My preparations for the Salford 10k, at least in the run up to the race, had a bit of a setback with the onset of my back problem. At first it seemed to be a minor thing, but after my easy run in the week, another sleep seemed to do more damage and I was in real trouble, eating painkillers like candy, and barely able to move without wincing. There were times when I considered pulling out of the race, because the pain was THAT bad, and I didn’t want to make it worse. But then I thought, I wrecked it somehow sleeping in bed – maybe movement would actually do it some good, or at least do me some good, so I decided to turn up, and even if I just trotted round, I would finish the race.
Didn’t get much sleep the night before, every time I got comfortable for a few minutes in one position, the pain would flare up again. I got up, had some toast for breakfast, then walked the dog, and then the taxi came. I chatted with the driver but felt very uneasy about the whole race deal – wondering if I would have to pull out half way through, if I would be screaming in pain with the jolting – or what? I got dropped off and found the changing rooms, it was a struggle to even pull off my jogging pants. I pinned my number on my top, then stowed my stuff in a locker and decided to go outside for a little jog to see how I fared. It was freezing out there! I managed to do a bit of jogging then came back inside. The back had hurt, but I figured I might be able to sustain a decent run if I could run through the pain.
Eventually, we were all at the start line, dodging buses and cars. It seemed a little further back down the road then when I did it last year. Anyway, I set the Garmin to only display the distance and time of day, and resolved not to look at it, but just run to how I felt. I felt quite good setting off, and settled into a pace that seemed to not bother my back too much – the only problem was, with it being a pinched nerve, my left arm was twingeing a bit and my thumb was getting progressively number… I enjoyed the first lap, and felt pretty good, then had to deal with the psychology of doing it all over again and seeing the same scenery. I was breathing very hard at 5k, but felt if I could just stay at the pace I was and save a little for the last few k. As the 2nd half of the race got more intense, I started to find myself drawing level with people in front of me, then overtaking them, I put on extra little bursts of speed to overtake a few packs. By the last 2k, I was really gasping for air and hurting, but just kept my legs turning over, turning over. As the 9th K turned over I did risk a quick look at my Garmin and saw I’d done that one in 4:51. I got a bit frustrated as the 9K marker showed up when the Garmin was showing 9.3K and indeed the last k seemed short from where the marker was. In any case, I thought, only 800 to go, it’s just like an interval session now, just one burst and I can do this in less than 4 minutes. I couldn’t quite see where the finish line was, there were a few of us neck and neck, a bloke with a stopwatch shouted “48:06″ as we went past him. Then it registered – if I could reach the finish line in another 1 minute 53 seconds, I would have a sub 50. I pelted it, thinking I could do it, then thinking the finish was going to play tricks on me and be much further than I thought, I was gasping almost screaming by this point, totally at my limit, then suddenly I was over the line and stopping the Garmin. As I walked down the funnel, I flipped it over to display my time:
49:24
I gasped, and almost sobbed. I’d finally done it. I wandered round in a daze, tears brimming at my eyes, and had to find a quiet spot for minute. 2 years of trying and I’d finally run a sub 50 10k. It had been a challenge worthy of the name! It took a while to sink in as I went to get changed, and had a bit of a chat with a nice chap who said he was running a 5k later in the month and had done this one as a training run. I went off to get the bus, still feeling elated, as the rain started to come down…
My splits were interesting:
4:58
4:56
5:00
4:54
5:00
5:15
5:06
5:02
4:51
4:16
It shows that I can afford a bit of a lull in the mid stages to regroup for the end – if I had been pacing myself off the Garmin, I could easily have though “5:15 for that K, I am stuffed now…” So that’s 2 PB’s where I have just run to how I felt, it seems to work – won’t always of course, but it saves on the psychological games!!
Well, as it coincides with the anniversary of my mum’s death, I guess I will always run this one in her memory – and today have a PB/Sub 50 to dedicate to her
I set off earlier than last week, but got there later, I didn’t get to bed too early and didn’t sleep and was feeling frankly rough when I got up, and felt a bit sick on the bus. Seemed to take longer than last time, and in fact when the bus dropped me off at the bottom of the hill near Vernon Park, I checked the time and it was 8:45 – and the start line was a 15 mins walk away, so I figured I could have a nice warmup to get there, although I still had to get out of my joggers and use the loo. And I felt bloody awful and breathless jogging up the hill and had to stop – then jogged through a veritable swamp as I took the shortcut over the field to get to the track. So had soaking wet feet. I managed to get out of my sweats and put my trainers on, and really needed to use the loo, but all the cubicles were occupied, then a kid went in one cubicle and came out screaming his head off. I went in, and saw why – let’s just say, how does a person manage to miss like that? It was just there, perched, staring at me… Still, needs must… and I improvised. By this point had about 2 mins left, and Garmin couldn’t find the satellite as I stood there kicking my own arse with my heels and trying to convince myself I was ready to run a tough 5k I did meet Mark, the triathlete, who ran into my blog the other week, and we had a brief chat.
