bigpern23
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Aug 1, 2004
- Messages
- 20,694
Well, I ran my first road race on Friday, a big, local 10-miler that brings in about 3,800 runners. I had covered the race as a sports writer seven years in a row, from 2002-2008 and never thought there was a chance I'd ever run it.
In the weeks leading up to the race, I was consistently running 6 miles, averaging 8:30/mile. I ran 8 miles once, but I never really had time to do that many miles consistently.
I felt pretty good that I could do the 10 miles, though, and I figured I could definitely do 10-minute miles, so I set 100 minutes as my goal. I figured I had an outside chance to break 90 minutes, but, having never even run a race before, there was a lot I didn't know about what it would be like, so I planned to shoot for 100.
The first 7 miles were pretty excruciating. It was near 100 percent humidity, and I went out too fast in the first two miles, clocking them at just over 16 minutes. It took a lot out of me and made the next five miles pretty miserable.
The last three miles, however, I started seeing people I knew every mile or so and, with the end so near, I got my groove back and started killing it.
At the 8-mile marker, a race official said we were at 82 minutes. I had to do two 9-minute miles to reach my goal.
I found a good rhythm and crushed the final hill and then cruised for the next mile and half. With about a quarter mile to go, you come down the final stretch and some guy started to pass me. I sped up. He sped up. We both began a full-out sprint to the finish.
I could see the course clock as we ran down the final straightaway and it read 1 hour, 42 minutes. I knew I didn't make my time, but at least I was trying to beat the random guy, so I pushed it as hard as I could across the finish.
I completed the 10 miles, a little slower than I had hoped, but, a year after weighing 233 pounds with bad knees, it felt like a heck of an accomplishment.
Oh yeah, I checked my results the next day and my final time was 1:39:49. I beat my goal by 11 seconds. I could have eased up when I saw that clock at 1:42, but fortunately, I continued to push myself and that turned out to be the difference. I forgot that you bib has a magnetic chip in it, so your individual time doesn't start until you cross the starting line, which took about two minutes after the gun went off.
Now my friends are trying to get me to do a half-marathon. And it doesn't sound so bad. Only 3 more miles ....

In the weeks leading up to the race, I was consistently running 6 miles, averaging 8:30/mile. I ran 8 miles once, but I never really had time to do that many miles consistently.
I felt pretty good that I could do the 10 miles, though, and I figured I could definitely do 10-minute miles, so I set 100 minutes as my goal. I figured I had an outside chance to break 90 minutes, but, having never even run a race before, there was a lot I didn't know about what it would be like, so I planned to shoot for 100.
The first 7 miles were pretty excruciating. It was near 100 percent humidity, and I went out too fast in the first two miles, clocking them at just over 16 minutes. It took a lot out of me and made the next five miles pretty miserable.
The last three miles, however, I started seeing people I knew every mile or so and, with the end so near, I got my groove back and started killing it.
At the 8-mile marker, a race official said we were at 82 minutes. I had to do two 9-minute miles to reach my goal.
I found a good rhythm and crushed the final hill and then cruised for the next mile and half. With about a quarter mile to go, you come down the final stretch and some guy started to pass me. I sped up. He sped up. We both began a full-out sprint to the finish.
I could see the course clock as we ran down the final straightaway and it read 1 hour, 42 minutes. I knew I didn't make my time, but at least I was trying to beat the random guy, so I pushed it as hard as I could across the finish.
I completed the 10 miles, a little slower than I had hoped, but, a year after weighing 233 pounds with bad knees, it felt like a heck of an accomplishment.
Oh yeah, I checked my results the next day and my final time was 1:39:49. I beat my goal by 11 seconds. I could have eased up when I saw that clock at 1:42, but fortunately, I continued to push myself and that turned out to be the difference. I forgot that you bib has a magnetic chip in it, so your individual time doesn't start until you cross the starting line, which took about two minutes after the gun went off.
Now my friends are trying to get me to do a half-marathon. And it doesn't sound so bad. Only 3 more miles ....
