zac

Today I ran my first ever race, a 5 mile course. First of all, I just want to say how good it felt to run in a race, very exciting. I did much better than any of my expectations. I only timed a practice run once, my time was 40:05. I wanted to get under 40 minutes for this race, and I did it in......34:31!!!

I don't know how, I was running at such a fast pace, my first split was like 6:20, then 13:XX, and I forget the rest of them. After I heard the first split time, I just got scared, because the time was so close to my fastest mile ive ever ran.

I placed 7th in my age group, they were all cross country runners, some of them I knew from school, they were very suprised to see me keep up as I never ran on a team. 16th overall out of 100 or so runners

dallison

congrats it feels great finishing a race like that. Now if you really want to start lowering your time, go run some hills and do some long runs.I ran from camp hill to harrisburg this morning. It was only 8.3 miles but those long ones really make a difference.

zac

Thanks! It definately feels good, even though I ran a much fast than normal pace, I was able to sprint to the finish with the energy my excitement and adrenaline and dopamine and other natural hormones gave haha

I actually have long courses- (13 and a 10 mile) medium- (8 and a 7 mile) and short- (5 and a 3 mile) that I run at least one of each in a week.

This course, people were telling me, is a little more difficult local race as it had a long hill climb section at the 3rd mile.

agranado

congratulations man, must've felt pretty good. Keep it up, and pay attention to your knees/legs as you progress and up your mileage.

agranado

sounds like you've got plenty of experience running already. If you can knock out 13 miles, 5 shouldnt be a big problem at all.

dallison

remember, if it hurts, ice it.

zac

Ha, yeah, I did run alot this year. Except I simply did what felt natural, didn't have a technique of any sort, I just ran lol.

The left side of my left ankle hurt after the race, I did not ice but it doesnt hurt now. I will next time just in case.

dallison

my bad, i forgot you're 19. You aren't subject to as many aches and pains as older runners.

'06 Arctic

Good job zac

Mr. Maker

iTrader: (4)

great job...

dallison

if you are interested there's a 5k near the end of sept at gifford pinchot. I think it's the 18th or 25. There are about the same amount of people and it's 95% trail.

zac

Thanks guys.

Dallison, Trail race sounds fun, do you need like specific shoes and stuff? I don't think I'll be doing many more races however because with classes starting next Mon I won't have nearly as much time to train and also I can't afford all the reg. fees.

I do hope to raise enough money so that I can run in the philly marathon in November, and that's $125 for registration, which is alot

zac

Ughhh, I went to sign up for the philly marathon and its sold out. Wasnt like a week back. I guess Ill have to do it next year.

I might do the Amish Country Bird-in-Hand half marathon this year instead.

zac

Doc says im good to go. He told me the "pop" in my knee is from tendonitis? IDK, but the point is im okay to run! Training starts tomorrow! Going to be doing alotta stretching before I start.

princelybug

iTrader: (16)

dallison

zac

5K in 21:45 today. I was expecting an over 25 min time after not running for a long time. Maybe onlinestopwatch.com isnt accurate, lol?

zac

Just registered for the Philly Marathon!

stogie1020

Nice!

Wait, that's 26 miles, right?

dallison

that's a scary distance, but i am sure it's awesome.

zac

Its very scary, but itll be quite the experience

zac

Did 13.1 miles in 1:45.11 today and that averages to 8.0 minute miles. I think im in good shape for my goal of a sub 4 hour time for the marathon in November.

zac

I actually finished!
pZH0x.jpg

My friend was taking pics with his phone, he made this:
MkhqK.jpg

Stats.
Chip Time 04:03:48
Overall Place 4282 / 10069
Gender Place 2995 / 5916
Division Place 229 / 422
Age Grade 51.9%
Pace 9:18.1
10K 0:51:01
Half 1:49:13
30K 2:44:15

Mr. Maker

iTrader: (4)

Congrats dude!

'06 Arctic

Congrats Zach! I felt the same way after my 1st also. The pictures from on course slowly got worse and worse as the miles went on.

zac

Thanks!

How did you feel the day after, because I can barely walk.

dallison

kick ass! congrats! Now that you finished just above 4 hours, you have a benchmark to run against and improve on.

Great job at keeping at it and completing it, you are braver than i.

zac

Thanks dallison.

At this point I never want to put myself through that again, but we shall see, a sub 4 hour is a great goal.

dallison

that's b/c you are in pain now. After a few weeks or months you'll be looking again.

zac

You're probably right I am feeling better already after 2 restful nights. are you thinking about trying one next year?

'06 Arctic

Yeah, I was the same way. I took the Mon after my marathon off, so I pretty much laid around the house all day. Legs were super stiff, walked down steps backwards, etc. I soaked in a warm bath with Epson salts, then stretched VERY GENTLY. If you feel up to it tomorrow go for a walk to help get things moving and to start the process of flushing the lactic acid from your legs. Thursday or Friday a very short easy jog.

It took my legs about a week and a half to get back to feeling completely "normal".

zac

So this is very normal, good! Unfortunately, I had to go to class all day yesterday though, walking was painful and for stairs I was pretty much putting all my weight on the hand rails. It was awkward.

My "wall" occured between miles 18-20 and continued to the end. I just felt like I completely ran out of fuel. The gel packets saved me. Also, I accepted anything anyone was offering, bananas, pretzels, gummie bears, brownies, orange slices, anything, I just needed energy!

'06 Arctic

Yeah, for us mere mortals its normal! I know I looked pretty crazy walking for a few days, steps are the worst. I did the same thing, all my weight was on the hand rails and it was one step at a time.

What was your longest training run? My longest was 20 miles. I was fortunate that I don't think I hit the "wall" that some 1st timers do with the feeling that they lose all energy, can't go on etc. My "wall" was about mile 23 when my hamstrings started to cramp. The sub-4 hr goal was over after that.

zac

The 23 mile mark on does seem like it hits many people, I noticed a lot of people would change up pace. Also, they would pass me, stop, stretch, pass me, repeat. I couldn't stop, I had a great fear that I wouldn't start again.

I never did a 20 mile run, my longest was a 13. I couldn't find time to do a longer run.

dallison

I don't think i'll be doing a marathon. But i am pretty sure i'll do a half somewhere. It'll probably be hershey or harrisburg. I would like to do the philly half in sept, but we'll see.