On your marks, get set go, they said, and I thought I started the Garmin, but half way round the track I glanced at it – 0:00:00. Ooops. So I started it and after about 2 more minutes I was feeling half dead, but I kept going. Whatever official distance I’d done, the Garmin ticked over one k in 5:30 and the next one in 6 mins, I started swearing, I have not run that slowly apart from a warmup or cool down jog recently. So I just kept going, feeling half dead and wondering what the hell was wrong with me today. There was a blonde lady in front of me and she was very supportive and told me to take it easy as there would be plenty more runs – true of course, but I couldn’t understand why I was going so slow…. 6 mins for one k? On the second lap went past Mark who had started walking and tried to encourage him, then just kept going through the pain.
Sort of came alive after the last hill (attacked the hill twice this time) and had a bit of a burst of speed in the last K, and sprinted for the finish, leaving the supportive lady behind, and almost reeling in another lady, who put on a burst of speed to avoid my overtaking her, well done that lady .
Garmin time was going to be useless so awaited results – and somehow ended up with an improvement on last week so a course PB by 13 seconds in 25:14. God knows how I did that, and God knows what was going on with the Garmin telling me I was running 6 minutes per k for a large chunk of the run, I certainly didn’t run a sub 4 one to make up the deficit…
Well, am sure when feeling better and without Twilight Zone things happening, should be able to get that time down on future runs and need to work on those hills!
I decided to rise at the crack of dawn and do the Woodbank Park Run again today – after a mile PB and a season’s best 5 mile time in the week, I’ve been feeling I’ve really got my running legs back of late
The logistics worked much better this time – buses went like clockwork and I got to the venue with 25 mins to spare, so I had time to use the loo and do a few laps of the track in the pouring rain, and get suitably warmed up without exhausting myself with a mad dash all the way from Denton to Stockport .
I set off at what felt and was a suicidal pace in the initial rush (sub 6 minute mile pace according to Garmin). I’m not used to starting so near the front of a field and chased the leaders before settling into my own rhythm, and didn’t try to go too fast, just went at my own pace. On the big downhill in Vernon Park, I conserved energy for the uphill, rather than trying to sprint down it and make up for the time I knew I’d lose going back up – then took the uphill slowly and steadily, and it sapped me a bit, and took a while to get back into my stride. Then another lap around Woodbank Park before the downhill and uphill for a second time.
I was kind of neck and neck with the older bloke who’d blown me away last week in the final k, this time, on the second uphill, I left him behind and although I slowed on the hill, I didn’t stop. I went past two blokes who were walking up the hill, they said well done to me – then in the last k I could hear them behind me, and one overtook me, and I thought, as I sometimes do, “Should I have walked up the bloody hill?” – then I overtook him, and in the last 200 we drew level and he encouraged me, so I then felt a bit bad for going into overdrive and finding a sprint finish and leaving him behind as I dashed over the line really gasping and gulping for air.
Official time was 25:27 which is a 52 second improvement on my Park Run of last week. I felt I held it together much better in the latter stages, so all the other running I have done has helped, and I’m just going to see how quick I can get on this course, and maybe try a 5k on the flat too at some point.
It’s been quite some time since I’ve run a race, and been able to soak up the atmosphere, and just enjoy running with other people (and OK enjoy the odd duel at the finish line!). Ever since they started a Park Run at Woodbank Park, I’ve been toying with the idea of popping along, and sacrificing my Saturday morning lie in I was a bit wary of that park though, having done the Offerton 10k there last summer, and basically died on the hills Finally, yesterday, I decided, yes, I am going to go and do it! Only 5k, afterall!
