Pretty good week – not in terms of run quantity but a lot of quality.
- Tuesday: 5K
- Wednesday: 7K
- Thursday, Friday, Saturday: Rest days (maybe one too many…)
- Sunday: Water of Life 10K.
- Total: 22Ks this week (13 miles total).
Possibly a bit too much of a ramp up in the course of one week – but pleased with the achievements nonetheless. Wednesday was an interesting one – I had one of those epiphany moments after setting off at 0630 and running with a headtorch for the first 30 mins or so then realising at about 5Ks that I was REALLY in the zone, that all was working well and that I could well go on for a good while longer. Time was my enemy here as I had to get off to work but I hope to have many more of those.
Then, today, the Water Of Life 10K.
Really awesome location at the England Football training ground, Bisham Abbey, hugging the really nice part of the Thames that I used to canoe in as a kid, between Hurley, Bisham and close to Marlow. Excellent organisation by Purple Patch Running (also a client of ours) with well appointed, well organised facilities such as bag drops, toilets and refreshments. And we could not have wished for better weather, being cold and reasonably clear but oh-so-sunny. I also bumped into an old pal/client Nick Peperell who was doing the half marathon and was very inspirational how in the zone / prepared he was. I have a long way to go but it was good to chew the fat (he’s also pictured above and had an amazing half…well done Nick).
I had a reasonable run – this was the first 10K I had ever done, I mean ever, so to do it in race conditions was probably not the best idea. And to do it after spending a Saturday evening cooking and eating homemade pizza with the kids was probably not the most sensible thing either. Another reminder of the holistic nature of sport – if one thing is out of synch then the whole engine doesn’t run quite right. In any case, I finished – there were about 13 people behind me, about 250 in front of me. However my goal wasn’t for time or glory; this was all for practice.
The course was also new to me of course – a few gradients, a few over-river bridges to climb. Also slightly difficult mentally as the 10K course is shared with the half marathon and at various points it’s obvious that some of the best 13 mile guys are taking over me on my 6 mile course and will end up with a better time for 13 miles than I did for 6 miles. Hmm.
But all good and the kids and Angela were there waiting for me which was a massive boost. Plus Chris of Purple patch was calling in the finishers on the PA and I got a special announcement as ‘on of the guys who has been with us for the past 9 years’ along with a special high 5. Nice moment which I really appreciated.
Now for a rest of a day or so then back to the marathon training. More races to come between now and Christmas, watch this space.