10k Training & Running in the Rain

The first week of 10k training went well.  I did my first hill repeat workout on my street since there is a steep hill close by.  While I was doing these repeats, a guy was out mowing his lawn.  He definitely gave me funny looks when he noticed that I kept running up the hill and then down the hill over and over! 

On Sunday I set out to do 6 miles.  The schedule didn't call for that much yet, but it's the amount of miles I felt like running.  The weather forecast said that it wouldn't rain in the morning so I thought I'd have a dry run...  Yeah, not so much.  The moment I stepped on the running path, it started to rain.  At first it was a light sprinkle, but it didn't take long before the skies opened up and steady rain was falling.

I had to do 2 laps around the lake in order to get 6 miles in.  When I was close to finishing my first lap, I started to debate stopping at 3 and calling it a day.  But then I thought about how I ran 26.2 miles in pouring rain...  So I could do 6 miles.  Plus you never know what the weather will be like on race day so I figured I better keep going. 

As I was starting my 2nd lap, I met 2 runners on the path who were catching their breath.  The guy looked at me and said, "Keep going!  You look so strong, you can do it!" 

That's one of the things I love about the running community.  Most of the people I have met through running are so encouraging and there is this sense of camaraderie.  I mean, where else in life are you going to get a pep talk from a stranger?

A couple of months ago, I would have used the rain as an excuse to cut my run short - or not go at all.  These days, I am pretty darn committed to getting these training runs in.  It's nice to see how much more disciplined I've gotten.  It's like I've gotten back into the frame of mind that I was in during marathon training.  I like to think that my discipline for running and my ability to push myself through discomfort extends into my life.  I think being a better, more committed runner makes me a better person in general.

I finished those 6 miles at a 9:30 pace - so a minute faster per miles than I was running a month ago.  Hip hip hooray!

Do you run/walk in the rain?  I was surprised to see how many people were out on the running paths despite the rain!

Back on the Grid

10k training commences today!  I took the month of April and the 1st 1/2 of May off from being on a specific training schedule and just focused on getting a decent number of runs in, building up my mileage, and improving my pace. 

I tend to sort or 'crave' schedules - it's how I am built, I guess you could say.  So I am happy to be back on a training plan.  I don't have high expectations for this 10k.  I am running it with Nora and her fiance when I visit them in July.  I want to have fun... and I don't want to puke like I did during the 10 mile run.  Not puking is always a good race goal.  Ha.

I've following Hal Higdon's intermediate plan and tweaked it to add in some hill work outs.  This will be the first time that I will have 'focused workouts', meaning speed work, hill runs, tempo runs, etc.  I want to introduce these into my training as I know I'll need to incorporate those kind of workouts in my training plan for my half if I want to achieve a sub-2 hour half.

Do you have any race plans for the summer?  This is my only summer race - I think.  I might do a 1/2 in August, but we'll see...  This fall?  TBD... but I'll likely be heading west to do a 1/2 marathon in the Seattle/Portland/Victoria, BC area hopefully!