Running 101: A 10k for beginners.

10k’d, bitches!

Last night I ran my first race, the Jerusalem 10k. The plan was to run up to about 6 (my top so far had been 5.3) and walk the rest, maybe attempting to finish the last kilometer on a run.

Instead, I ran the whole thing… whoops.

How could you not? It was incredible! Running with peeps, running past peeps, running alongside a lot of old peeps, getting taken over by old peeps… It was really a bonding experience without saying a word to anyone. That’s my kinda late-night fun.

What happened was, there were km-markers every 2 kilometers. I figured when I got to 6, I’d evaluate my sitch. Well, 6 never came, and the next mile marker I saw after 4 was 8. And by then I could see the Old City clearly and though, f it. It was also just then that my right knee was starting to show signs of stfu… and I suppose someone else would’ve realized running those last 2 uphill kilometers was incredibly irresponsible. But, like I said, f it.

There were a lotta lil thoughts I wanted to tweet along the way, so here’s as much as I can remember:

  • Why is it that all the restaurants we passed happen to be cooking steak right at this moment?
  • So. <breath> Many. <breath> Goddamn. <breath> Hills.
  • Just gonna safely assume that everyone else who grabbed a cup of water on the way and attempted to drink it got slammed in the face with a cup of water, right?
  • Love, LOVE the music choice for running across the finish line. Dramatic – check. Cheesy – check. Perfect way to finish – check.
  • Those charedi leg warmers I bought really came in handy after all…

So, for my first 10k, I clocked in at 1:09:56. I’m told that’s not terrible, which is pretty cool. I’m more interested in distance than speed at this point anyway.

Up next: The Jerusalem Marathon on March 16, in which I’ll run the 10k version. Then the Tel Aviv Marathon on March 30, for which maybe, just maybe, I can go for the half. But I have three months of *actual* training (as opposed to the usual winging-it I do) to determine that…


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4 responses to “Running 101: A 10k for beginners.”

  1. Judy Labensohn Avatar

    Dear Liz, Way to go. Congratulations. I am inpressed by your determination.

    1. elie Avatar
      elie

      Thanks!

  2. […] head was definitely not as much in the game as it was during my first run (the Jerusalem Night Run), where adrenaline and newbie-ness definitely took […]

  3. […] first 10k I could do was the Jerusalem Night Run. Then I did the Tel Aviv Gillette Marathon‘s 10k track. And last night I finally got to do […]

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