Another Race... Lessons Learned

Well, I am not happy with my time from the 10K race today. It was a great race, though, and I did have fun. I think I'll post here about takeaways.

Positive

• This is the first race where I was really feeling "pain" at the end. Pain of an injury or being out of shape does not count here; by PAIN, I mean pushing myself to the limit. During that last 1.5 miles, by body was not happy with me. For the first time, I could feel the lactic acid in my legs screaming--NO MORE! STOP! I was winded. I wanted to walk. I slowed down a bit, but I would not let myself walk. I even kicked it up a bit duing the last quarter mile. I got cramped in my chest a bit, but I did not push myself to the point that I was worried about anything. If I am going to do races like this, I need to learn a lot more about this "pain" thing. I give myself good marks for a preliminary exploration. I shudder to think what the last stage of the marathon might feel like.
• I feel great now. This cannot be underestimated. I feel like I could go out and run another 10K race tomorrow, and that is excellent. I don't have a single twinge of pain or hurt in my legs, and I have had a very normal active day.
  
• I didn't walk once. Now, this is controversial. I think my time would have improved with a few walk breaks. But I think it was important to totally run this one.

Things I Could Have Done Differently

• I think if you want to finish in a certain time, you need to wear a watch. I figured I would just go as fast as I felt comfortable and see where that left me. Well, it left me with an extra 90 secons that I didn't want. I'm glad I ran the race this way--I learned a thing or two.
• In my previous 10K, I walked through every aid station and took a 35 second walk break. I think this made me faster. I should try to do a 10K with a run/walk/run interval.