Self-inflicted pain

On Saturday, I ran another 10K. I put this specific 10K out there as a goal for myself to push myself on the treadmill daily at the gym. It has been more difficult lately to keep myself running so I find myself walking seemingly more each day and running less. However, in January of last year I came to the conclusion that I was getting old and fat. Only one of them is in my control while still alive. So, Sue and I joined the gym and I started on the quest of bettering my 10K times with each entry.

Two years ago, my Monument Avenue 10K time was about 1:21. This April, I was down to 1:14 with a seven minute improvement. If you are a runner, please don't laugh at these times.

The race on Saturday was very different. It was not the Monument Ave. 10K, lined with people along the entire route. It was not the Monument Ave. 10K where there were timers set up every mile so you could determine how fast you were going (or how slow). This was not the Monument Avenue 10K where you saw people you knew every few yards since there were almost 25,000 people participating (that's 2.5 people per meter). This was a very different race.

In April, the 10K was run at 80+ degrees (it hit 90 by the end). Saturday, the temperature started in the upper 30s, and was in the lower 50s by race end. I was there by myself, having driven myself there and with no expectations of seeing anyone I knew. There were less than 500 registered runners, and a handful of walkers. There was no crowd lining every inch of the course. There were no clocks showing your time every mile. It was very different.

So, while I did see a handful of people I knew (Richmond is a very small city), this was a race for me. Could I do better than I did in April? How much would I need to walk? Until the end, I had absolutely no idea how I did, since the only clock was at the end. As with most races, I also had a timer chip on my shoe so could get an official time from start to finish. As I made the final turn (mostly walking by then), I was very surprised to find that I was indeed doing better than I did in April. I bettered by time by over six full minutes, taking a new personal best of just under 1:08. While this is ridiculously slow for a runner, it's not bad for a 45-year old who did nothing athletic for about 20 years. The work at the gym is worth it and I'm looking forward to hitting a new personal best time in the next Monument Ave. 10K.