this year.

What a great day for a 10k, let’s run two.

Today was the Nike runTO, a 10k run (its not a race) on Toronto Island. Despite the brief periods of heavy downpour and wind, it was a great day. This was my first 10k run, and I basically did no training. Not that I didn’t want to train, but I went out for a 10k run in my old shoes (that are great for the gym) and strained my IT band. This strain basically kept me off the path until run day. On run day I took about 4 aspirin, did lots of stretching, and wore a knee tenser bandage. When the race began the sun had come back out, but the weather stayed a nice cool. I lasted till about the 2.5k mark before my knee started to hurt. I was able to grin and bared through the pain, and it never got worse. I chalk that up to the atmosphere of the run. Running with 10,000 people, with water stations along the way, as well as onlookers cheering can drive up the adrenaline and make you forget about pain.

I finished the 10k in 53:59. I’d like to think I could have run it faster if I wasn’t bogged down in traffic at the start line. As I crossed the finish line and started to walk my right knee got stiff and sore almost immediately. But who cares. I made it 10k, and I beat my buddy Kurt. He actually got out for some training runs.

Overall I’d say RunTO was a great experience, and I’d be up for running another 10k run — but maybe next time for charity. It felt a little weird to be walking around the island and thinking, “Hmm, all these people paid $50 to Nike, just to run.”