Today was my first (ever) 10K. I’ve done two 5K’s in the past, but this was my first 10K in preparation for my first 1/2 in June. My training program (generated from runnersworld.com) had today as my weekly long run of 6 miles, so the 10K fit in perfect. I beat my scheduled tempo and finished in 1:03. Making the 2008 Olympics doesn’t look promising, but I FINISHED and didn’t have to be hauled away (not bad for an almost 50 yr-old desk-jockey).
I learned some valuable lessons that should help me be better prepared for the 1/2.
-
If you RACE in the morning, you should occasionally TRAIN in the morning. I’ve been doing all my running in the late afternoon, when my BG is easier to control. My morning BG’s are much more volatile and I didn’t have any experience running. I was 126 at breakfast, 136 one hour later, dropped my basal to 25% (as I normally do 1 hour before a run), and just before the run I was 240! I took half the computed correction and didn’t take any carbs during the run until after the mid-point (2 oz Gatorade). I ended with a BG of 88, so it wasn’t too bad.
-
Avoid morning races the day after Daylight Savings time starts. I’m typically a 7:30 AM riser, but with the time change and the race time I had to wake up at 5AM (by my biological clock). So, of course, that caused me to sleep poorly all night in anticipation of waking up early and being tired. So I had very little sleep.
-
Stop to drink at rest stations. Trying to keep going while drinking is for people trying to break world-records, not for old guys just trying to survive. The extra 15 - 30 seconds not only makes the drinking easier, but probably gives a needed break to the legs and lungs.
I’ve got 2 more 10Ks before the 1/2 and I’m looking forward to them. Thanks to Terry for his good advice I’ve read on here. I know my experience wouldn’t have been as good without it.
Ken