Running With My Valentine

Today I ran a 10K.  It was a Valentine's Day race and I did indeed get to run with my Valentine.  (that would be Oscar in case you were wondering)  There was a 5K that started at 9:00 am which he ran hard (and got 2nd place in) and then he got about a 28 minute rest before starting the 10K at 9:45 am with me.  I told him I wanted to break 40 minutes because I hadn't done so for many years.  Lucky for Oscar, the pace needed to run a 40 minute 10K is pretty "tempo-ish" for him and he mostly looked like he was just loping along side of me while I was running as hard as I could!

We ran 38:54.  This was exciting for me!  I haven't run that fast since college (which sadly was something like 10 or 15 years ago).  Granted I haven't run a lot of (open) 10Ks in the interim, but nonetheless, I was pleased.  The run focus that Dirk has been giving me appears to be paying off a bit.  Mostly I just feel more comfortable and confident in running some faster (for me) paces and with increased frequency in running I feel more mechanically smooth and like I am actually a runner.

How often does it happen that your race number is your age? 

We were lucky that Nemo missed us and the roads were clear of snow and footing good!  It was however, very cold (windchills in the single digits/low teens).  I had only one not-so-great mile which was run entirely into a very cold and stiff wind.  My legs felt great but I just could not get the oxygen in.  Breathing hard in that cold air hurts!  Oscar said after the race "you were really working on mile 4" which is code for "I thought you were going to die because you were making very bad noises".  Fair enough.  I felt like I was sort of dying too!  Otherwise though we were consistent and strong in our splits.  It was a good confidence booster for me.  In two weeks I run a 10 mile race which is a bit flatter than today's race.  If the weather is somewhat decent, I may aim for a similiar goal pace.

You may notice that someone couldn't wait until AFTER the picture to take a bite of his cookie!