I had decided to jog the 4 miles to Woodbank Park from my house as I thought this would neatly kill two birds with one stone – a) getting there and b) warming up! I got up a bit late though, the dog wanted to sniff everywhere when I took it out for a walk, I still thought I’d be fine, and set off. Checked the time on the Garmin. Oops, I was cutting it a bit fine I thought. And so instead of a leisurely warmup, I ended up in a race against the clock to even get to the starting line!! When I got to the bottom of the massive hill in Vernon park it was 8:50 and I was calculating whether to make a graceful sweep around the park and back home, or whether I could still make it! No heroics up the big hill, but I did feel a frisson of fear when I saw running things marked out – I was going to have to run up THIS. Again… Twice… I Took a wrong turning, started cursing as it was 8:58 and I couldn’t even see the track/start, and then saw a lady in running gear and asked her the time, turned out she was doing the run too. We both made it 9am, but they hadn’t started yet. A sprint to the start line ensued, then after about 1 minute to get my breath back and set one of the runners’ dogs barking at me, off we went!
I was feeling fine, and raced ahead of a lot of people on the track lap, and did the first k in 4:33 and was flying after my extended warmup! Great! Then we got the the hill going down into Vernon park. Oh crumbs, thought I (well not crumbs, but another word!) – All the memories of the three laps of 10k Hell from last summer swam into my mind, but at least it seemed they weren’t going to make us run the entire hill, ie all the way from the bottom of the park…
Anyway, I managed to get up the hill the first time, and by the time we got round to the second lap I was getting a second wind and really going, and started overtaking a few people and felt great. Then the hill got me again. Kept going, but really started to hurt and felt I was losing pace, I overtook an older guy, but then he took me and sped off. Garmin seemed to click over 5k mark a long time before I got near the track and the finish line, I stumbled over and felt knackered and forgot to even stop the Garmin, although my official time was 26:19, which given the crazy warmup and the hills, was not too bad, and is a target to aim for. Saw the woman from the beginning and we exchanged well dones as I queued up to hand my token to the man with the laptop.
It seems a tough course for everyone, the first place time was about 19 minutes, and not 16 or 17 like it seems to be at most of them. Although not ideal for a time trial, it will be a good progress indicator, and of course doing the hills will be good for my 10k’s, especially if I do the Offerton one again!
I would really recommend the Park Runs to anyone thinking of doing a run, the good thing is they’re every week, they’re free, and fantastic fun for all ages and abilities. Visit the Park Run Website for more info!
Have not updated my running blog for a few weeks due to picking up a bit of a niggle somewhere along the way – was worst after my last 8 miler in the preceding post, the next day, but had been lurking for a while but the 8 miler really seemed to be the last straw in a slow build up of overuse. Probably shin splints, but not sure. In any case, rested for three days then tried a gentle 2 miles, and no go – was really bad to walk on, so had to quit for a couple of weeks and miss both the Trafford 10k (my favourite race) and the Boggart Chase 10k
Earlier this week, I felt there was considerable improvement, so swam 50 lengths on Wednesday and then tried a very tentative 3 miler on Thursday. I was going to stop at the first twinge, but it didn’t come, and the leg felt the same after the run as before – so I elected to run the City of Salford 10k, being my last race of the season; I didn’t want to end on a miserable note, and felt fit enough to be able to jog round a 10k, so decided to monitor the leg, and if all well, go for it.
Even as late as Saturday night I wasn’t 100% sure I would run, but I got my number pinned up, my chip fastened to my Adidas Supernovas, and went to bed. Woke early on Sunday, and thought yes, let’s do it! So I walked the dog, then got the bus into town and a taxi out to the Lowry. Already some athletes around, I did some warmup stretches indoors, but no running warmup. I wasn’t going for a time here, so I would use the first part of the race as the warm up, having had no running in my legs for a bit, I felt 10k was my limit, without a few k’s warmup on top!!
The inflatable arch went up, and I positioned myself right at the back. The horn went, and off went the front runners. It felt quite surreal to start off plodding along at a very slow trot, without the slightest inclination to bomb out in front of people, but I felt a certain camaraderie with these runners at the back, even as I slowly started to find my form and overtake them. I heard someone beside me tell their mate the first K had gone by in 5:30 and figured I wasn’t running THAT slowly, then, and at 2k I felt Ok and started to go a bit faster, steadily overtaking people, which gave me a lift.
Somewhere along a big main road, I spotted two girls running in frilly pink skirts, and decided I would just have to catch them and enjoy a bit of flirting and banter about the skirts, so I kept them in my sights and slowly reeled them in. They said they thought the skirts might cheer people up on the way round – which they certainly did But it seemed to affect also their running aerodynamics I passed them, and waved to them again later when they were on the other side of the road.
