Well, I only went and did it! I had already decided to do this run today. The weather was set to be reasonable, I had been careful not to overdo it with my runs this week, the time was now!
I didn’t expect to feel nervous. I was running on my own, for goodness sake! Maybe it was a bit of excitement, too. This was the first real ‘event’ I was running in. I hadn’t expected it to be a virtual event - my original dream was to do a Park Run; but here I was, setting out to do a 10K instead.
I had fixed my number onto my long sleeved T-shirt with magnets and that worked really well. Decided not to wear my lightweight running jacket, I knew I would soon warm up. Still wearing shorts and, of course, one of my trusty sun visors! Chest torch fixed on, it doesn’t bother me and I needed it for the first couple of kilometres.
No plans for a PB today, I did that last week. I wanted to be sure of finishing. I even dispensed with the idea of negative splits, but often my runs to tend to turn out like that if I’m running well, it’s seems to be how my body copes with the run.
Off I went and settled into a reasonable, but not too slow, pace. I did check my watch throughout the run as I didn’t want to be pushing myself too hard for the first half. I was checking my heart rate rather than my pace as it does give me an idea of the effort.
5K done and I noticed the time was faster than my very first 5K attempt, which left me doubled over with exhaustion! It made me realise how much my stamina had improved in just a couple of months. Carrying on, I had a sense that my pace was increasing over the run. I had some of my Tailwind drink at about 8K. I was getting tired and do like to speed up a bit at the end. On this run, my last km was not the fastest, but runs don’t always go the way you hope! I was pretty darned tired for that last kilometre, but all in all I was very pleased and proud that I completed this run. I would never have believed when I started the Couch to 5K programme in May that I would be writing a report of a 10K race!
Now I’m going to enjoy my bowl of porridge, the Breakfast of Champions! 🥣
Well done Jools! Brilliant run and you certainly deserve your porridge! Now you just need to wait for your bling to arrive. 🏅 😍 I’m running the VV10000 tomorrow and the bling is already calling my name!
Well done for completing your first event, albeit on your own. This is fantastic and you have really speeded up since your first 10k! Really well done and you look very proud, as you should do!
Thank you 🙏. Yes, I am very proud! My time was only just over a minute slower than my PB last week, so very satisfied with that - and I enjoyed the run, too - apart from that last kilometre, oh boy, that was tough!
Woohoo 🤸♀️🎉👏👏👏 very well done, Jools! That's absolutely amazing and great splits too, especially for 10k 🎖️💪🙌🙌 hope you've enjoyed your porridge like a true champ 🥣
I think I'm going to have to wait until next weekend for my vv10000 run, hope it goes as well as yours did today! 🤞🤞
Wow congratulations !! And you still have time to do it again befor 1st November !! 😂 seriously, I was aiming for 1st nov myself but according to magic plan tomorrow should be my 1st 10K - so I’m going to stick my bib on tomorrow and see what happens ! Well done again !
Thank you!! I’m not doing it again 😂. I was only a minute or so outside my PB, but I knew that if it had been a disaster, I would be able to try again 😀. Good luck with yours 🤞
Thank you! Very pleased and proud, and happy with those splits. I remember you are doing yours to coincide with your Magic Plan graduation run! Good idea! 👍
Congratulations on your Virtual Vitality London10,000. Enjoy your breakfast and now you just need to sit and wait for your tshirt and bling to drop through your letterbox👏👏💪💪🏃♀️🏅🏅
Absolutely bloody fantastic- well done Jools2020!! So pleased for you 🙂🙌🏻 I hope to be able to join you on the first 10k/first ever event next weekend (although I won’t be able to match that impressive time). Congratulations 🥇
Thank you! I was pleased with my time, because it was only about a minute slower than my PB. Fast for me! I’m a slow runner and got to 10K by extending my slow runs. I came to realise that speed for me is less important than endurance. I hope your first 10K goes well and you enjoy running in the vv10,000! Good luck 👍
You look very happy in that photograph Jools2020, congratulations on completing your Vitality 10,000, well done 😀 🏃🏾, I hope you enjoyed your porridge, your bling won't be long before it comes.
Thank you, Almorr. Very happy with that run! Porridge was delicious, it’s the perfect post run food for me. I might have a bit of a wait for the bling! 😀
Thank you! The splits that I gave at the bottom of my post, were my pace times for each kilometre. Each split is given in how many minutes it took me to run each kilometre. If you hear someone talking about ‘negative splits’ it just means that you run the second half of the race faster than the first. I like running like this as it gives me control and the run is more comfortable. The drink I had is a powder called Tailwind that you add water to. It replaces electrolytes and gives you a bit of a boost when you’re getting tired, You can also buy sports drinks, but I don’t like the taste of the ones I tried, and Tailwind tastes quite mild. 😀👍
Thank you, Sandraj 😀! We have plenty of muddy trails round here. I think I can safely say I’m not ready for them yet 😂. Very happy with that run. I’m not fast - I don’t mind that, but I gave a good account of myself today with the time being only a minute longer than my PB and those splits, of course. I hadn’t realised how neat and tidy they would look 😂
I have been on a great journey, you’re right, and seem to be happy with a mixture of learning from others on here and doing my own thing! Definitely in it for the long haul. 😀. Good luck with your Vitality 10,000 run 🤞
Thank you! Yes, we already have a howling wind across the fens. Glad I went early. Time already submitted! 😀 Probably won’t see anything before the middle of November, though.
Thank you ! 😊 Strangely, no. The opposite. 😀. It means the second half of the run is faster than the first half, but I like to see all the kilometres with a slightly faster time than the previous one! It makes the run much more comfortable to do it like this.
Thank you, it was the last kilometre that was hard, the rest was fine. It feels great. I tried not to put myself under pressure! Yes, I want the bling!
Now I can get back to my original plan to push on to a HM. This was a diversion 😀😀😀
That’s a fab time for a 10k lady!... so not only do you complete the vitality 1k but you also collect your strava virtual 10k trophy ( I have serious trophy envy)
Seriously tho well done!.... 👏👏👏
And if that photo was taken after that!?? Well you look like you comfortably completed 💕
Yes, photo taken in my drive, I’d just finished! Comfortable apart from the last km 😀. Looking forward to my bling 😀. Running makes me really hungry, hopefully managed to put on a couple of pounds today 😂
Ah many Congratulations, 👏👏👏that is fantastic. Massive Well Done to you amazing lady🏅🏅🏅Love your picture you look so happy. Great to see the talked about sun visor and chest torch!!
That is so fantastic that your first event was 10k you must be feeling so proud of all you have achieved. I hope you enjoyed your porridge champion runner🏆🏆🏆
I am proud of what I have achieved! From struggling to run for a minute in May, I now regularly run for 10K and enjoy that distance; so when this race came up, I was confident it was within my grasp!
Porridge is my favourite post run food! Chest torch was useful for the first couple of km when it was getting light, sun visor in case of low sun or rain. Today it was low sun, glad I wore it!
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I did the triple-Bennett! 
Does it matter "how" we run???
