Running should feel natural

Running should feel natural

Sunday, August 26, 2012

In the beginning...

My first few races - getting a feel for this whole thing

These aren't all my races, just the ones that stuck out in memory for some reason or where I felt some sort of growth.  I didn't take any of my progress for granted either, as there was plenty of mid-week fun-running, introductory track workouts, and progressively longer weekend runs to build my confidence.  What kind of training exactly?  Probably 2 mid-week fun runs a week of 4-6 miles, a longer weekend run of 7 miles building up to a half-marathon, and some interval workouts on a track.
Date: October 26, 2008
Finish Time: 48:08

Recap:  I journeyed into Washington D.C. for the Marine Corp. Marathon 10k, the companion race to the hugely popular Marine Corps Marathon ("the peoples' Marathon!").  This might have been my first chip timered race (other than a few tiny 5ks) so I was psyched to be running a "big" race.  It was tough; I was an infant in the running world, but I made it through and was pumped about my next race (below).  The though of running the full Marathon still bewildered me.

Nevermind the dorky pictures.

Race:  Richmond Half-Marathon
Date: November 15, 2008
Finish Time: 1:56:24

Recap:  I headed down to Richmond, Virginia the night before the race to stay with a friend.  That morning we were greeted with warmer than normal, and more humid than normal conditions.  This wasn't an issue for me as I brought spare warm weather clothes.  This was a problem for a lot of runners though, who seemed to rely on the forecast of frosty temps in the mid-40s rather than the actual weather, showing up in tights and beanies.  Another toughie for a newbie, but made it through and broke the 2 hour mark on my first try at the distance, something to be happy about and bring that full Marathon challenge into focus.
Date: May 10, 2009
Finish Time: 1:49:11

Recap:  Finally able to see some improvement over the same distance from the previous year.

Race: Army 10 Miler
Date: October 4th, 2009
Finish Time: 1:13:17

Recap:  Wow, what a race.  One of the largest 10 mile races in the World with over 20,000 participants, I was almost overwhelmed.  As still a middle-of-the-pack (by my standards) runner there is no fast way to make it out of the chutes.  Rather than be frustrated by the slow start, I took it as a challenge to get faster and eventually make it toward the front of the starting corrals - a sort of runner's rite of passage en route to speeding up.  This is a great race for out-of-towners as well, especially if not comfortable tackling the Marathon distance.  You run past so many important Patriotic and historical icons of the USA, starting (and ending) at the Pentagon, and passing by the D.C. memorials.   Hoo-ah.   

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