The girls in frilly pink skirts who cheered me up en route
I passed a drinks station, which was two people trying to fill one cup at a time from a barrel of water, so passed on joining the queue I was feeling OK as I passed 5k, but was into unknown territory by then, as had not run any further than that since back at the beginning of the month. At about 6k I saw Ron Hill going down the other side of the road, and shouted “Go Ron!” and got a thumbs up from him, which motivated me, and then it was the long slog back to the Lowry Plaza over the bridge, by which point I was grimacing, but still going as hard as I could, and still overtaking people (in fact I was only overtaken once in the whole race). Got over the bridge and it was torture to see the blue finish arch straight ahead, but know their was still another k to go around in a big circle. I overtook more people, swearing blue murder at myself and pushing even though I was really hurting, and made a sprint over the line, to find I had tied my chip so tightly to my laces, that half the lace had to be sacrificed to get the chip off I hung around and cheered in the very last runner. You can see me in the official video at the end, grinning away and there’s also a glimpse of the girls in the skirts
My time was 53:26, a very similar time to my first race of the season, and very similar in tone. I really enjoyed this race, the atmosphere, the banter, took it easy at first and ran harder near the end. Not a bad time at all considering my preparation hit such a hitch, and nice to finish the season on a bit of a high after the low of picking up an injury.
Ron Hill finishes a minute before me!
Now if I can keep injury free this winter, and build up a solid base, I might just get that sub 50 next year.
But my main goal is – to enjoy the journey
Pictures and video courtesy of Sports Tours International, who ran both the City of Salford 10k and the Salford Cycle events, and who organise lots of different sporting events and holidays
My training’s been going well and I had given myself a relatively easy running week in preparation for the race, so was confident of good things. Didn’t get much sleep the night before, really, but was up bright and early and made my way off to Oxford Road station, where I duly caught the train to Birchwood. Things were a little different last year; then, I used the toilets in the train station, until eventually they decided too many runners were using the facilities and pretended they were out of order. This time, the toilets were “closed for cleaning” when I got there and still closed when I left. Additionally, I remember the actual shopping centre being open when I got there last year, at least to walk around and use the toilets in Asda, but it was shut up by the looks of it – maybe the recession. So it was the portaloos or bust
Anyway, on the way to join the queue for the portaloo I saw Dawn and Neil so I waved and went over, and was introduced to Ashley, one of Dawn’s daughters, who was going to do the fun run. We chatted and then went off to catch the fun run, which involved a bit of a stroll out to the finish line at the other side of the area. All the younger runners did really well and Ashley did fantastically
Then it was time to make the portaloo queue this time, and then do a warm up, although the line was so long, my warmup ended up being a bit curtailed, and ended up being a jogged 1.5k instead of a few jogs and walks, but by that point there was only 5 minutes left till the start. I lined up, and then the horn went, and we were off!
Probably, with hindsight, I set off far too quickly. I remember thinking all the people in front of me were going quite slowly and was dashing around a bit to overtake. I did the first k in 4:51 but may have done the first half of that at twice the pace. I didn’t get near that pace again, maintained roughly sub 10 pace up till about 5k, but then by the drinks station I knew I was in trouble when I needed to take double water (stealing, I know, apologies!) and stop to drink it. I was wilting after that and when the inclines over the motorway came I had just about had it! I stopped about a K from the end and this bloke tapped me on the arm and said come on not far to go now, and it got me going again, in fact I went ahead of him until I ran out of steam near the end and loads came flying past me. I saw Neil in the finishing straight, and more or less limped to the finish line in a final time of 52:35. Of course all the info above is with the benefit of hindsight, I had the Garmin set to show only the distance and time of day, but it was tempting to look at the time of day and work out my potential time from the start time, so next time I will keep all trace of time off the display, though I think it was more to do with possibly humidity, or just my recent training catching up with me at the wrong time
But all’s well that ends well. I saw Dawn come in and finish and found her, then we found Neil and Ashley, and then this lady collared us for some free finishing photos courtesy of http://www.absoluterunning.com/ All the people in the pics ran really well on the day and it was good to see everyone
The results are below, with a nice group photo, together with us doing some mad Usain Bolt arrow posings, Neil would have had my eye out if it hadn’t been for the shades
Ok, I finally found out why it’s called the Moonraker 10k – apparently locals in that area call themselves moonrakers, and it goes back to a tradition when poachers, about to be apprehended, would throw their spoils into a pond and then pretend to be raking the moon’s reflection, for the cheese…
Hmm, anyway, this was a rematch with what was my third ever race last year, but to date my slowest 10k time unless you counted my first 10k. Last year I found the course really tough, with a big hill and heat, but after this race my times started to improve dramatically. So this time round, I was really looking at it as preparation for my next 2 flatter 10k’s, and was just hoping to get a course PB, and see what racing with the Garmin switched to ignore mode was like.
