First 10kms in a Long Time!

The frozen canal, with a lone ice skater out there.

Joy here...Recently on this blog I was lamenting the fact that I have neither the time nor motivation for much more than 60 minute workouts these days, and I reflected on the fact that often when we reach a certain milestone - and I used the examples of finishing my Ph.D. and running 30kms - we often make the mistake of thinking that we have set ourselves a new baseline, or a new starting point, and everything will be uphill and better from that point on.  With that kind of thinking, I used to think that my baseline would be around 10kms in less than 60 minutes with no problem, the way it was just after my first-ever 10km running race (that I finished in around 54 minutes) in May 2010.  I just assumed that once I had tackled the 10km running distance in less than an hour, the way that Nomi and I wanted, that I would always be at that level, no matter how much or how little running I was able to pull off.  I figured that it was no longer a matter of training or keeping fit, but rather just about me somehow being a runner, no matter what I did.  And with such thinking I'll admit that I got a bit lazy.  And the lazier I got, the less in shape I became when it came to running.

Runnin' along the frozen canal!

Sure, I was improving in other sports:  I rode my first-ever 100kms on a bike; I tried rock climbing; and I took up cross-country skiing.  After my last half marathon at the end of May, I even decided to shake things up with my running and start trying minimalist running, first with my Vibram Five Finger shoes (the first pair I bought back in 2010 for walking around in, and then the second pair I started running in this past summer of 2011) and now in the winter with my New Balance Minimus Trail Runners.

But none of that has somehow magically made me faster or able to run longer.  The only thing that makes something like that happen is to get out there and run consistently and work a speed plan.

Lately I've been doing neither.

But after beating myself up enough and finally kicking the jet lag, I committed to getting this training back on track.  Since making that commitment, I haven't reached all my training goals (not by a long shot), but I've been averaging around 4 workouts per week for the last 3 weeks or so (and that's counting my 1 hour of spinning + 1 hour of strength training on Thursdays as one workout).  That should be 5 or 6 workouts per week, but let's just say I'm starting slow and building up.

And in keeping with this one step at a time notion (or the "just keep going" philosophy), I got out there today for a 10km run.  Now I don't actually remember the last time I did a 10km run.  Looking back through the archives on this blog, it looks like it was back in June 2011 sometime (over 6 months ago!!!).

So as you can guess, today's 10kms wasn't the fastest 10kms I've ever run, but it's the longest distance I've run in my minimus shoes, and 10kms is a first start to my 21km half-marathon, which is really just around the corner.  As they say, every race begins with the first step...and today's 10kms was my first step towards that upcoming half marathon.

My running path (finally cleared of the flood waters, unlike last time I ran).

And as humbling as it might be to put my run stats back up again, since this blog was originally designed for me and Nomi to be able to track our training and see how things go, there's no point in being dishonest about our progress, so here are today's run stats:

Ran for a total of 1:02:06 for a distance of 10kms with an average pace of 6:13min/km.

That's my new starting point, and I've got February, March, April, and May laid out before me so that I can build from there and have a good half marathon at the end of May...
...and just maybe a great full marathon in the fall!

Over and out,
Joy