Well, in the last post I wrote about running, I said that I had caught the running bug, well, I didn’t realise then that it would take me so bloody long to do another one.
There are lots and lots of reasons as to why.
Last time out’s injury really put me on the back foot (the left one, it was my right knee that was injured), and I suppose I really underestimated the time it was going to take me to fight back to getting myself going, and fit again.
It’s been a long road, and no pun.
I ran in a promotional run for my TKD group, Bicester UKTKD, which wasn’t against anyone really, just myself on a very very warm Sunday in May, and managed to do 5 miles/8 kilometers in 50 minutes, which wasn’t too bad (09:45/mile).
However – this wasn’t competitive, and running with (ahead) of the 5 or 6 or so people that completed the TKD run didn’t have the same atmosphere as a race, so, when I drove into work at the end of August – I saw a promotional banner for RARE.
This race, the first one around this route, as the promotional bumpf says, takes in sites of the Harwell Science park that people don’t normally get to see, and as I felt I needed to stretch my legs again, decided to enter.
The entry fee of only £10 for the 10k was also a bonus – and over a hot wet (coffee) – I had entered.
The three weeks to the event I did a number of runs, primarily distance rather than speed, and with 7 days to go, I ran a 10k round the Pitsford Reservoir.
The Pitsford run was hard work, at about 3 1/2 miles I was feeling a little beat, and again at 4 1/2, but the real challenge was the last mile.
It’s fair to say that I would consider that last mile as purgatory.
I think it’s to do with lack of hydration, I just couldn’t get enough water from my camel-bak. (I hate running with a bottle, and with my current tennis elbow, gripping one really sucks 🙁 )
Even though it was hard work, it was almost 6 minutes faster than the Blenheim 10k of last year – so that is definitely progress – I had made a 10k in under that magic 60 minutes – OK, 45 seconds under, but, still under, and that gave me some real buzz.
So – to the 21st September, and the RARE event.
I had spoken to a few of my colleagues, two of whom have run marathons, and one of them decided that they were game enough to enter with me, he’d not run anything in a while, and was building up to a 1/2 marathon in October, so ideal “practice”.
My wonderful Cath agreed to come and support me again, like she did last year, and take some photographs (which when I have finished sorting out my photos I will process and post).
Well, this was a very different race, a lot less people running, and when the gun went to start, I found myself running with everyone else, which for the first mile was, at least for me, and incredible pace of 07:51/mile – I wasn’t going to keep that up for another 5 miles.
My 2nd mile was therefore a relatively leisurely 09:13, but, the third was an 08:56, I thought after that I probably could have kept up a little quicker pace I guess.
Mile 4 was a few seconds slower than 2, so not much in it at this stage, and I didn’t feel too bad at this stage – but……
Bugger me – mile 5 – probably my Achilles Heel, was hell, I pretty much fell off the cliff at a 10:25 – I just felt like I had run out of steam.
I was still struggling with my camel-bak hydration, and by this time I had taken a bottle from the water stations, and had been drinking, but hadn’t been working, so a very slow 50 meters or so to throw some water down me properly, and over my head to cool me down, I set my teeth and headed out for the final mile (and a tiny bit).
At a 09:34 for the final mile, that few meters of slowness to make sure I got some more water was key.
Overall time, 56:53, some 9 minutes quicker than last year’s 10k, and even better, I wasn’t at all broken this time.
I finished feeling tired, granted, but, actually pretty bloody good. (oh and I beat my colleague, but he had been suffering from a head cold that previous week)
So, second competitive 10k completed – and faster, now I want to run a 10k in under the time it takes to listen to Iron Maiden’s album, “Somewhere in Time” – that’s 51 minutes long for those that care 🙂
