I ran a 10K

As I've said in a few earlier blogs, today was the day I ran the Nike Human Race 10K. I had caught wind of this probably two months ago when I was at the gym and thought it would not only be fun but a challenge that I could do.

Originally the plan was for me to do it around home, with the girlfriend riding her bike alongside me as support. Welllllllll....that didn't happen. Since I am on reserve, the airline can call me at their leisure and tell me when to come to work. I got a call last night saying come in for a 2 day trip. So I decided, why not bring girlfriend with me to Fargo and have her still support me?

The nice thing about the midwest? It's flat. The downside? It's hot, and humid. That didn't deter me, however, and I mapped out a running trail on mapmyrun.com. Figured out what 6.2 miles was and girlfriend and I left to stretch around 2:30.

After a decent warm up, we got started. Within 1/2 a mile, I could already feel the heat. I was feeling ok though for the most part. At around 2.5 miles girlfriend went back to the hotel and I continued on, determined to finish.

I started walking at one point, knowing I just couldn't keep doing it. But I was determined to finish it. I rounded the corner and there was girlfriend waiting with water and a towel. Best things my eyes have seen all day.

All in all, I ran it in 1:05:04 for a pace of 10:25 per mile. Not too shabby, considering I walked a little. And something to build on.

Running in Fargo

Well, here I am writing from ... um ... Fargo, N.D. I'd say it's gorgeous or wonderful, but I really can't say that from what I've seen of it. Brandon ended up having a trip (ahhh, the joys of sitting reserve for an airline pilot) and he felt bad about leaving me ... again ... so he paid for me to come on up and join him. Yay. :)

Anyhoo, as you may have read from him a few days ago, he wanted to do the Nike Human Race 10K today. Well, he's not home, but Fargo is nice and flat and oxygenated, so why not do it on the road? We got into town about 1:30pm CT so it left a ton of the day to run.

A ton of the hottest part of the day. 86 degrees when we started out and 89 when I gave up. Oh, and because it's the (upper) midwest and not a desert like Colorado basically is (arid!), it's ass humid, too.

If we were back at home in the hilly, dry wonder that is Colorado, I was going to bike alongside Brandon as he did his 6.2 miles, having a water bottle for him (mobile water station!) to keep him hydrated along the way.

Since we're not home and I don't have access to a bike ... I did the next best thing.

Attempt to run it with him.

I say attempt because after 28:30 and 2.64 miles, I gave up. I felt a blister or something on the bottom of my right bunion (already agitated thanks to the shoes i wore to the airport) AND I felt like I was overheating. Not just my crazy feet, but all of me. Take note: I've been done for about 20 minutes and my face is still bright freaking pink thanks to the exertion. The heat was just too much for me so I did the prudent thing and dropped out.

Brandon said he was doing okay and kept on going. This 10K, for him, was more of a challenge - didn't have to pay for it and it was a way to take the next step beyond the 5K. If he had to walk or whatnot, it would just mean he had a lot of training to do.

(part of me says that we didn't train for it anyway as i think i've run a longer distance than a 5k like twice and he has ... not much more than that.)

Anyway, off to the lobby for me with some water to greet him as he comes back because I bet he'll be about ready to melt into a puddle.