My First 10k! Tips?

lilgrace15 wrote: »

Thanks for the help you guys! Tomorrow is the day! I have been away from running most of this week and I can't wait to get out there tomorrow. The rest was a good idea. I miss it! I'm gonna eat like I normally do and wear things that I feel comfortable in. Nothing that I'm unsure about. The weather is suppose to be in the 60s. Perfect!

Go kick some butt tomorrow, @lilgrace15 !! And report back here after you do.

Enjoy your race and remember to smile for the camera.

yirara wrote: »

I have my first 10K on the 7th and really looking forward to it. Though I slightly pulled a thigh muscle and can't do training runs (argh, really frustrating!). About 700 people are expected at my race. I normally find it difficult to stay at my speed when another runner is around, but lets see how things go.

I normally need about 5 minutes of fast walking for a warmup as my lungs go tight if I run immediately, even if it's slow. What would you do in that case? Walk the first 5 minutes of the race or try and find a space for walking around before the race and hope it begins on time?

What do you do with the starting number? I need to pin it to my chest. Which basically means that if things get too warm I cannot open my jacket

I used to have problems with maintaining my own pace when I was around other runners, but I finally learned to just set my own pace and maintain it. You don't know anything about the other runners that you are trying to keep up with. They could be capable of running a time that you don't even bother to dream of, or they could be caught up in the moment and take off way to fast and will feel like they are dying by the half way point. If you try to keep up with others then you might fall apart during the second half of the race and the experience will not be fun.

As far as warming up you can walk around off the back of the group at the start line or you can walk out on the first part of the course before the race. There will be other runners jogging on the course or around the area of the start line, so you won't be out of place. Since you have an injury it would probably be a good idea to warm up before the race and to start out the race walking or slower than you normally go, so that you can be sure that your thigh is thoroughly warmed up. You can always speed up later during the race, if you are feeling good.

Most races aren't to particular about where you pin your number as long as it is on the front. So you can try pinning it your shorts/tights, to the bottom of your shirt (so that it hangs out under your jacket), or pin it on one side of your jacket (so that you can unzip your jacket). I usually pin mine to my shorts. Be prepared, occasionally you have people helping out at races who are not runners and insist that it has to be pinned to the front of your shirt/jacket. Just nod your head, agree that you will move it, then fade into the middle of the crowd.

yirara wrote: »

Thanks a lot trswallow The start is about 7 minutes stiff walking from my flat, thus that's already part of my warmup I guess.

My thigh is fine again at least. Can't wait. Now I'm mainly hoping that the weather will be ok. It's been literally raining and storming for three months straight now with just a few ok-ish weather days inbetween. At the moment it looks like storm and rain *sigh*

Btw, does anyone know how those electronic time strips work? It's attached to my starting number. Does it start tracking the time once I cross a certain line, does it start tracking at a certain time, or does it only record the finish time? Asking because when I'm starting at the back of 700 people my run will be a bit longer and I would really like to get a time for 10k.

Oh, I also signed up for a 10 mile race two weeks later just for the sake of it. I'm not sure I'll be able to run that far, but it's got no cutoff time and worst case I'll walk the rest. Just curious how I'll do.

It starts tracking when you cross the start line and stops tracking when you cross the finish line. So don't worry if you're at the back, you will still get a definite 10k time.

Thanks a lot, both of you. Basically I know now how those things work in general, but still don't know what will happen at this event. I guess I'll just ask around to see how this is done.

The day before or day of a race is not the time to try something new. Do whatever you do before training runs.