On Sunday I had my first 10km race of the year - the Leigh Legacy 10km, an off road race that I'd entered out of necessity rather than feeling like I was capable of having a good run at this distance. My boyfriend had encouraged me to enter so I'd know where I was at over 10km - after all in 8 weeks I'm going to have to run 10km, then cycle, then run again, so I need to move towards longer races and build up my stamina as soon as possible. In the week before the race I was quite nervous about running the distance - I'd only managed one run longer than 10km since injury, and I was worried that it would be horrendous and painful and that I wouldn't be ready for it! With quite a bit of encouragement I'd entered with the aim of assessing my fitness over 10km and giving myself a marker to improve on.
I woke up feeling super keen and couldn't wait to run! It was pouring with rain and with the course going round Pennington Flash it was going to be very muddy - perfect conditions for a Sunday run really!
In my enthusiasm to run I kind of forgot I'd been injured and struggling to run and just warmed up as normal. For the 5km's I've done I've been very aware that I'm coming back from injury and have only done short warm ups so that the total distance run that day doesn't go to high. On Sunday I forgot all about this and did a 15min jog to warm up, my normal stretching routine with hip mobility exercises to try and prevent the tightness I've had in my hip over the last few weeks, and then I even did some strides before bouncing around on the start line - I actually couldn't wait to race! All the races I've done this year I've not stretched beforehand, as I haven't been able to - so even the warm up was a huge improvement.
Lining up on the start line under the inflatable banner with music pumping all around I was very happy to be out in the rain on a Sunday morning. Chatting to another runner, Louise, who I recognised from a few 5kms I've done this Summer (she's won them all!) I found out that the course was quite hilly.
Good thing I was warned about this as it helped me pace my efforts up the hills and I was prepared for a tough race throughout!
I set off at a fairly easy pace, aiming to get round the whole course in one piece! With this being my first 10km I was unsure how I'd cope with trying to run hard over the distance and didn't want to over do it in the first 2km. After about 2.5km I was running along the canal and the gaps in front were getting quite big. I know how easy it can be to switch off when you find yourself in a big gap and I wanted to make this race as easy for myself as possible, so when a guy came past me, I took the decision to put a little bit more effort in and try and hang on to him. I picked up the pace slightly and then actually found the race easier as he was a great wind block and was gradually moving through the field picking off other runners! With every kilometre that passed I challenged myself to stay with him for another km, and another km, and I did so until we got to 8.5km when he started to move away. I tried to pick up the pace to go with him, but just didn't have it left in my legs and from that point I'm happy that I didn't drop my pace at all, but he speeded up quite a bit!
When I came back into Leigh Sports Village my boyfriend was excitedly jumping up and down (well, almost jumping up and down!) at how well I was doing and although I got out sprinted at the finish by a fast finishing man, I was over the moon to cross the line in 43.13! WAAAYYYY faster than I was expecting, and I felt great and finally like a proper runner again! And to top it all off, I came 3rd Lady and won a meal at the nearby Radisson restaurant!
After this I feel a lot more positive about my chances of getting fit in time for the World Duathlon Champs as it's a huge step in the right direction! If I find any photos of me running around in the pouring rain like a very happy but very drowned rat, I'll update later!
No comments:
Post a Comment