Anyone For a Sandwich?

8:56PM

I'm sick. Sinuses. Runny nose. Slightly sore throat. Runny nose. Itchy eyes. Did I mention runny nose? I felt it a little last night but it has really hit hard today. So I'm going to keep this short b/c I need to get some rest. Quick updates:

My CC team had a good meet last Tuesday. It was a practice meet so it wasn't scored. No idea how we would've done as a team. Too many runners to figure out. It was packed. But I had some great individual performances. Our first real meet is this Tuesday. I can't wait. I'll let you know how it goes. I'm still loving coaching this team.

My big news is my first 10K yesterday. Quick race report. I woke up at 5AM and left the house by 5:30 to get there and pick up my race packet. The race was going to be run in a very nice area. Flat. Newly built buildings and landscaping. Beautiful lake, waterfall and pathways. The weather was perfect. Nice and cool. Not super hot like it has been the last couple of months. But I wasn't feeling just great. I really did not want to get up that early. And my foot was still bothering me. For a split second I had debated not going but I quickly dismissed it. I made a commitment and wanted to keep it, plus I wanted to get this first 10K under my belt. The race started right about 7. It ended up being a very flat course with just a few slight rolling hills. The course was beautiful and there was a pretty good fan base for a 10K. The first mile was fine. I was trying to keep 7 min. pace and hit my first mile in 6:50. So I was happy. The 2nd and 3rd mile were a little tougher but I kept pace pretty well, maybe slightly slower but still under or at the 7 min. pace. Mile 4 felt good. I guess I knew mentally that I was more than halfway done so I got excited about seeing the finish. I felt like I was picking up my pace but I was still running 7's. The last mile felt fine but very long. It was an out and back course and the last mile has you looping around the lake. That loop seemed so much bigger coming back than it did going out. But I sprinted the finish strong and ended up with a 43:42 for my first ever 10K. That's a 7:02 pace which is just over what I was shooting for. I was very happy with my time and felt good overall during the race. Don't get me wrong - it was tough and I was worn out when I stopped but I never felt like I needed to stop. The race was sponsored by Chick-Fil-A and so the past race goodies included chicken and biscuits (soooo good) and the best sugar cookies I've ever had as well as fruit. It all tasted so good. They posted the results within 5 min. after I finished. I didn't expect to win anything. I really didn't. I figured several runners out there could go faster than 7 min. miles. But when I looked at the list, I was shocked. I had gotten 2nd in my age group. I quickly thought back to the race website I had read when I registered. It had said that 1st and 2nd in each division got free Chick-Fil-A for a year. I decided to stick around for the awards ceremony. I in fact did get 2nd in my division and won a medal(a cowbell - Chick-Fil-A you know) and 52 coupons for a free chicken sandwich - one per week for a whole year. Not too shabby. So on the whole it was a good day (my birthday as well!) and I thoroughly enjoyed my first 10K.

Now it's back to training for the Chicago marathon. I took today's and this week's long run off. I'm trying to get my foot to heal. It's still really bad in the mornings when I wake up. I plan to try another long run next weekend. I may take it easy on the mileage this week as well.

Hope everyone has a good week. I'll try to update later in the week about our first CC meet.

There's the short (yeah, right) update.

Keep runnin',
Albert