Hello fellow runners!
It's been a while since I posted on here, but I wanted to share my latest 10k run with you lovely people. Most of my runs are between 6k and 7k, having to be fitted in to a busy day running the kids about and getting to work etc. I usually manage 2 or 3 runs a week and I try to run at least one 10k a month.
I joined the "sassy-for-september-new-quest" that ju-ju- posted on here and set myself a goal to run 10k in under 50 minutes in September. My previous best was 54 minutes, so I thought I'd maybe try running three 10k runs this month to gradually improve on that PR.
Our resident coach is on holiday, so I decided today was the perfect opportunity to fit a sneaky 10k in at lunchtime. With a lack of fellow lunch run club members I set off by myself. The first 2km took me into the heart of Leagrave with the traffic drowning out my Strava app (I don't use earphones anymore), so I had no idea what pace I was doing. All felt good so I continued at the same kind of pace with the short quick strides we usually use for the warm-up km. The next few kms just rolled by with me taking in my surroundings and having total recall on my dream from last night, which for some reason featured our very own Hidden , and before I knew it I was on the Northern outskirts of Luton with 6.5km being announced on my phone. A quick mental calculation made me realise I was well within the 5 mins per km I needed to do to break the 50 minute barrier, and I ran the 7th km in under 5 mins.
Then I hit the wall. I had to negotiate 2 long uphill stretches on narrow tracks and the 8th km was a real struggle. I had another steep hill to negotiate and I got to the point where I was contemplating giving up. Then I had a vision of Ju-Ju shouting at me to pull my socks up, stop being a pansy and get on with it. The last km was dealt with in well under 5 mins (aided by a long downhill section) and at the 10km announcement I slowed to a walk and stopped Strava. I was pretty sure I had finished in under 50 minutes, and was very happy to see the final result once connected to Wi-Fi. I am now enjoying that post run buzz that we all know so well.
To anyone on here that hasn't done a 10k yet I'm telling you that you can do it. When I graduated c25k last January, running 10k seemed an impossible task for me. I recall running my first 10k a few weeks later in just under 60 minutes and feeling elated. A few months later and I've knocked 12 minutes off that time. It really is amazing what you can do, and the support and encouragement from the wonderful community we have on here is a huge help. Happy running to you all.
Pre Ju-Ju- Sept Magic 10K Plan - Advice Needed ...
Second 10k!
10K this morning at last
