First Goal Accomplished

I ran the Salt Lake City 5K on Saturday morning bright and early at 7:30 am. I'm not sure yet what my official time was, but I estimate that I did it in under 30:00. The race started at precisely 7:30 but it took me a couple of minutes at least to get to the starting line because there were so many runners. Then the first half mile or so was crazy dodging all the walkers; big groups of walkers who appeared to have no concept that thousands of other people were trying to actually run the 5K.

But after a while it spread out enough that I didn't have to spend too much time trying to avoid running into the back of someone. I still spent most of the race passing people, as well as being passed. I tried my best not to mind being passed by so many people, but when the 10-year kids do it, it's a little strange. Still, I focused on just staying within my own pace and not trying to outrun anyone or compare my pace to anyone else.

It turned out well I think. My shins were tight for the first mile or so but then I was able to settle into a pretty good rhythm and by the end of the run I was actually able to not only maintain my pace but try to pick it up a bit as I approached the finish line.


I ran this morning as well. A good 3-mile run at a slowish pace.

I figure that if I am able to register for the St. George marathon, and I want to adhere to a 20-week marathon training schedule, the 20-week period will begin in the middle of May. So I look at the period between now and then as a transition period in which I go from running 3 times a week, half an hour at a time, to running 5 times a week with increasing distances and times.

So this week my plan is to run 4 times, with Saturday being my first "long run." I ran today for 3 miles, will plan to run Wednesday for 4 miles, Thursday for 3 miles, and then 5 miles on Saturday. Maybe do that schedule for a couple of weeks before making the long run longer. We'll see how it goes.

Shins are doing pretty good today. I ran a relatively slow pace. And for the first time I iced down my shins after running. I bought a reusable gel ice pack over the weekend and I think this will help.