first 10k in 7 years

Newbie

So a number of years ago I discovered, when running my last till this weekend 10k actually, that i had a thyroid problem that made running a risky propostion. so on doctors' advice i stopped running while the problem was diagnosed and fixed, which was just last year. so since through my teens thru 30's i'd been a fairly steady runner (nothing spectacular but pretty consistent 20 or so miles a week, 50 minute 10k's) I got in my head that since my medical excuse for not running was gone, i should get back to it. but months went by and i couldn't get myself out, for whatever reason. so i decided to give myself some real motivation and celebrate my 50th birthday in 2009 with my first-ever marathon. committing to that, i figured, would force me to quit smoking and train steady.

so i signed up for the marine corps in DC in october, bought myself a new pair of shoes, and laced them up. at first, no surprise, getting out for a 20 minute walk/jog was a lot, and mostly walking. over the past couple of months as i've gotten more disciplined about getting out consistently i've upped my miles to where i'm doing 3-4 on weekdays and 5+ on the weekend long run, so i figured i'd try a 10k. ran it this sunday. incredibly slow, at around 69 minutes, but i did it. walked only through the water stations, finished running hard, feeling fine.

this has me thinking, though. when i first started back running this year, my muscle memory kicked in and my gps was telling me i was moving at about a 7:45 pace, which of course i couldn't sustain, especially since my neighborhood it pretty hilly. to build mileage capacity i've consciously slowed my pace way down; for most of that 10k i was at about 10:30-10:45 pace.

so i'm just looking for feedback. i want to build distance and capacity, certainly. i do want to finish that marathon in october, after all. following the higdon plan i'm ahead even, in terms of miles, so if i just stick to that and they're right that if you can do all the plan you can do the race, i'll be ok on that score. but while i recognize that at 50 i'm not 20 or even 35 any more, i still do not want to be running at an 11 minute pace. (in that 10k, for example, while i was nowhere near the slowest, i was the slowest among my peers, 40's men, which wasn't pleasant to see, once i got past the be glad i just survived aspect of it). how to build both capacity and speed is my major question. thoughts, links, appreciated.

first 10k in 7 years

LIFEFORM SOCIAL COMMUNITY NETWORK