This is the week of the 10k, so only one warm up run and then the big day itself. The target was still to run a 40 minute race, Harry was doing it as was my older brother James, and his girlfriend, Monika. With all the lads coming down to support as well as my parents and Harry's it was a proper group event. Even 2 of our dogs came.
14th May 2013
Distance (miles): 3.71
Time (mm:ss): 29:38
Pace (min/mile): 07:59
Avg. Heart Rate (bpm): 167
This run was a link up of my two usual ways. Out to Itchingfield church and then round by the school, then straight down the road and onto the down's link and back round to the fields and across the A264 to home. It works quite well except the section between the turning for Christ's Hospital and getting onto the down's link path. This road is thin and twisty, plus the verge is very uneven, definitely easier early in the morning when the road's are mostly clear.
19th May 2013
This was it, my first 10k. After so much rest I felt comfortable and ready to go. I got to the start well before I needed to, though Harry and his family were already there waiting. We'd had a panic in the car over safety pins, I always forget the safety pins. After calling everyone who was coming I eventually ended up with about 10, so thank you to Tom and Weeman for providing those.
I had plenty of time to warm up so went for a ten minute jog beforehand, slowly building up to race pace. Acceleration came easy and the pace felt natural, making me think for a minute the watch was set in km instead of miles. After checking that was okay it was time to head for the start line.
This was a fairly small race run by a local running club, with everyone apparently finishing under an hour last year. As such I figured it would be a fairly fast field, and so I lined up about halfway in, figuring that was where the 40 minute runners would be hanging out. As the countdown came there was just time for a last word to Harry and James, before we were off, slowly.
It turns out halfway through the field is not where 40 minute runners hang out, 40 minute runners hang out in the second row and as such it was an uphill battle to get to some runners who were running a pace that was around where I wanted to be. This is why my heart rate hit 217 a couple of times in the first 1/3rd of a mile, which considering I thought my max heart rate was 210 was quite a surprise after the event.
After we left the rugby pitch I settled a bit, my pace varied a bit over the next 2 miles, but was essentially around where it was supposed to be. However maintaining this hurt, a lot. It turns out maxing out your heart rate is a bad way to start a race, and my lungs hurt throughout this period.
Then I hit the hill. The hill goes for about 1/2 a mile, and climbs 150 feet. It starts at about 5km, but because this was a double loop it also forms the finishing straight. This means that all the while your struggling up it you know you have to do it all again. At the half way point there was a clock, showing 21 something minutes as I passed it.
The second half was slower, and I just focussed on getting through 1km at a time. When I got to the bottom of the hill again I just had to go for it. I focussed on pumping the arms, which helped to drive the legs upwards. I've never understood how this works but it does, and is a really useful trick when you're tired.
In the end I clocked a time of 42:!7 on my watch, with a time of 42:18 officially. I've only just looked up official results, and apparently this placed me 53rd of 346 finishers. I've only just looked this up, and am pretty pleased with that. Winning time was 32:19 for comparison.
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