Well a couple of weekends ago I smashed my 10k PB! I took to the Where’s Wally?! 10k in Victoria Park and came home in a time of 43:30. Shaving about 3 minutes off my old british 10k time. The years only just started but it’s good so far! All whilst dressed like this!
It started off with about 7 or 8 of us in the group with Mark (of 2nd Drop Records) leading it, the Elite nutter! In the first few minutes I remember turning to Atticus and saying, “Why do I get the feeling that I’m going to regret this soon?!”. Mark said it was alright for us to slow down and join another group if the pace was too fast and we did that in due time.
I was running, focusing on the task at hand you know…running at a fast pace and in the zone with Mark, Shameek and Mike in my sights, determined to catch them! What followed were some of the fastest splits I’ve ever done, from 2.5mi to 3.5mi in the run I was averaging a 6:30/mi pace and from 3.5mi onwards it was at a sub 7 minute pace, very pleased with that!
The large group that kicked the second half off was now a lot smaller. What was 15 was now 8. What was 8 quickly changed to 3’s. What were 3’s changed to a 3 and a 2 with 1 dropping off. And towards the very end what was a pair was now a sole runner.
For a brief moment I caught up to Mark and Co. and they quickly left me! My breathing was heavy but I needed to push on, how else was I going to get home?! Hilary then caught pace with me and set the standards for the rest of the run! It’s a lot better running alongside someone then when by yourself, you can motivate and push each other on. For the last half-mile of the race I was in la-la land, there were endless canal tunnels that confused me, I forgot where I was and Mark and Co. were. They were so far in front of me and Hilary we couldn’t see them, so we just ran on. Passing all the strangers I had waved too before but I was serious now! No talking! No faffing! No waving! I don’t know why I was so serious, I just was, I was pushing myself.
…Remember how I said there were endless canal tunnels? Well guess what, I was at the last one now! Huzzah! I can see Mark, Mike and Shameek there waiting for us, I was so happy at that moment, it was Forrest Gump time. Time to forget and fly! I upped the speed for a sprint finish just so the whole run could be over that little bit quicker! Slapped / shook hands with the Elites and cheered on Hilary for the final stretch! (She was only about 2.5 seconds behind).
Wow, it was over. What a run that turned out to be. I was dedicated to the cause and put in some good mileage and some record splits for myself! After that we moved on to mingle and have Tom take photo’s of us! I think after each session we’re all going to get a little closer, know more about each other. We cheered each other on at the beginning and at the end.
And there you have it, my first RDC Youngers experience.
We were all geared up, running shoes, shorts and t-shirts (some sports bra’s I guess too for the ladies) all round, ready for what was approaching. A run from Mile End running track to the Olympic stadium and back! It took us along the canal, next to the park and finally in sight of Londons main attraction for next year.
My RunKeeper has the run coming in at 4.6 miles. All of our brilliant gps gadgets at the crew gave us a range of either over or under 5 miles. So for my sake I’ll just stick to my skewed tracking!
So we set off…running the canals to our destination, around 18 of us in total I think. Sticking together at a reasonable distance and having small conversations as well as shouting, “BIKE” when necessary! That was fun…me being me I was waving to strangers and saying hello, trust me it makes it a lot easier to do that when people are staring at you when you run! And running with RDC that’s happened each time, it’s not everyday you see a big group of runners like that. As we ran I wanted give Bridget advice when we were running because I wish I had some sort of advice when I started this journey. She’s starting out now but she’ll have finished a half-marathon a few months, ah I’m so excited about it all!
Nearly half way now and some interesting conversations have cropped up. Ruth and Linda are getting to know us all whilst Mark is telling a few of us about why we ‘made the cut’ and something all of us share, he so eloquently put that something as us having, “get off your arse-ness” which is always good to know!
