Hi there,
Congrats on signing up for your first race! Yes, I have signed up for a race that was like a marathon through the mountains, and it didn't turn out well.
A few years ago, I signed up for a metric half marathon, which is over 8 miles. At the time, I had been running for a year, I had two 5k's under my belt with 2nd and 6th place finishes, and my longest run was 10 miles.
I had it in my head not yo just finish, but to be competitive. I did, as they say, too much, too soon, too fast and wound up injured. Not only did I miss the race, but I wasn't able to run again for 3 years.
Now that I'm back to running, I'm giving myself 3 months to train for my first 5k.
Running the whole 10K is a little too ambitious a goal, in my opinion, considering your current level. However, that doesn't mean you shouldn't go forward with it.
What I would advise is setting a realistic goal. Finish the race. Walk as much as you need to.
Set up a safe training plan and stick to it. Don't start pushing yourself to do more than you're ready for because of this race. Aside from the injury aspect, putting too much pressure on yourself is just going to suck the fun out of it.
A good rule of thumb is to add no more than 10% to your weekly mileage at a time. So if you're running 5 miles per week, then you add a 1/2 mile.
I hope this helps! Good luck to you and enjoy your race!
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