So I've been training for a marathon for a little bit and decided to enter a few races while training.  Saturday was the first of those races.  It was a 10k trail race.  Almost didnt make it to the start line because google maps has a hard time with middle of the desert dirt roads.  Everything went great and I set a PR with a 56:00 time.  Would have been a touch faster but I got stuck behind an old lady in what was essentially a no passing zone.  The best part was I felt great after the race and was still able to do my long run of 9 miles the next day.  I highly recommend local races.  They're usually for good causes and it's great experience to see how your body will react to the pressure and adrenaline.

Congratulations!  That's an awesome time for a trail run!  

Thanks.  I was real worried about the trails because all of my training is on roads.  Worked out pretty good though.

Wow Doc!

First you are really brave to work towards a marathon. I stopped at halfs.  I am not fast and I can not mentally "entertain" myself long enough, well enough to run one, let alone train for one?

What do you think about during all that time?

Next-thank you for being kind to the slow old lady. That was probably me!  Tee hee!    I do get annoyed at other runners too though.  For me, it is the skinny teenager girls, taking up the whole width of trail, discussing how tired they are, and if they just turn HERE they could go back to bed...and isnt Jimmy cute!?!?!? etc etc.  They will NOT let you pass and you have to push through their slow whiney line.

"The best part was I felt great after the race and was still able to do my long run of 9 miles the next day."  

This is huge and shows that you have been training really well! I call this finishing strong. There are women at my gym that fini**** faster than me but they dont run for a week after and "break" themselves afterwards (i.e. something is pulled, plantar facitiis, too sore, too sick...hurt too much, etc). I always think, why did you push so hard if you didnt train THAT hard?  TO me, it is not worth breaking ones self. I train my races and race/run my plan  

Anyway, I am so impressed with you.

Hope to see you at some half/full marathon someday

-Skinny

Thanks! I started training while listening to music. That worked for a while but I got bored with the same tunes (have to listen to certain songs with the right BPM or pace gets all wonky). Then I switched to audiobooks. That worked ok for a bit too. I now just run with nothing. I've basically turned it into a meditation session. I let my thoughts wonder to wherever they may go. I also dabble in songwriting, so I think about that kind of stuff as well. So far this seems to keep me fairly engaged, or disengaged I guess. Or when the wind chill is below freezing, like it was this morning, it's just an hour of "I'm cold. I'm sweaty. The wind shifted and now I'm cold again."

I'm doing a half next month here in Southern New Mexico, but the big race is in March in Myrtle Beach. Hope to see you at some race sometime as well.