Saturday, March 29, 2008

Ten Miles Later

This morning was the Charlottesville 10-Miler. I came, I saw, I finished. My calves are a little sore, but otherwise I feel great. Terrific cheerleaders all along the way, including many familiar faces. I don't know my final time for sure, but I ran right about a 9-minute mile, which is fast for me. Thanks to Kevin Cox for the excellent training tip (was just what I needed) and to everyone else for your words of encouragement.

If you had asked me a year ago if I would ever run the 10-Miler, I'd have laughed in your face. I urge anyone reading this to consider doing it yourself next year -- it's a fun and very well-organized race (three cheers for the organizers and the volunteers). And if I can do it, so can you!

UPDATE: Final results are in. My chip time was 1:30:21, which averages out to 9.04 minutes/mile. I came in 1,185th place out of 2,119 finishers. Not too bad for a first-timer.

4 comments:

lani said...

congrats!! thats pretty cool. norm, i mean caitlin, would be very proud of her uncle! maybe you can give us some training tips and go on a jog with us when you come visit in a few months!

Anonymous said...

Dave,
Congratulations on your FIRST Ten Miler! Now I hope you make this a personal tradition and turn out every year. The Ten Miler is a great event. I really enjoy the runners excitement, the community support, the music and the great food at the finish. Even so, the race sometimes does seem like a massive gathering of insane masochists.

This was my fourth Ten Miler and my times have gone down every year. This year my time was eight minutes and thirty three seconds faster than it was four years ago! The improved times are a testimonial to the conditioning that regular exercise provides over the long haul, so stick with it and you'll live longer and accomplish more. Just look at the legendary Wendell Golden. He's 82, looks and acts like he's about 65 and ran 10 miles today.

I'm glad my tip helped you.

Thanks also for speaking at our Cub Scout banquet Thursday night.

Cordially,
Kevin Cox

Mama Marathon said...

Way to go! What an accomplishment. May this be the first of many.

Tree hugging said...

Now for the real test...

What was your first mile time, and what was your last one? If you finished faster (or at least close to equal) then you did very well indeed. ;-)

Seriously though, great job. I think it sets a very excellent example for the larger community to have representatives of our local government out there running! Nine minutes per mile sounds like a great time to me for the first time.

So... Are we going to see you out there for the CTC Marathon training program this summer?