10k

After I completed a regular 5k (not a trail run, or at midnight on ice, and able to wear headphones), I've been wondering about stepping it up to a 10k.  Either that, or try to improve my 5k time.

Last month, my work had a team for a charity 10k walk.  I joined it because walking a 10k seemed like a great way to figure out if jogging it was do-able.  The walk was fun and not at all challenging.  A few weeks ago I also bought new running shoes and new anti-blister socks.  So last night, I  jogged and walked for 6 miles on the treadmill.  I did my usual routine for the first 3 miles, although I pushed myself a little to get those miles past sorta quickly.  My usual routine is jogging the first mile (or 10 minutes, whichever is longer), then alternating between jogging and walking for every other song.

For the second 3 miles, my routine was pretty similar but involved more resting.  I jogged for a song, walked at a fast pace for a song, then walked casually for a song.  Repeat.  By the last mile, I was pretty tired!  I had to concentrate on keeping my legs going, making good strides.  May be it was cheating, but when super-short songs (like interludes or short pieces from Joss Whedon musicals) came on during my jogging phase, I didn't jog during the next song, too.  I ran for just that short song!  Overall, it took me 70 minutes, with an average of about 11 minutes per mile.  Since I finish 5k's in 32-45 minutes, usually 11-12 minutes per mile, I think my 10k time is excellent!

I was tired, but felt good afterwards.  By the time that I got home, I was hungry, too.  I also realized that my hips were sore.  I wasn't expecting that, but it's not terribly surprising, either.  Now I know that I need to get to yoga more often to improve my running!

For some reason, I decided that I should wake up before dawn to grade papers today, though.  After a big workout like that, I probably should have slept longer.  Oh well, may be this weekend?  I graded at a diner, so I got a protein-rich meal and lots of coffee!

My next step will be to run a 10k route on the streets around my house.  I'll probably get to the beach, even!  But then need to just turn around and run back.  That'll be the real test; jogging on the streets will probably take 2 hours or more!  Wish me luck!

So, I guess I chose the 10k over speeding up my 5k!  Good; speed work doesn't sound fun at all.  Lots of sprints.  Yuck.