So I’m just back from a week’s glamping in the lakes which has been fun(!) No running, just resting after the York 10k.
Rest I needed. I did it in 49.59 so an official PB but I did the abbey dash in 48.51 in 2012 so it’s not quite the fastest.
I started well and had the belief I’d do it in 47/48 mins. It was great chatting to a lovely fella on the start line and doing the warmup with the crowd. I love that bit of the race when anything is possible. Here’s what happened….
7.57
7.59
8.08
8.11
8.32
8.03
Last 200m 7.13 mile pace
I totally lost it on mile 5. I had no energy left inside and I started to feel a bit weary with pins and needles in my legs. I was gutted as I’ve always done a split negative in races so it was new ground for me. There is nothing more frustrating than having no energy inside. I was not out of breath or anything just weak. I literally couldn’t power up and just thought no way will I get sub 50 I’ve lost it. Then I looked at my watch at about 5.5 miles and thought if I sprint now I might be able to just nip under 50. I found energy from somewhere to give it my absolute all. I cried when I crossed the line and saw the time. I couldn’t believe it. You can see my surprise on this pic I got emailed.
I know I can run much faster but I clearly wasn’t match fit after the tonsillitis. I finished the antibiotics the Thursday before and was still feeling a bit jaded. I was impressed I pulled it off to be honest.
It’s a great race, well organsied and a flat route. Leave plenty of time before the race though as I spent near an hour queuing to park at the racecourse.
So I’m at the hospital this month to hopefully get the go ahead to whip these tonsils out. After that I’m going to book a half marathon, probably for next year then hopefully a marathon. I’m thinking about the Bradford 10k next month and then there’s the Abbey Dash in November. I’ve been reading Born to Run and I’m really interested in barefoot running so proper looking into that this month too. I’ll post what I find. I did a little barefoot running today and it felt good. Apparently you’re meant to do it once a week. I might get some vibrams, who knows.
So here’s to a recovery month with some barefoot drills and lots of hills. Will let you know how I get on.
Competitive moi? 