It took me eight years of running before I won my first race. It was a college cross country race over a rugged course at Quicksilver Park in San Jose, CA. I had run the course a hundred times, so I knew each and every step. In retrospect, it should have come much earlier, but I did not have confidence in myself.
Emma Coburn, Steeple heats, 2021 Tokyo Olympics, photo by Kathy Camara via TV
I was running against a guy who had run 14 minutes for 3 miles, and my best was 15 and a half minutes. The difference? This race was 5.8 miles and four miles were pretty much straight uphill. I loved the grind, so I just picked up the pace and took off. I pushed and pushed for about 20 minutes. By the time I hit the downhills, I was flying and confident.
At the finish, my parents were there, to see the first race, after about 300, that I had actually won. It was more than satisfying.
Enjoy your run today, Take the time to dream.
Monday: light run, 40 minutes easy pace, stretch, 4 x 150 m stride-outs, light cooldown.
2021 RunBlogRun, week # 10, Summer mileage, day 1
Monday: light run, 40 minutes easy pace, stretch, 4 x 150 m stride-outs, light cooldown.
Tuesday: warm-up, relaxed 55-65 minute run in the hills, enjoy the day, cooldown.
Wednesday: light run, 40 minutes easy pace, stretch, 4 x 150 m light cooldown.
Thursday: warm-up, run in the hills, get in 40 minutes in your 65 minute run of hill running, cooldown.
Friday: light run, 40 minutes easy pace, stretch, 4 x 150 m stride-outs, light cooldown.
Saturday: warm-up, 60 minutes run in a park, moderate pace, with ten-minute hilly runs during the run, cooldown
Sunday: Long run, 65-75 minutes, at a conversational pace