We eventually turn off the canals and hit the bridges to the Olympic Stadium Site! The area is agonisingly close to my house, I won’t lie I was thinking about how easy it would be to go home from where we were! But I knew that was never going to happen, we were only half way of course. I was good spirits, still breathing well and I had plenty in the tank, I wasn’t quite ready for what was to follow though. We split into 3 different groups for the run back, i’ll say the groups were Greyhounds, Hares and Tortoises. I went with the Greyhounds, because I was in good spirits of course…
Part 3 up tomorrow.
It was a great 2 hours. I saw the same faces around me, the same ones sitting with me last Thursday at Nike’s HQ…But this time, we were all dressed very different because we were here to RUN!
We all met up by the conventional means. Some people rode in, others walked / ran, me and my friend hidden-agenda’s drove in. I think most of the RDC Youngers actually got train, met there and walked up, so when I saw Charlie in the car park I think he was ever so slightly annoyed with me! “We were waiting for you” he says…So here we all are, RDC Youngers, Run Dem Crew regulars and some new faces, we all introduced ourselves in due time.
On to the warm up, 98 seconds of running on the spot, a RDC record thanks to Shameek and then the shaking of arms and legs, getting lose and getting ready. Finishing up with claps all round and group forming!
Tortoises, Hares, Greyhounds, Cheetahs and Elites all grouped up and got ready to run off! But wait! The RDC Youngers stayed behind…
Part 2 up tomorrow.
Well I did my 10k on Sunday, it went great! I knocked 4 seconds off my old PB so I’m really happy with that, I no longer have that thought of not being as, “fit” as I used to be.
The official race times had me coming in a minute quicker than what I noted on my stopwatch but I know there was no way I started my stopwatch that late. Out of all the 187 runners I came 55th! I was nearly 54th but I couldn’t catch the guy in front of me at the finish line in time, I beat my old time and did the distance, that’s what matters :).
For those of you asking, yes all two of you, here’s my time on my watch:
On to the race though…
It started off well enough, some guys shot off through victoria park and were nowhere to be seen afterwards (the guy that finished first did it in 33 mins!). I tried to keep it fast but steady and focused on running freely.
For the first half of the race I did ok, the weather wasn’t too bad and my hayfever hadn’t really started to get to me yet, my breathing was controlled and I was keeping pace with 3 guys next to me. So here we are, just past the 5k mark, past the point of no return so what does that mean? We up the pace!
The pack of four split up into duo’s and me and a man probably 20 years my senior ran together for the next 2k. He then pulled ahead of me until about 1.5k later where I managed to catch up to him, he looked at me and said, “now it’s your turn to help me!” we both laughed.
This was it, we were coming up to crunch time now, the 9k marker was in my sights, I knew I only had a few minutes to run it to come within touching distance of my PB. So I just went all out, trying to remember the track from memory so I could anticipate all the turns and straights. Most of the volunteers and family / friends of others had left their posts and made their way home now, guessing a lot of them were there for the 5k that kicked off before the 10k! I just kept on sprinting and making sure I was breathing properly…I say properly but towards the end I just had my mouth wide open trying my best to take in air! haha.
Before I knew it I could see the finish line, I kept on saying to myself, “don’t worry about the pain now, that’s all for tomorrow” and just trying to beat that pesky PB I set last year! Each step knocked air out of me but I didn’t care and I sprinted past that finish line with a smile on my face knowing I did myself some good.
My official time has me at 46:44 (it’s the 44 secs that’s important there) so I gathered that their times must’ve been a minute faster than ours, I can believe I lost 2 seconds starting and stopping my watch, but not a whole minute! So that’s it, another race and another PB, oh and lots of sweat!
Until next time fitblr’s :)
I’ll be honest, I’m nervous and excited at the same time. I know I can run the distance well but will I hit my PB? If the experience from last year is anything to go by then I know I’ll be running on willpower and adrenaline too! I’m fit and ready for this so I guess it’s normal to be worried before any sort of event right?
On another note, I cleared out my wardrobe today, had to say goodbye to a lot of clothes that simply don’t fit me anymore. More on that later though, check the blog out tomorrow and I’ll talk about how the 10k went :).
I’m £20 off my target for fundraising too, if I could reach my target that would be awesome too!
Have a nice evening everyone.
