Skip to content

My Happiness Obsession

365 Day Blogging Project #2 (Begun 7/3/22)

Menu
  • Home
  • About
  • Top Categories
    • Personal Growth
    • Money
    • Law of Attraction
    • Blogging
    • Running & Health
  • Complete Post Index
Menu

Day 8: The 10k that ended up OK (!)

Posted on July 10, 2022

Last night I ran the Davis Moonlight Run, an annual* race in Davis, CA. As the name says, this is a nighttime run. I ran the 10k, which started at 8pm. You would think it would be cooler by 8pm. However, last night at 8pm it was still over 80 degrees. This is normal for a Summer evening in the Sacramento area, but um… not a temperature I feel great about running in. In fact, heat is the primary reason I tend to run early on Summer mornings.

A 10k is 6.2 miles. This is not a long distance for me. However, I have had several challenging 10k races now, including last night. The first time was when I ran the Davis Moonlight 10k Run back in 2018. That was not an easy run. For one thing, that night I had rested for only two days after a fast 4th of July run. For another, again it was a hot night. And finally, I was 30 pounds heavier, as this was before I had my Intermittent Fasting breakthrough. The run basically sucked from the get go, as I was very tired and had to run slow just to get through.

Last night went quite a lot better, though it too had its challenges.

First of all, let me say what I wish I had done last night:

  • Start the race at a conservative but still interesting 8:30 pace.
  • Speed up to, say, 8:15 pace for the next two miles.
  • Take the final two miles at 8:00 or below, and cross the finish line triumphantly and happily.

Instead, here’s what actually happened:

  • Go out a more conservative but still interesting 8:30 pace. Arrive at the race totally in my head about the heat and various other things and have no actual plan about how to make this a good run. Once the race gets started, go out too fast (sub 8:00) because I’m close to the front of the pack and trying to keep up with the blazing 5k runners (who run with us for the first mile).
  • Speed up to, say, 8:15 pace for the next two miles. Get tired out by mile 3 and have to slow down, make peace with my mistake and plan to rest up for a strong finish.
  • Take the final two miles at 8:00 or below Take mile 5 very conservatively (over 9:00) but then speed up the final mile to cross the finish line triumphantly and happily as originally planned!

All in all, it wasn’t too bad. I may not have planned very well, but I recovered well and finished the race very happy.

Here are the takeaways I got:

  • I need to stop taking 10k races for granted 🙂 . I need to have a good pacing plan. Starting out as fast as I possibly can and then pooping out is not a good pacing plan!
  • Even if I’m concerned about things like hot weather, I should, if possible, always plan to let myself run full-out for races. Racing with others brings out the competitor in me, and I like to play full out. Plus, if my plans are too conservative, I will probably just end up ignoring them and going fast, anyway.
  • Despite a few mistakes, I did a lot of things well at this race: I was well rested, I had plenty of hydration with me, I took 35 second walking breaks every 5 minutes as planned (this is my new walk-run approach I learned from Jeff Galloway, I’m sure I will talk more about this later**). Did I mention that I am also awesomely in shape, and went into last night having run 750 miles already this year?

So there you have it. Some wins, some learnings, and overall, a sense of satisfaction of another fine experience!

What more could a guy ask for?

*Like every other race in the world, the Davis Moonlight Run had a break for a year or two because of the Pandemic.

** I am using Jeff Galloway’s book “Marathon: You Can Do It!” as my running coach to train for the California International Marathon coming up in December. Galloway is adamant about slowing down when it gets hot. Being the good student that I am, I approached last night’s race with very conservative notions about the pace I “should” take (that is, a slow one). Also, I admit it, I can be a bit, um, overly-concerned (ie wimpy?) about heat. Maybe it’s my fair complexion and Northern European genes 🙂

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

Property of:

Recent Posts

  • Day 365: Don’t Overthink It!
  • Day 364: Missing It Already
  • Day 363: “Of Futile Efforts” (Original Music)
  • Day 362: Things Are Looking Up in Highly-Sensitive Land
  • Day 361: Today’s Appreciations

Read Posts by Category

Blogging (134) Books (88) Creative Writing (69) Creativity Topics (80) Higher Self (85) Home Life (21) Law of Attraction (139) Miscellaneous (109) Money (138) Movies (15) Music Career (58) Original Music (56) Personal Growth (352) Running & Health (128) Shenanigans & Ruminations (89)