What a change from last year in so many respects! I had a different cabbie from my usual one, and the motorway was all shut down and diverted. Instead of sunshine and the hottest day of the year, it was threatening rain, and this duly started to come down before the race. I did a bit of a more sedate warmup than usual, trotting around for 15 minutes but resisting the temptation to start bombing around like a mad thing.
The time came, and we were off. I set off at what I hoped was a manageable pace, and kind of let the flow of people around me dictate my speed for the first k. I resisted a look at the Garmin, which I had set to silent so I could ignore the lap alerts. I felt OK as we came up to the hill at 2k, and was determined to take this easy come what may, rather than attacking it with gung ho bravado and paying for it later. A few people came bombing past me, full of confidence, but they started dying like flies as the hill took its toll and I started to overhaul them. I kept my pace steady enough but once I got to the top of the hill I was filled with adrenaline and went flying down the other side, determined to make up, and I enjoyed the downhills before it became a bit flatter. I had no idea what time I was headed for, but just got into a pace I felt I could keep up, and ramped it up a bit when I felt I could, focusing on runners ahead and taking them one by one. By the last 3k it got really cat and mouse, I overtook a group, but for a while I could hear them on my heels and I was starting to hurt. Someone overtook me but I just tried to stay with them. I just had to keep going somehow! A few from an earlier group overtook me in the last 200, and I had a sprint finish in which I pulled away from another chap. It was all good fun. Those little mini races helped me keep going! I crossed the line feeling tired yet really good. I looked at the Garmin, flipped it to show my time, and I had done 50:21 – not just a course PB but a lifetime PB, and with that bugger of a hill as well!
Looking at the splits, the hill added a couple of minutes on to my time, really slowing me for a couple of k’s, but the good news was I had handled the hills well and left myself enough in the tank to run a negative split – did the first 5k in 26, the second in 24:21 – which equates to my 2nd or 3rd fastest 5k best. The reason I could do that, was I didn’t know I was doing it. Normally I would look at my 5k on the Garmin, feel I was behind, and maybe give up on some level, or feel there was no way I could run fast enough to make up the time. Without the Garmin to refer to, I didn’t know, and I just seemed to run faster in the second half quite naturally, without all the mental guessing games. From now on this is how I am going to race, if this performance is anything to go by, it really helped!
Considering what happened last year, this race was a springboard to real improvements – if the same happens again, in the 3 remained 10k’s of the year I hope not to just to beat the 50 minute barrier, but to smash it once and for all
Quite a frustrating race in some ways – to begin with I spent the entire night lying awake, as I seem to have done for the last month – got snatches of sleep but not the kind of restful sleep you need between back to back 10k races – have hardly slept since the Offerton 10k and been nodding off at my desk and feeling irritable – not good and no idea what’s wrong, but I do have phases of insomnia.
Anyway, I managed to get up and had peanut butter on toast for breakfast, walked the dog, then got the buses to east Manchester, where I used to work, so it’s one of those where I’m very familiar with the area. First thing was to use the loo. I got to the venue at 8.45 and by the time I had hung around in the queue for the single cubicle and done what I needed to do, it was 9.10 – time not too well spent! Anyway I needed to warm up, and started jogging round the indoor track when I spotted Neil and Dawn (remember them from the Bolton 10k!). So we had a brief chat and I carried on with my warm up, before making my way out on to the track. It was very bustling and busy, I couldn’t work out which way we were starting so did a lap of the track and then found out we would be doing 700m on the track. So off went the starter and I could see the elites snaking out, but by the time I got going I was quite boxed in somewhere near the back so I got a bit frustrated, but at least it stopped me going off at a suicidal pace. Anyway, the first k clicked over in 5:04 so it wasn’t that slow, but certainly not the 4:13 opening burst of Wednesday!
