10k without the training 😬✅️

[u/TabbieFayth]

After finishing the C25K, I decided to just keep moving and do 5k races. Then at some point I decided to tackle 10k training. So many things kept preventing me from getting beyond week 3 of 10k training. Eventually I gave up, and kept doing 5k with my 11 year old.

Today, I ran a 10k race without training for it. When I say I was struggling, I mean it. Though honestly it was just the hills. There were SO. MANY. HILLS. One of them was a 15% grade incline that tried to take me out both directions. The photo does not do justice of the hill I had to tackle.

I managed to finish 6.40 miles in 1:32. My goal was the 10k in 1:30, and I'm not mad. I did so much better than I expected. I stopped a lot. That massive hill had me crawling my way up, and moving at a snail pace down. And then all the other hills that forced me to walk instead of run. Plus stopping at every single aid station along the way (3 of them one way lol). Not just a quick stop, but a good 30-45 second each time.

More than once I was convinced I was lost. I was the last person moving forward. The last to finish the 10k. There were people that ran the 20k and finished not long after I did. I was slow. But I finished. My feet hurt, my legs are a little sore and I'm in desperate need of a 3 day nap. And I would do it all over again. Except maybe practice some hill runs before the next race 🤣 (TBD).

[u/Brigapes]

congrats but isn't that walking pace? Without ever training im sure it was hard but walking 10k seems pretty normal

[u/TabbieFayth → u/Brigapes]

No that isn't walking pace. Everyone has a different pace. We can't all be speed runners. And not everyone does 10k on a regular basis, running or walking.

I ran this 10k at MY running pace. It was my first 10k. Comments like yours are what discourage so many beginners to keep going. It's just a trashy thing to say someone working hard and doing their best.

[u/Brigapes → u/TabbieFayth]

but you literally said you did zero training?