First 10k accomplished!

Well I can now say I've done a 10k.  I ran the AmeriHealth 10k Over the Bridge Challenge today.  It was cold at the start, but it was easy to ignore once I got a few miles underway.  There were 3,000 people running, so it took awhile to cross the starting line, and it was difficult to get a good stride early since there were so many slow-runners to navigate around.  I finished in 59:45 (chip time).  It was harder than anticipated.  Running the frist 5k over the bridge and back was not too bad, but between mile 4 and 5 there was a gravel path.  Pretty painful on the feet.  The last mile I was fairly exhausted, but plooded on till I could see the stadium, and ran hard the last 1k hard to the finish line.  Pretty happy that I finished in under an hour.  Not bad for 54 years old.  I got an award for best first-timer in 50-59 age group.  Since I had spent the day up in NYC at a Broadyway show, I didn't know what to expect on race day.  Think that I will do the 10k Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving day, then start working up to a 10-miler in December, and still planning on the half-marathon in March.   The 10k is not the marathon, but it's big time for me.  Thanks to everyone for the support. Rob

Way to go Rob!!!    I did my first 5K yesterday and will post about that later.  I can already see how you want to try for the next distance, etc. 

Hey Rob!  Great job!  That is an excellent pace time too ... congratulations!

I totally know what you mean about running on gravel.  I had a 5K a couple months back and the majority of it was on gravel paths and it had me sliding all over the place.  Not so fun! Congratulations!  Way to go! Deanna  :)

Congratulations! You did great! Love reading your reports, they keep me motivated. Will be doing a 5k Turkey Trot! Looking forward to hearing how you do on that one also!  Liz

"between mile 4 and 5 there was a gravel path.  Pretty painful on the feet". Rob, Next time try wearing shoes.  It really helps. It doesn't matter if it was a 400 meter race or a marathon.  You trained and ran a great time.  Congrats to you.

Scott, How come you never mentioned shoes before?  I'll have to try those.  The gravel just created such a wierd rolling feeling, I didn't like it much.  I prefer the pavement.  On a side note, there was a guy that stayed with me almost the whole race wearing a wool parka.  I was sweating bullets so I can't even imagine wearing something like that.  I've noticed a lot of people wear disposable hoodies on the longer runs.  I'm so cheap I could never toss anything. Looking ahead to the next one. Rob

Hi Rob!

Speaking of people wearing weird things when they run ... a guy running just ahead of me at my last 5K was wearing Birkenstock sandals.  It was weird to watch him because it seemed like he was very used to it and it obviously didn't slow him down too much.  But it was quite funny to see!

Deanna  :)

What a great run!! Any run that you finish and feel great is a big deal!! Congrats on a great race!!!

That is great Rob and a good time too.  I'm jealous.  I'm still shooting for a sub hour 10K. Thanks for the inspiration and sharing the experience. P.S.  Scott never mentioned shoes to me either.  Probably just wanted an advantage encase we ever entered the same run as him!!!

Well done Rob! You're really building towards something there. Nice to cross another one off your list.