Dilbert
19-06-2005, 11:54 PM
Just before hopping on a plane to the states last Sunday I ran my 2nd 10k of the year. I wasnt feeling very positive before it as I had been suffering with my knees for over a month and as a result of that hadnt been able to do much running (short runs were ok but anything over 5k was painful) so that and more weights instead than I normally do had also pushed my weight up a bit.
Was up late the night before the run getting my stuff ready for the week away on business so didnt get as much sleep as I would have really wanted but still felt in pretty good condition the morning for the run and was still a little more concerned about whether my knees would be ok rather than thinking about setting a fast time.
This same race last year was my first ever 10k run and so is one of my main benchmarks for my training and I have have committed myself to running this each year until my 40th birthday in 5 years time with the aim of beating my previous time each year.
Last year I did 56mins 15secs for this same race and was prety sure of beating that (so long as the knees were ok) having run a good 10k a few months ago but as ever I still felt quite nervous before the start. :(
A few of my friends and work mates had also entered this year so there was 8 of us together at the start of differing standards and I had agreed to try and stick with one of my mates at work for as long as possible who is usually the fastest runner in our group and we agreed to try and push each other on and keep the pace up.
Race started at 9am and so we were dropped off at the start just after 8 giving us plenty of time to stretch chat and take a position in the starting line that was roughly about right for our expected finishing time. (It can be frustrating at the start if your too far back and trying to pass slow runners down the first few narrow streets and so I always try and be realistic and take a position equal to my expected finish time, but a few people always seem to try and start right at the front no matter how quick they think they will run, which usually makes the start interesting !)
Race started and me and Conan set off at a decent pace and realised straight away from how many people we were passing that we should have probably been a bit further forward at the start.
I felt quite good once we got running and so took up the early pace setting for me and Conan but after a couple of km I was looking round to see where he was but was unable to see him but thought he must be just out of sight in my blind spot and would go sprinting by me at any second. Kept up a decent pace for the rest of the race and tried not to keep looking round too much and concentrate on my breathing.
Was a great day for a run, quite sunny but not too hot and just a little wind.
With 2 km's to go and still no sign of Conan the competitiveness kicked in and I started to race him as well as myself :E but still felt sure he was gonna go sprinting past me at any second with a big smile on his face after sitting back and cruising behind me.
1km to go and still no sign of him and my lungs are burning as I try and crank the pace up and give it my all.
With just a couple of hundred metres to go we enter the castle grounds where theres a really decent crowd lining the banks of the finishing straight cheering all the runners on who are at this point sprinting madly with the encourgament of the crowd.
I cross the line and miss seeing the finishing clock (as usual) but by my own watch estimate it was a 44-46mins run and rather surprisingly have also come first within our group of 8 friends that ran it this year which I was well chuffed with as I didnt expect to.
Went back down the finishing straight and cheered the rest of our team home along with everyone else and then we headed back to our house for some much deserved food and drinks.
Official time was a little slower than I expected (46mins) but I was very pleased that my knee's were ok during and afterwards and even sitting on a plane for 8 hours then a car for 3 hours later that day didnt seem to effect them badly .... so a nice little run later that week in the states in the hot weather and hills around York was the order of the day and very enjoyable.
Marching on with the training again now and determined to beat 43 mins this year but I will be building my mileage up slowly again now to avoid the knee problem I rather stupidly gave myself by pushing it too quickly previously.
And after all that waffle.... a few pics
http://www.ptechuk.com/personal/office/castle2005-1.jpg
http://www.ptechuk.com/personal/office/castle2005-2.jpg
http://www.ptechuk.com/personal/office/castle2005-3.jpg
http://www.ptechuk.com/personal/office/castle2005-4.jpg
http://www.ptechuk.com/personal/office/castle2005-5.jpg
Was up late the night before the run getting my stuff ready for the week away on business so didnt get as much sleep as I would have really wanted but still felt in pretty good condition the morning for the run and was still a little more concerned about whether my knees would be ok rather than thinking about setting a fast time.
This same race last year was my first ever 10k run and so is one of my main benchmarks for my training and I have have committed myself to running this each year until my 40th birthday in 5 years time with the aim of beating my previous time each year.
Last year I did 56mins 15secs for this same race and was prety sure of beating that (so long as the knees were ok) having run a good 10k a few months ago but as ever I still felt quite nervous before the start. :(
A few of my friends and work mates had also entered this year so there was 8 of us together at the start of differing standards and I had agreed to try and stick with one of my mates at work for as long as possible who is usually the fastest runner in our group and we agreed to try and push each other on and keep the pace up.
Race started at 9am and so we were dropped off at the start just after 8 giving us plenty of time to stretch chat and take a position in the starting line that was roughly about right for our expected finishing time. (It can be frustrating at the start if your too far back and trying to pass slow runners down the first few narrow streets and so I always try and be realistic and take a position equal to my expected finish time, but a few people always seem to try and start right at the front no matter how quick they think they will run, which usually makes the start interesting !)
Race started and me and Conan set off at a decent pace and realised straight away from how many people we were passing that we should have probably been a bit further forward at the start.
I felt quite good once we got running and so took up the early pace setting for me and Conan but after a couple of km I was looking round to see where he was but was unable to see him but thought he must be just out of sight in my blind spot and would go sprinting by me at any second. Kept up a decent pace for the rest of the race and tried not to keep looking round too much and concentrate on my breathing.
Was a great day for a run, quite sunny but not too hot and just a little wind.
With 2 km's to go and still no sign of Conan the competitiveness kicked in and I started to race him as well as myself :E but still felt sure he was gonna go sprinting past me at any second with a big smile on his face after sitting back and cruising behind me.
1km to go and still no sign of him and my lungs are burning as I try and crank the pace up and give it my all.
With just a couple of hundred metres to go we enter the castle grounds where theres a really decent crowd lining the banks of the finishing straight cheering all the runners on who are at this point sprinting madly with the encourgament of the crowd.
I cross the line and miss seeing the finishing clock (as usual) but by my own watch estimate it was a 44-46mins run and rather surprisingly have also come first within our group of 8 friends that ran it this year which I was well chuffed with as I didnt expect to.
Went back down the finishing straight and cheered the rest of our team home along with everyone else and then we headed back to our house for some much deserved food and drinks.
Official time was a little slower than I expected (46mins) but I was very pleased that my knee's were ok during and afterwards and even sitting on a plane for 8 hours then a car for 3 hours later that day didnt seem to effect them badly .... so a nice little run later that week in the states in the hot weather and hills around York was the order of the day and very enjoyable.
Marching on with the training again now and determined to beat 43 mins this year but I will be building my mileage up slowly again now to avoid the knee problem I rather stupidly gave myself by pushing it too quickly previously.
And after all that waffle.... a few pics
http://www.ptechuk.com/personal/office/castle2005-1.jpg
http://www.ptechuk.com/personal/office/castle2005-2.jpg
http://www.ptechuk.com/personal/office/castle2005-3.jpg
http://www.ptechuk.com/personal/office/castle2005-4.jpg
http://www.ptechuk.com/personal/office/castle2005-5.jpg