a8a0r8on

Last year the Tufts 5K was my first ever race. I finished it without walking, but it almost killed me. When it was over I felt like crap, was in a bad mood, both knees were screaming and my shins were on fire. Even my iPod was frozen. I didn't train for it due to my ongoing shin splints. I hadn't run in a month prior and only rode a bike a few times a week, and not very well at that. Regardless, I did get 9th place out of around 40-50 runners (and 30-40 more walkers).

This year I spent Jan-Feb strengthening my leg muscles, increasing flexibility and I biked a lot more (longer, faster). On March 1, I ran 1/2 a mile and increased my mileage by a tenth of a mile per week since. Except for this last week when I jumped quarter mile. I also biked and swam and continued strength training on off days. On Tuesday I ran 2.1 miles and have taken off since. A 5K is around 3 miles, so I didn't quite reach my training goal.

Today's race weather was cold (I overheard someone saying it was 40 degrees), drizzly and it rained lightly at the end. But it was still well attended by runners (not many walkers and kids this time though). It was much easier than last year. I was in control the whole time. Nothing hurt, anywhere. I was very tired at the end but not dead by any means. Afterwards I was talking to others who beat me and they were all suffering and out of breath. I could have run further, but not quicker.

They didn't tell us our rank this time, but they did give a time. I ran it in 24:05. I left my watch at home by accident. So I couldn't pace myself thus this was a *much* faster pace than I trained at. I was training at 10 minute miles, instead I ran 8 minute miles. (I trained at that pace last fall when my shin splints returned, so this time I have been going much slower.) 8 minutes is not fast by any stretch, but it is decent, especially since I haven't run that distance in a year or at that speed in 7 months. Also, Tufts is a VERY hilly course whereas the treadmill is quite flat. So overall I'm quite happy with the result!

I've been icing the shins and expect them to hurt the next few days. After all, I jumped 30% in distance and 20% in speed in one race. After they calm down, I'll return to tenth mile increments starting at 2.5 miles. In between runs I'll resume swimming and upper body weight training. My goal is to run 10K sometime this summer (not a race, just 10K outside along the Charles). If it happens, then it's possible that I can seriously consider the boston marathon next year.