Today I ran the Bolder Boulder. It was great! I accomplished my goal of running it in under 55 minutes (54:22), but that doesn't even begin to tell the story.
First about the race itself. Before the race, I had calculated my target pace for each kilometer based on course elevation. 1st kilometer- 5:08, 2nd Kilometer- 11:00, etc. I ran the first kilometer at 4:51, but I felt good and believe I was running well within myself. I finished the first half in 27:05: again, too fast according to my pace chart (28:18) but I was still feeling good. I concentrated on hitting my targets for the next few kilometers, running the second half in 27:17. I may have been able to run faster, but I was strongly focused on meeting my goal and I wasn't interested in risking it by going too fast.
But the more importantly was the journey before the race. I joined a training club, and learned so much about how to train effectively. I learned about over-distance runs (run them *slow*), aerobic endurance, lactate threshold, tempo runs, speed workouts, etc. The key, I learned, is not training hard, but training smart: knowing what the objectives should be for your workout and executing your plan. Sure, there were some hard workouts, but not as many as you might think. If you follow the plan, trust your training, and run your race, you will run a great race! In addition, I lost about 17 pounds during the 10 weeks up to the race.
I think my next running goal is a 5K. I'd like to run one in under 25 minutes. But I'm not training for that yet. I need to continue to build my fitness base and lose some more weight. But setting fitness goals is now part of my life, and the changes that have occurred because of this have been greater than I ever thought possible!