In lieue of a fast start, I decided I would maintain that pace and attempt to run a negative split, and I ran a few sub 5 minute k’s and kept around the 5 minute mark as I started to feel the heat. I felt OK and just kept it going, and went through 5k in just under 25 minutes – so far so good, if I could only keep it going! Just like last year, the kilometre markers on the course did my bleeding head in – my Garmin would tell me I had done one k, and about 100m later I would reach the KM marker, but I tried my best to ignore it and not run faster to overcompensate, as I would hate to miss a sub 50 by 10 seconds and find out I had run 10.2k… Anyway, that wasn’t to be. After 5k I tried to speed up and that worked for a little while, but somewhere around 6-7k it felt like a force field went up in front of me, I think really it was the hills and heat of the last race still in my legs and a bit of tiredness too, I just couldn’t keep the pace up and went down to 5:15/k which added a minute on to my time, really. Got a bit frustrated as I sprinted into the stadium, the Garmin saying I had already finished (done 10k) with the finish line a blur in the far distance, had to run half the track more or less, last year the finish was in a different place so that played tricks with my mind a bit. If I just went off Garmin I did 10k in 50:42 but the official chip time was 51:12 – exactly the same as my chip time for the Bolton 10k! At least I am consistent!
Neil cheered me in, anyway – and after I had recovered a bit I went off to cheer in Hayley from runners forum, and another bloke recognised me too, then I found Dawn and Neil and we had a good chat before watching the presentations. Thought it would kick off when a lady cop got annoyed when they announced her in the wrong position, thought she was going to shove the megaphone down the announcers throat, but it seemed to end well in the end. Ron Hill and Louise Gilchrist won in the veterans 70 categories and I saw Ron posing for photos, Louise looked as glamorous as ever
All in all a great day out, even if I didn’t get that sub 50 – but given the race earlier in the week, the warm weather, the lack of sleep, etc, it was a fine effort and I enjoyed the whole atmosphere Check out the official video:
The first of my 10k races this week, and coming on a very hot day. I knew I would not, in all probability, get a PB with heat and hills combined – but I did not expect the race to more or less kill me!
I got my taxi to Woodbank park, where Stockport Harriers are based, and located the track and got my number, and located the toilets, all so far so good! It was hot, but I had hydrated well and carried on sipping water, then started to do warmup laps of the track, going pretty slowly, then throwing in some bursts of speed, did some stretches, and although I felt pretty hot, I could feel my body getting into running mode.
So we lined up, and off we went, starting with 2 laps of the track before heading out into the park. I was well warmed up and running at what I felt to be a comfortable yet pacey pace, so was astonished to see the first k tick over in 4:13 – faster than the first k of my one mile flat out PB 2 weeks ago… But I didn’t feel I was pushing hard, and felt I could maintain it, so just kept going, and the second k ticked over in 4:29. Cool – I was heading for a sub 50, but by how much?! I knew the hill was coming and that it would slow me, but I thought I could afford to slow on the hills then pick up the pace again.
WRONG! The hill was a total and complete bugger, combined with the heat. Reached what I thought was the top of the hill, then there was a turn, and another uphill stretch, followed by another. By the time the ground was level again, I felt drained and my legs had gone shaky. I carried on, but my pace slowed dramatically and never got going again – and as the race was 3 laps, I knew that bugger of a hill was coming for another 2 goes at me, and didn’t even attempt to go any faster. I actually stopped at the water station to drink every time after that, and more or less walked the hills the 2nd and third time. The 2nd time, a lady runner was struggling with me, and walked a bit too, I said something to her about the sign saying 6 miles instead of 6k and that it bloody felt like 6 miles… I stayed with her for a bit and then she just pulled away, I had nothing left to stay with her, so don’t know if she sped up or I slowed down. 3rd time up the hill was murder then it was the slog back to the athletics track, a few people overtook me at this point, I really had neither the motivation, energy or inclination to get into a duel and just meekly trotted over the line in 54:45, my slowest 10k of the year, and I think my 3rd slowest to date Funny that I PB’d on a tough hilly course on a very hot day last year, in 51:40, maybe this hill was a really bad one, it’s certainly described as a testing course!
As I grabbed water at the end of the finishing funnel a nice lady handed me a bit of paper – she must have taken pity on my sweat-soaked, staggering, tortured form, and gave me a “spot prize” which turned out to be some tea tree oil shower gel. It would come in handy later!
I hung around for a bit then went off to the rendezvous with my taxi and had a nice chat with the driver.
