Another Sunday, another 10km race. This time it was a bit closer to home and it wasn’t freezing. I ran for about 5 minutes beforehand hoping that a warm up would mean I wouldn’t hate the first 5km as much as I did last time.
I knew that the first 2km would be mostly uphill so once that distance was covered I was hoping to fly and finish the run in super quick time. The legs, however, didn’t really want to sprint so I just kept up a good enough pace so that I was feeling uncomfortable but not totally hating it.
I realised at 5km that I was going to finish in about 49 minutes. Annoyingly my Garmin only shows me my current average pace, not the average pace for the entire distance already run so I don’t really have an exact idea of how I’m doing until I’m close to the end and can actually do the math on my own.
There was a guy who was breathing down my neck most of the way. It’s mind boggling how he managed to run 10k panting like that. I was hoping to get away from him but every time I lost him, he reappeared after a few minutes. Geez.
After 8km it all went downhill. Literally :) I didn’t put on the breaks and just sped down as fast as I could running the first downhill km in 4 minutes 16 seconds. I actually lost the heavy breather on this downhill bit. Whew.
The last km was not too bad either since coming downhill gave me some momentum for a while. I wish there had been signs though for 800m to go, 500m to go, etc. – without them I don’t properly speed up until I can actually see the finish line and in this race we only had about 200m to go once we cleared the woods and saw the end. I sprinted and I finished as the clock was still at 48 minutes. I quickly sat down to avoid nausea – 5 and 10km races are always fun once they’re over and you’re sitting down :P
Official time: 48:02
Another PB but only by 19 seconds. Oh well, I’m not complaining. Two years ago the same amount of exertion meant 53 minute 10k races for me so I have improved and hopefully will keep improving.
As with everything in life, I don’t believe there are quick fixes or quick solutions – no one becomes Speedy Gonzales overnight. So I’ll keep doing what I’m doing and maybe I won’t get the 46 minute 10k like I had hoped to in 2013 but what’s another year when you’re having fun :)
And here’s a final thought about racing, one that went through my mind several times on Sunday:
That’s pretty darn speedy in my book. Congrats!!!
[…] the afternoon I checked the race results and saw that if I had run as fast as I did last week, I would have gotten 2nd place – the second female came in at 49:43 […]
Well done. Another one in the bag. x
Thanks :) and stop using my real name (I deleted it), I’m trying to be incognito here! (I know posting photos of myself doesn’t help but at least no name naming please :)
Haha, ooooops sorry mystery lady!
Congrats, a PB is a PB regardless of by how many seconds :)
I hate it when people are gasping and grunting next to you during a race, it’s so off putting!
Thank you, I wish I had pushed a bit harder and ran 3 seconds faster to get sub 48 minutes :) But there’s always next time!
Wow!
Congrats!! A PB is still a PB, whether its a few seconds or several minutes. Sounds like a fun race too.
I know, it’s unlikely I will be making PBs in minutes now so I take every second I get :)
@MrsB_LDN enjoyed reading this fab, positive post ☺
@MrsB_LDN yes! Well done. I’m happy for you.
RT @MrsB_LDN: Wimbledon Common 10k – The title was going to be “Not every race is a PB” http://t.co/WOqj1YVlAu