Archives

Share this page

Share

More Recent Posts

  • Day 365: Don’t Overthink It!
  • Day 364: Missing It Already
  • Day 363: “Of Futile Efforts” (Original Music)
  • Day 362: Things Are Looking Up in Highly-Sensitive Land
  • Day 361: Today’s Appreciations
  • Day 360: Focus Where It Feels Best
  • Day 359: Along for the Market Ride, No Matter What (Part 2)
  • Day 358: A Week Away
  • Day 357: Taking Care of the Rest
  • Day 356: Take Your Happiness Into Your Own Hands (1000th Post!)
  • Day 355: More Under the Vibrational Hood
  • Day 354: Approaching My 1000th Post
  • Day 353: An Accomplishment of Self-Care
  • Day 352: The Book (Update #5)
  • Day 351: Some Honesty About Tonight’s Outing
  • Day 350: Inspired Action Over Habit
  • Day 349: A Consistent Yet Relaxed Running Life
  • Day 348: Using Affirmations Effectively
  • Day 347: What is the Essence?
  • Day 346: Tonight’s (Money-Related) Appreciations
  • Day 345: More on Mental Attitude
  • Day 344: Put Your Happiness First
  • Day 343: One Who Is a Visionary Thrives in All Times
  • Day 342: Facing the Music
  • Day 341: Today’s Appreciations
  • Day 340: Solitude, My Steady State
  • Day 339: Time to Make Peace with Being Highly-Sensitive
  • Day 338: Being Myself, the Way that Suits Me
  • Day 337: The Book (Update #4)
  • Day 336: Perfection is Over-Rated
  • Day 335: If It Doesn’t Fit For You, How Great Can It Be?
  • Day 334: Ten Accomplishments
  • Day 333: “From What Dimension” (Original Music)
  • Day 332: You Can’t Get There From Here
  • Day 331: Sniffing Out True “Hell Yeses”
  • Day 330: The Completely Invisible Yet Omnipresent Force
  • Day 329: The Keeper of My Happiness
  • Day 328: Today’s Appreciations
  • Day 327: 1000 Pieces. One Good Experience
  • Day 326: Chronos Says, “Vive La Difference!”
  • Day 325: Words for Zoning Out on Appreciation
  • Day 324: Fie, Dividends. Fie!
  • Day 323: Onto the “Too Hard” Pile!
  • Day 322: Learning to Make Myself Right
  • Day 321: Let’s Keep Playing Ball
  • Day 320: Trust Your Instincts
  • Day 319: Every Negative Mood is Based on a Misunderstanding
  • Day 318: Appreciating the Walk Break
  • Day 317: You Can’t Go Wrong Following Inspiration
  • Day 316: The Magic of “Our Universe”
  • Day 315: Work I Love
  • Day 314: I Need Me Some Happiness!
  • Day 313: You Can’t Have It Both Ways
  • Day 312: Along for the Market Ride, No Matter What
  • Day 311: The Book (Update #3)
  • Day 310: “Witnesses of Beauty”
  • Day 309: Tonight’s Appreciations
  • Day 308: Satisfied and Worthy, Doing Something Right
  • Day 307: The Lawless “Casino Age” of Banking
  • Day 306: Aiming to Feel Good Does Good
  • Day 305: Seven Days of Balanced Exercise
  • Day 304: Alignment is Worth the Wait
  • Day 303: Still Enjoying My Monthly Kiplinger’s Ritual
  • Day 302: Taking Score Too Soon?
  • Day 301: Drawn to Flexibility
  • Day 300: Dress Rehearsal for My Next Backpacking Trip?
  • Day 299: Happy Thoughts Produce Happy Lives
  • Day 298: I Enjoy a Well-Crafted Post
  • Day 297: Chernow’s “House of Morgan” and the 1929 Crash
  • Day 296: The Book (Update #2)
  • Day 295: Tonight’s Appreciations
  • Day 294: Netflix’s “How to Get Rich” (I Dig It)
  • Day 293: Shifting Your Vibration
  • Day 292: “In the Rhyming Zone” (Original Rhyme)
  • Day 291: Bay-to-Breakers 2023!
  • Day 290: More Answers to Quality Questions
  • Day 289: It’s the Experience!
  • Day 288: Toast
  • Day 287: Film Scoring Update (What I’m Learning)
  • Day 286: What We Make Of It
  • Day 285: “The Passion of Joan of Arc” (1928) – (Original Film Score)
  • Day 284: Bring on the Inspiration, Baby…
  • Day 283: Still On Message
  • Day 282: Appreciating Financial Education
  • Day 281: Long Live Appreciations
  • Day 280: The Book (Update #1)
  • Day 279: Thank You, Balance!
  • Day 278: Doing What Fits
  • Day 277: The Silver Lining of Short-Term Pain
  • Day 276: I’m Lovin It
  • Day 275: Attracting What I Want with the Satisfaction “Sniff Test”
  • Day 274: The Playful Whimsy of My “Bazinga” T-Shirt
  • Day 273: Loving the Synchronicities
  • Day 272: The Dramatics of the Mind
  • Day 271: I’m Digging the Mellowness
  • Day 270: Thoughts on Today’s 5k
  • Day 269: The Slow-and-Steady Machine Works Its Magic
  • Day 268: A 5k to Balance Recovery and Fun
  • Day 267: I Did That!
  • Day 266: Tuesday Night Appreciations
    ©2023 My Happiness Obsession | Design: Newspaperly WordPress Theme