10th Timed Race - First 10K

I do not want this blog to become all about my running. I don't want to be that guy that all he can talk about is his PR's, splits, tempo runs, which I am delighted to say I have no idea what that means, oygenation, losing toenails, or unpleasant chafing. All things that come with running. And growing more addicted to it. But a couple of things have happened in the last couple of days that I must mention.

First, today I ran my tenth (10th) timed race since I started this little running thing. It was, ironically, my first 10K. I signed up for it totally spur of the moment Thursday afternoon as I was plowing through the awesome pile of tax documents at my mom's house. A good run seemed an appropriate way to relieve that stress. My good friend's twin boys were working the support of the race for their Eagle project - so how could I not run it?

Perfect temperature for running - 61 degrees. Clearly not in Chicagoland. My mom bundled up (yes, people in AZ bundle up for 61 degrees - ridiculous) and came to the race. She read Sarah Palin's book, "Going Rogue" the whole time, for which she should be ashamed of herself. But I digress. Saw some people I knew, including the OB who delivered CAL and the Boy. I did not go introduce myself. I could never hear a word the man said when the stunningly patient SML was his patient, so no point. Anyway, this was a chip-timed race. Chips went around the ankle a la an electronic tracking thing. Like Martha Stewart got to wear after her time in the clink. Anyway, the first kilometer was fine. And then the ascent began. Three kilometers uphill. Uphill. In Chicagoland, uphill is a ramp at a parking garage. My quads did not appreciate it. Anyway, once that trudge was over, it was literally all downhill from there. Until the chafing kicked in around the seventh kilometer. Not good. Not bloody nipple chafing, which would have been awesome since I was wearing a white shirt. No, this was a much more uncomfortable chafing and since this is a PG blog, I'm not posting pictures. But, no matter, I ran through it, and finished, officially per the chip, with a time of 1:02:34. Made for a pace of 10:05 per mile. A little slower than what I've been doing in the much cooler temps of Chicagoland. I was happy with it, as it was my first official 10K.

The other running-related thing...thanks to finally hooking up with Netflix, I got my first DVD as I was leaving for PHX. It's a documentary called Spirit of the Marathon and it's awesome. It's about six runners training for the 2005 Chicago Marathon. It was compelling, exciting, and cool. It's worth seeing. did it inspire me to run 26.2 miles? That would be no. Look, I need to get the 13.1 done in May and we'll see where this adventure takes me.