First Race Jitters

Do you remember your first race? The anticipation of the start, camaraderie of those around you, the training, the planning all of it?

Here is the big question. Did you have a time goal? Most people when doing something new are just happy to do it. I venture out a little further. I like to challenge myself. Not just do something, do it well. Not that I achieve all that I set out to do. It is said that anything worth doing is worth doing badly!

My first race was the 2008 Classic Mile in Cambridge. It was a 5km race and I was under prepared as I had only been running for 6 weeks. Regardless, out I went gung-ho with no idea what to expect. With a time of 31:50 I was happy to have crossed the line as the hills of West Galt proved to be too much for me causing plenty of walking over the last 2km. To hard at the wrong time, a rookie mistake.

That being said I learned from my mistakes and trained plenty. A year later I broke 25 minutes, and another year I broke 23 minutes. Next plan is to break 20!

We can't expect to know everything going in to that first race but that doesn't mean we can treat it like just another training run. Do a little research, know your limits and then push just past them.

Oktoberfest 2010

NEW 10KM PB!!
After a late night, a few too many drinks and an early wake up from Molly I was still able to knock 50 seconds off last years PB. As usual with this race I started too fast with the 1st km in 4:25. Ran the next 2 at 4:35 and 4:31. Knew I was gunning and slowed it down to 4:50 for km 4 and 5. KM 6 peeked up to 4:58 but then I settled in to a groove at 4:45 for 7. 8 is always a tough km in a 10km and another 4:58 for it. Saw my time was on pace to beat my PB and still felt strong so I picked up the pace a bit and finished with 4:46 and 4:48. Considering I wasn't planning on even running for a PB, I am pretty happy with this run!