk myself into running. Tonight, we are having storms and so I would need to run inside, well, I made the excuse that I do not want to run as the power might go out. A new workout I have been doing is spin class. That is helping me to build endurance and push myself on days where I would normally not be doing anything at all. Still, I find that I am struggling as I go for runs.

We will arrive in Boulder on Saturday which will give us Saturday to get use to the altitude. I plan to do a light run on Sunday and then Monday is the big day for the race. I have not checked the weather yet, but I am hoping for nice weather for our run too.

My goal for this first 10K is to run the whole thing and not walk. I want to go at a moderate pace with it being somewhere in the neighborhood of 10:30 - 12:00 minute miles. I know that I often times am sucked into the start of a race and go very fast, but I know that I will not be able to maintain a 9 - 10 minute pace if I do that type of pace... especially in the altitude. So, I am hoping to target about a 11:30 minute pace and stick to it. If I can stick to that pace, I will finish the 10K in about one hour and eleven minutes. While this is a much slower pace than what I normally run for 5K's or even when I am out running in the neighborhood, I do not think I can maintain anything faster for this race.

The other part of the running is my diet. I have been very steady with my weight for the past year. This year, unlike last year, I have not cut out alcohol from my diet. This helped me lose weight the fastest and kept it off. I love the cold beer in the evening or following the mowing of the lawn, so I made the decision I would not cut out drinks. They taste good and gives me a reward following a workout or working in the yard.

I continue to use MyFitnessPal to track my calories and also my workouts. I have been using the site for the past three years. Great site! This site allows me to record my weight daily, weekly, or whenever you like. I was tracking it daily, but now it is randomly throughout the month. My weight stays right around 220. Yes, sometimes I dip down to 215 or go up as high as 225, but I usually fall right back down again to the 220 mark. That seems to be my constant.

I hope that following the race in Colorado, I will have another post. A post with additional pictures and of me smiling at the finish line with a respectable time. Until then, I hope you have a great spring and I do plan to post more over the summer.