Upcoming 10K! (And a Week of Training)

Well, my family is doing a 10K with me this upcoming weekend! We all decided we were feeling good enough after the TC 10 Mile 2 weeks ago that we'd give this a whirl. We are going to do the 10K that's part of the Minneapolis Halloween Half:

If you recall, I did the half marathon with my sister-in-law Steph last year. We both LOVED the race. But we're both in not quite the same shape as last year. So we'll do the 10K along with my wife, her other sister Annie, and our sister-in-law Angela. So it's this crew that I showed just before the TC 10 Mile:

Hopefully I won't look as trashy next weekend. Har har.

I don't have any major goals, but I DID go back and look at my previous 10K times. My PR is my first 10K in 2009 where I ran a 36:46 (5:55 pace). My next 10K was in 2012, and I ran a second slower (36:47). Then a HOT Victory 10K in 38:02, a fast stroller 10K with Henry in 37:16, and then 2 more 10Ks as part of the Loony Challenge in 2014 and 2015 in 38:40 and 38:33.

As I look at those past results, I'd love to see if I can go sub-37:00. Can I set a PR? Can I at least outrun my stroller run with Henry and go sub-37:16? Those predictions are all pretty tight, and I don't know if the big hill from mile 4-5 will let me be that fast. Also, can I really run 15 sec/mile faster than the TC 10 Mile 2 weeks ago? WE'LL SEE ON SATURDAY!!!

Here was my training last week:

The big takeaway is that THIS IS MY HIGHEST WEEKLY RUN MILEAGE ALL YEAR at 23.5 miles! I took it easier 2 weeks ago after the race, but this past week, I unloaded a bit.

TUESDAY was an easy/moderate run after my legs were still a BIT heavy from the race 9 days before.

THURSDAY was the big run workout: 2x2 mile intervals. I was happy with my first one, and then suffered a LOT during the last one. I had my worst side-stitch in a LONG time. I was thrilled I kept all of my half-mile splits under 3:00!

2:59, 2:59, 2:56, 2:57 = 11:53.01
2:56, 2:59, 2:56, 2:51 = 11:44.06

So not amazing times, but decent, and consistent. I'll have more about why I like that workout in a "Thirsty (for knowledge) Thursday" post on Thursday.

And then SATURDAY was a long run. Nothing fancy here. My legs felt OK after Thursday's run (WHEW!), but I just got in 9 miles at a moderate pace with nothing too hard.