by Emily E.

I never thought I could complete a 10K run race. I started jogging about 3 years ago after we got a dog and walking her got boring. I worked up to jogging for 25 or 35 minutes several times a week and felt good about it. I would run around the neighborhood and complete a couple of miles. I thought I was doing everything right.  That said, I didn’t know how to control my heart rate, let alone what heart rate zones really meant, and I would be wiped after every run. My heart rate would get very high and I was working and breathing “all out” for most of the run.  It was so hard, it was not fun at all.  It wasn’t until I started working with Coach Joe that I learned how much easier running can be.

After completing my first tri at The Naperville Sprint Triathlon presented by Experience Triathlon in August 2013, I definitely had “the tri bug.” The bug (along with my type A personality) told me my next goal had to be a longer, international distance triathlon in 2014. That meant that I would go from sprint distance with a 5K (3.1 mile) run to the international distance 10K (6.2 mile) run.  Yep… it doubles! Yikes!!

Of course before dreaming of completing the international I figured I might as well try and complete a stand alone 10K run race event.  So, that’s how the story went from “I could never to a 10K” to “Wow, I completed a sprint triathlon” to “I might be able to do the international tri” to “I could totally do a 10K run race” to “I really need to call Coach Joe.”  🙂

After working with a coach for several months, I have improved my fitness, learned to control my pacing and heart rate, and truly enjoy running for the first time in my life.  Finishing my first 10K race was an amazing feeling, but it was even better to know I could have kept going longer!  Maybe I should think about doing a half marathon (13.1 miles) next.   Anything is possible, right?