Well done Stockport Harriers – a well organised race and the friendliest marshals! The encouragement was ace, I am almost tempted to join the club for more torture on the training runs up that hill
This was my first 5 mile race, and the most local of all the races I have done – indeed, the pub they used for registration is just around the corner from my mum’s house, so after I got my number I jogged there to hydrate and warm up a bit while checking the mail as well.
I knew this was a multi terrain race and knew where the course was roughly. It had been raining so I knew there would be a bit of mud, but didn’t know what else to expect. Anyway, from previous race results I thought there would not be many entrants but there seemed to be quite a lot, so it appears the race is catching on and that’s good as it’s a special race to raise money for St Mary’s Neo Natal Unit and WIllow Wood Hospice (my mum spent some time there so it’s a worthy cause).
Anyway, they had a little kids race, then suddenly we were off too. I was already sweating from my warm up but felt good. I went off at sub 50 10k pace but quite soon I realised it was going to be more of an assualt course than a PB course! I was faced with mud, hills, grass, lake-like puddles, stiles, steps, more hills, huge mad dogs, and even a leap over a stream, and even queues for stiles at points (good job I hadn’t charged off in front of someone fast !!)
I really enjoyed it though, the best thing for me was that I was giving everything and when I hurt I kept going. I was astonished when I was one minute struggling to keep level with someone, but found some more, and then pulled away from them, and looked round to see they were a speck far behind – and then in front there was a speck which I reeled in. Best bit was taking people out on the hills, I just went mad and powered up them and was never overtaken after the first 2k. I enjoyed running it as a race in fact, and in the last 100 yards I was neck and neck with someone and although I felt half dead I found a sprint finish and managed to power on in front.
Will definitely do it again, a flat 5 mile road race would be handy for a PB though, he he, otherwise next up are my back to back 10k’s in 3 weeks, one of which is hilly, I think I will be doing more hill work in the meantime as I love taking them out on those hills
– and the start line was a 15 mins walk away, so I figured I could have a nice warmup to get there, although I still had to get out of my joggers and use the loo. And I felt bloody awful and breathless jogging up the hill and had to stop – then jogged through a veritable swamp as I took the shortcut over the field to get to the track. So had soaking wet feet. I managed to get out of my sweats and put my trainers on, and really needed to use the loo, but all the cubicles were occupied, then a kid went in one cubicle and came out screaming his head off. I went in, and saw why – let’s just say, how does a person manage to miss like that? It was just there, perched, staring at me… 
Still, needs must… and I improvised. By this point had about 2 mins left, and Garmin couldn’t find the satellite as I stood there kicking my own arse with my heels and trying to convince myself I was ready to run a tough 5k 
I did meet Mark, the triathlete, who ran into my blog the other week, and we had a brief chat.
So I started it and after about 2 more minutes I was feeling half dead, but I kept going. Whatever official distance I’d done, the Garmin ticked over one k in 5:30 and the next one in 6 mins, I started swearing, I have not run that slowly apart from a warmup or cool down jog recently. So I just kept going, feeling half dead and wondering what the hell was wrong with me today. There was a blonde lady in front of me and she was very supportive and told me to take it easy as there would be plenty more runs – true of course, but I couldn’t understand why I was going so slow…. 6 mins for one k? On the second lap went past Mark who had started walking and tried to encourage him, then just kept going through the pain.
.
Finally, yesterday, I decided, yes, I am going to go and do it! Only 5k, afterall!
Probably, with hindsight, I set off far too quickly. I remember thinking all the people in front of me were going quite slowly and was dashing around a bit to overtake. I did the first k in 4:51 but may have done the first half of that at twice the pace. I didn’t get near that pace again, maintained roughly sub 10 pace up till about 5k, but then by the drinks station I knew I was in trouble when I needed to take double water (stealing, I know, apologies!) and stop to drink it. I was wilting after that and when the inclines over the motorway came I had just about had it! I stopped about a K from the end and this bloke tapped me on the arm and said come on not far to go now, and it got me going again, in fact I went ahead of him until I ran out of steam near the end and loads came flying past me. I saw Neil in the finishing straight, and more or less limped to the finish line in a final time of 52:35. Of course all the info above is with the benefit of hindsight, I had the Garmin set to show only the distance and time of day, but it was tempting to look at the time of day and work out my potential time from the start time, so next time I will keep all trace of time off the display, though I think it was more to do with possibly humidity, or just my recent training catching up with me at the wrong time 
