10K Race in the Bag!

Well I'm back from the first of my running challenges - the Bristol 10K race.  I don't have my official time yet, but it took me about 2 minutes to get through the start, and at the finish, the clock was at 58mins 20secs, so I reckon it was about 56mins, 30 secs, something like that.  I'll post my official time once it comes through.  It's been so long since I've run a race like this, that technology has really moved on - now you have a little chip that you thread onto your trainers, so you get an accurate time - it doesn't start recording until you pass the start line.

The race itself was good - there are so many good memories - seeing the elite athletes come through on the other side of the Portway and cheering them on, spotting some of my colleagues running on the other side of the Portway, and realising I wasn't that far behind them, realising I was smashing the time I wanted when I hit the half way point, stretching it out between 7-9km (which I planned to do), all the amazing crowds cheering when we came back into town at the end of the race, bumping into a friend handing out water once I'd finished, meeting up with my colleagues afterwards and comparing our war stories...

The course is almost all flat, and generally fast, with only one uphill which is steep, but not very long.  I managed to run it all, and although at first, I was getting overtaken by loads of people, towards the end, I was passing people left, right and centre!  I did get overtaken at 9km by a dude with a surfboard - he was looking very fresh - no idea how he did it.  I had carefully planned out my race strategy beforehand, particularly as the maps supplied were rubbish.  The first bit of the race is a really long road out of the city, where you double back after quite a long way.  The map made it look like a short hop, but it was actually really far.  I took it pretty steadily on this part, as it would be easier to overcook it, but still was ahead of schedule.

I found the second part of the course challenging, but that's because I was tired and pushing it to get a good time.  I found the last 1km really tough, and felt a bit sick, but once I could see the finishing line, I managed to sprint it.  I felt awful once I'd finished it, but after a couple of minutes, I managed to walk it off and felt OK.

It was quite a cold day, about 12-13 C, so I appreciated my foil blanket. There were a few spots of rain towards the end of my race and once I'd finished.  All in all, perfect running conditions! 

So now, I have to get in training for my next 10K, which is totally flat, but on uneven ground - wish me luck for July!

Thanks for reading and all your support! xx

First 10K Race Tomorrow

I've not done any training logs this week, but I have been out for a couple of short runs.  Tomorrow is my first 10K - I'm running the Bristol 10K.  I'm really looking forward to it, and I must go to bed soon so I'm well rested for tomorrow.

Will post tomorrow and let you know how it went!  Wish me luck!  xx

Training Journal 08.05.11

Today I did a four mile run, as I'm tapering for my 10K next week, and dodged the rain.  I decided to push myself to get a good time, and managed it in 39 minutes, which is pretty good for me.  I ended up running behind a couple and a solitary runner - we were all about 20m apart, and I kept up with them all for a good mile, which helped me push along! 

I'm feeling pretty good about the 10K next week - I'll be lucky to do it in an hour, but I'll give it a go! 

Music highlight today was some old skool drum and base - Robotics by Peshay.  I might do a post on my running playlist - it's quite eclectic.  Would you be interested in that? 

Thanks for reading!  xx

Training Journal 06.05.11

Today I just popped out for a short run with my colleague.  We went about 2.5 miles at a gentle pace around Clifton near our office.  I felt good, although I did get a bit hot and oppresive as the weather was gearing up for a storm.  No music today, but the highlight was getting beeped and catcalled at by a 17 year old - I'm 31 and my colleague is in her 40s, so we were both pretty happy with that as it's a rare occurrance!

Thanks for reading!  xx

Training Journal 02.05.11

I've done a couple of training runs during the week, 3.71 miles each, and I managed to smash my PB training times for each one, running at under 10 minutes a mile, so I am pleased with my training so far.

Today was my last long run before my first 10K race in 2 weeks time.  Today, I ran 6.04 miles in 1 hour and 2 minutes.  This is just under the 10K distance (which is 6.2 miles) and I didn't push myself too hard.  I'm hoping to do the race in under an hour, so this bodes well.  I didn't even feel too tired, and I was thinking about adding a little extra onto my run at the end - I'm glad I didn't as I'm feeling it now in my legs.

My ipod highlights today were Submission by the Sex Pistols and Heartbreaker by Metronomy (who are my fave band of the moment). 


So from today, I'm starting to taper my runs, in order to be in good shape for the race.  This means, I'll probably not go much further than my standard 3.71 miles, with maybe a 4 1/2 miler next weekend.  I'm going running with my colleagues tomorrow, and we usually do 3 miles, so it shouldn't be too tough.


Thanks for reading!  xx

Training Journal 24.04.11

Today I attempted my longest run so far.  I thought I was going to do 5 miles, but it turns out I'd slightly miscalculated and only did 4.84 miles.  Not too bad, but I would've liked to do the full 5 miles.  Despite this, it was a really good run, and I took it slowly and felt I could've gone longer at the end.  So glad I had two rest days after my last run!  I went out early to try and avoid the heat and the smog as well.

Ipod highlights were Kashmir by Led Zeppelin and Watching Windows by Roni Size Reprazent.

Thanks for reading!  xx

Training Journal 21.04.11

OK, a few days late posting this, but I went out for a run on Thursday evening for 3.71 miles.  However, I felt awful - I think I'd totally over-cooked it, starting off too fast in the 21 degrees heat, so I didn't make it to the end.  I did about 3 miles in total and walked the last bit.  It might have been the heat, or the half pint of shandy I had at lunch time, or just that I'd trained a bit too hard over the past week.  However, when I got home, I read a news article saying that Britain was suffering from smog and advising people not to exercise on Thursday afternoon - that must be the reason!  I decided to take two rest days and will go out again for a longer run on Sunday morning.

Thanks for reading!  xx