First 10K and my thoughts on Smart Coach

[shellfish26]

I did my first 10K this weekend in Pittsburgh, and finished with a time of 54:07!   It was a super fun race with tons of crowd support.  I can't think of one spot along the route where there weren't people cheering. The race itself was a bit crowded (10,000 people running the 10K), so my first mile was a super slow shuffle, but eventually I was able to work my way around the tight spots.  The weather was perfect and it was a very well organized race.

And I know that some people have asked about the Smart Coach plan.  I started just the basic free plan (intermediate 10K) 13 weeks ago, and found that it was perfect for me.  Last time I mentioned it here, someone commented that it was too much.  But it turned out to be ideal for what I wanted-to stay in shape for this race and figure out if I could handle a half.  The last 2 weeks were 12 mile runs, so I guess I answered my own question!   And as much as I complained about the speedwork, I was able to run the last mile at 8:06, after I reminded myself that I just did an 8:00 1/2 mile last week. 

[pamela]

Awesome!

If you don't mind me asking, where were you at when you started that plan?

[shellfish26]

At that point, I had a 5K PR of 26:47. I had done a few 6-7 mile runs (and my longest was 9) with a pace of around 9:15. By last week, my 12 mile run was a pace of 9:20. So, I would say that the plan definitely helped more with endurance than speed.

[libbygrl109]

Congrats on your awesome time! I've been considering using Smart Coach for my next half in March to switch things up from HH. I want to improve both speed and endurance, since the race will be much hillier than the one I'm doing in next week.

[breezy8407]

Congrats! Great time.

[sassystace]

Great job!! That plan is pretty intense for a 10k--sounds like you could do a half, no problem.