Rob's Running Blog

KSwiss City of Salford 10k – A Mystifyingly slow 56:17

A delayed report for this race, as I couldn’t really bring myself to write about it for a while. No drama, no great disaster, just a mystifying end to a season where I started running with a club for the first time, put in a lot of running, ran more consistent 20 miles ish a week mileage than ever before, and ended up running the same, if not slower, than at the start of the season!

Got up early, headed to the bus, then got the Met, and wondered, as the tram meandered through Salford Quays, whether I would be there in time to use the loo and get warmed up! Ended up jogging to the loos, did what I needed to do, and jogged back to the start line. My ankle had been a bit tender, but was Ok as soon as I started running. Also felt on twinge in my calf, but that was it.

Set off and it was the usual crowded start of a bigger race, had the Garmin pace alert etc off, and didn’t really look at it, just relaxed into running, and decided every time I felt good, to push harder, and just keep running to how I felt at a solid pace. Felt OK at 3k and went a bit quicker, when we hit the hill near Old Trafford I sprinted up it, and kept the pace going. It was pretty hot, but I’ve run season’s best times when it’s hot! The water station was welcome, and I tried to run and drink but it was hard, so I stopped briefly to chug some water.

On the long run out, before the roundabout, I was starting to feel it a bit, and paused to take a drink, when I heard one of the Sweat shop running community ladies shout out “go sweatshop” and promptly started running again. I was suffering a little, but knew I could keep going and Jenny’s encouragements would really help me in the latter stages.

I had no idea what pace I was running, but started overtaking people in the last few k. I was melting and gasping but still kept pushing. As we got to the bit where you see the finish line, only to have to turn and run about another km, Tony Hillier the coach at sweatshop yelled my name and I started to pick up speed, then fade, then pick up speed, then fade. I thought I might be in with a decent shout of a good time with all the running I’d done with the club and my increased mileage, and in the last 200 metres powered to a sprint finish despite feeling half dead. I crossed the line feeling quite ill and was sick, first time that’s ever happened, my body was really not happy with me!

I checked my stopped Garmin and swore under my breath at a time of 56:17 – a minute slower than the City of Manchester 10k, after a lot of training and hard work. It all suddenly seemed a bit of a swizz, and certainly not worth running to the point of being sick over. I gradually calmed down and got a drink, and then went off for my goody bag, feeling a bit bemused.

I caught up with the sweatshop runners and we hung around for an hour for Tony to get his prize, there was some kind of cockup with the timings, and most people had gone before the winners were announced. Tony was winner of the V65 I think, but they said they would post out the prizes so we had waited around for no real purpose! Jenny was kind enough to give me a lift home, and I felt pretty shattered for the rest of the day.

Looks like it’s back to the drawing board if I ever want to run close to 50 minutes for 10k again. I’ve suggested this might be my age, with some saying that’s nonsense, but I don’t know – for 2 years I was getting close to 50 minutes quite easily and often but for the last 2 that’s pretty much gone and even going sub 55 is becoming a challenge.

Watch this space!