Always good to meet some of the challenges on Strava at the beginning of the month! 👍
I’d checked the weather forecast last night - cold (but not freezing) dry and sunny intervals. Perfect for running. No gremlins this morning, up, showered and out. Distance decided in advance and running to coach Bennett’s ‘Another 10K Run’.
I started off on the single track road parallel to the riverbank. It’s a great surface to run on and I know I’m starting too fast, but rather than keep checking my pace on my watch, I try to ‘feel’ it and just slow down. I check my watch at the end of the first kilometre and its 8:30. Yep, that’s a pretty good guess and that pace I know works well for me. I decide once again to allow my pace to ebb and flow, without focussing on it too much, so I can enjoy the run. I can hear the swans this morning, they are on the washes chatting to each other, but I can’t see any as there is a high bank between the road I’m running on and the washes. This is a Good Thing as it keeps the floodwater where it’s meant to be 😊.
I run back along the lane into the village and head out on the main road. No traffic at all, so very comfortable running. A few kilometres done and I’m warmed up, so increasing pace slightly. Coach Bennett doesn’t talk all the time, so that when he does, I’m more likely to listen rather than zoning out. I turn left onto my rural route and its looking lovely in the early morning sunshine. I can see an owl in the distance hunting along the ditches. I think it might be a short eared owl, just because I know they are seen around here occasionally. Barn owls are much more common. I pass the field with the horses in, but they are right over the other side of the field this morning.
I come out onto the other main road that leads back into the village. I realise that I’m going to have to turn up the Deadend Track to add at least a kilometre to my run. I’m starting the 9th kilometre now, and Coach Bennett wants me to slow down. Slow down? Is he mad? OK I will (sometimes I don’t follow his instructions and feel like a rebel 😊.) Then he wants me to slow down some more and again I comply. This turns out to be another Good Thing as when I start the last kilometre, I feel like I’ve had a bit of a break, so I’m able to step it out a bit! I feel like I’m flying back along the Deadend Track, and finish strong. I hadn’t quite intended that last km to be such a workout, but coach knows best 😂.
I walk back home invigorated and get the kettle on for coffee before I do my stretches!
Splits were ebbing and flowing, the slowest being the first kilometre at 8:30 and the fastest the last kilometre at 6:57. Oh yesss! 🏃♀️🏃♀️🏃♀️🏃♀️
Written by
Jools2020
Graduate10
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Congrats on first 2021 run of 10K . Looks like a good day for the first one of the year 😊Always interested to hear your ‘feel’ of how the run is going , helpful to someone looking ahead to the possibility of a 10K and thinking 😱😂
Great descriptive account too, would love to hear or see swans on my run , but I’m grateful I’m in an area of Oystercatchers, Herons , seals and Dolphins 🐬
Thank you! I’m sure it won’t be too long before you run that 10K. You approach your runs in the same way that I do. All you have to do is push on when you feel ready - take it slowly. For 10K I just increased the time I spent running - first to 75 minutes for a couple of runs, then to 90 minutes, although I did run on for a few more minutes to get the 10K!
What a way to see in the New Year with a wonderful 10k run! I see your competitive spirit hasn't diminished over the festive break with your Strava Challenges! 😁
I love seeing short-eared owls - we usually get a few down here on the coast each winter. They're beautiful birds - so graceful.
A good run. Do you bring along a snorkel just in case? 😉
No swans around here at the moment. Plenty of white geese, Canada geese and mallards. There used to be a pair on a large pond in one of the "cloughs" (wooded valleys) round here, but the local yobs destroyed their nest.
Haha, no, the floodwater stays where it was designed to stay as part of the drainage of the fens. Everywhere else is fine! We have about 4,000 Whooper Swans here right now, until they go back home to Iceland around March time.
Blimey, that pace on your last km 🥵 i guess that shows you judged it just right! Your route sounds such a nice place to run, i went under the m25 twice, on mine today! 🤣 i bet that coffee tasted even better, after a run like that! ☺
Thanks - I was pleased with that pace at the end of a 10K run, I’m not usually that fast! 😊 It’s lovely here and flat. Coffee tasted particularly good! (So did the slice of Christmas cake) 👍
What a great start to the year for you. Well done. Just looking at your photo and wondering what a depth gauge looks like and if local cars come with them fitted. 😂 😅
That sign is rubbish 😂. The depth gauges were just marked pieces of wood in the ground. They were notoriously unreliable and no longer exist (in fact I have one in my shed). we now have flashing displays all around the area showing the depth. Some locals have the snorkel attachment to their landrovers and many have kayaks 😊. It’s not illegal to drive through, but if you get stuck your insurance is invalidated.
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week3run1 ✅. 3 x 17 mins with 1 min walks. 
