Its happened folks

Today the planets aligned and I finally completed my first ever 10k 🎺

I had a feeling last night it was going to happen so prepared accordingly. Following my recent spat with Gerald I decided to use the Garmin technology to help me so I prepared a 10k route and taking IannodaTruffe pace calculator figured out how to program this into my watch.

Without doubt, that pacer was the single most important factor in getting me to the end otherwise I would have been way too fast and out of it half way through.

It was my usual uphill first 3k and doing a self check I found my left buttock was really quite sore for some reason. No idea why!! Also I think my new buff has shrunk in the tumbledryer as it was tight on my throat which I had to remedy by turning it into a headband.

Onwards I went and now on unfamiliar territory. I went over the M54 to get to 5k and another self check revealed a painful right ankle, right knee and both hips. Jeeez, what's going on im falling apart!

At this point my mentality became "if this is the last run I ever do then I'm getting to 10k"

Onwards and over the M6 we go, past the new cemetery and then, joy of all joys, a nice long downhill. Yayyyyy!

At the bottom I just had to deviate to the circular pool trail where I took my first ever C25k steps. In my mind, today was going to be just as momentus and off I went on the trail where I remembered struggling to get my 60 second runs in.

The irony of me driving here (about 2k) to run my 60 second intervals and now running 7k to get here made me smile. I retraced my feelings of breathlessness, despair and joy and by the time I exited a quick glance at my watch revealed I was just 1 minute away from my 60min graduation badge and just over a km from my 10k.

The last km I was expecting to be joyous with trumpets and cheering. It was in fact the hardest km I had ever ran. My body was hurting.

I walked home excited to tell my wife who just immediately launched into telling off mode as she had no idea I would be gone over an hour and thought I may have had another heart attack or something.

Anyhow, stretches done, cup of tea and a whole packet of chocolate hobnobs consumed. I'm really aching now 😀😀

Happy running all.

[Instructor57 Graduate10]

Well done on that first 10k 👏👏👏It's a great distance to run !

Only problem is that after a full packet of chocolate hobnobs you'll probably need to run a few more just to maintain weight 🤣

P.S Don't forget to claim your 10k badge 😁

[Hidden in reply to Instructor57]

Thank you sir.

It may take a while to recover but I will certainly do it again.

PS where do I get my badge thingy?

[Instructor57 Graduate10 in reply to Hidden]

I thought you might ask that .Here is the link

healthunlocked.com/bridgeto...

ATM I notice it's still the October badge post but if you go to the link and ask our one and only damienair ,

I'm sure he will find one for you 😁👍

[damienair Administrator in reply to Hidden]

Sorry Alan. I’ll put up a post for November badges. I’ll give you yours now. Congratulations.

[Hidden in reply to damienair]

Yay 🙌

[AlMorr Ambassador Graduate10]

Congratulations on completing your first 10K, well done, to get your graduation badge and the word GRADUATE10 next to your username leave a message in the pinned posts on the right side of the healthunlocked October Graduate10 homepage, I hope you enjoyed those chocolate hobnobs, you certainly deserved them.

[IannodaTruffe Graduate10]

You first 10k is a great achievement. Congratulations.

Always was my favourite distance, but haven't managed it for a while.

Keep moving tomorrow to avoid seizing up. It will soon be second nature.

Keep running, keep smiling.

[Ian5K Graduate10]

Well done, Alan! May it be the first of many. 🙂

Is your watch compatible with garmin pacepro? Mine isn’t unfortunately but it looks a neat way of determining pace for different hill gradients as you run them. You have to give it the mapped route first, of course.

[Hidden in reply to Ian5K]

Thank you Ian.I've seen pacepro on the watch but don't have a Scooby what it is or does 🤣🤣🤣

At the moment my first priority is to just get to the end of a run 😀😀😀

[Ian5K Graduate10 in reply to Hidden]

Yes, it’s for hilly trail racers mainly but I stumbled across a video demonstration last night - and I’m a sucker for that kind of thing. 😁

Your wife and mine could compare stories. One time I decided on a 10k in the middle and of a run, forgetting I’d told her I’d be about half an hour. She came looking for me in the car, thinking I’d be roadkill. 🤣

[Hidden in reply to Ian5K]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Yes, I had a full 5 minutes of wrath before the "well done" came out 🤣🤣

I bet you had it worse though with a search party looking for you 😀

[Ian5K Graduate10 in reply to Hidden]

I learnt my lesson. Now I give her the Captain Oates line.“I’m just going out and I may be some time…”

[Hidden in reply to Ian5K]

🤣🤣🤣🤣😍😍😍

[Hidden in reply to Ian5K]

Oh Ian5K , what have you done to me?I've looked at that pacepro and put my course in and its calculated pace based on the course and gradients.

It looks fabulous.

But I'm still annoyed with Gerald, especially as he announced another "unproductive" for my 10k.

Pah! 🤣🤣🤣

[Woollyweaver Graduate10]

Brilliant, well done 👏🎊 and a great time too! Hope that pack of hobnobs didn't add belly ache to your list of niggles 😲😅? Enjoy a well deserved rest!

[Hidden in reply to Woollyweaver]

Thank you. I'm just lazing in front of fire now "recovering" so as not to do any assigned jobs from my wife 🙃

[Frizzbomb67 Graduate10]

Congratulations 🥳👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 🥇 That’s a long run!

The longer distances certainly find the ‘achy’ bits too.

Rest and wallow in the glory for a couple of days.

[Hidden in reply to Frizzbomb67]

Oh yes indeedy. I fully intend to 😀

[nowster Graduate10]

So you're not the only one to get an earful from your significant other for running further than you originally said you would? 🤣

Well done! 🏆

For reference, my first ever 10km run (7 Feb) was slower than yours: 1:09:40. I'd also told Herself that I was only going to do 9km that day and got grief for doing more.

[Hidden in reply to nowster]

Thank you nowster. Although I have no intentions of getting up to your speeds. You make me shattered just reading your splits 😀

[GailXrunning]

Congratulations, Hidden !! ✨⭐️🌟⭐️✨ Always knew you’d get there when the time was right and the stars aligned. And today was it. Well done. Here’s to many more 10ks! Loved your focus on carefully pacing yourself, btw… and the body scans (May those aches and twinges soon subside.)

[Hidden in reply to GailXrunning]

Thank you Gail.

I do like to do body scans throughout the run mainly as a distraction 🤣🤣🤣

I also like to do form checks and find this useful as I often end up running like Mr Bean and need to correct myself 😀

[GailXrunning in reply to Hidden]

Coach Bennett would be very proud of you!

[Sunnytom Graduate10]

👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼Well done you x

[Frenc Graduate10 60minGraduate]

Brilliant Alan, well done! I bet those hobnobs tasted pretty good 😊. And running to where you used to drive is definitely worth a smile 😃. Hurrah! ⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Hidden in reply to Frenc]

They were absolutely gorgeous

[tmbtrain Graduate10]

🙂👏 congrats on the 10k! Great run report. I had a smile at you remembering driving to the place you now run to as well 😄 . Fab journey!

[Hidden in reply to tmbtrain]

Thank you. It was really good revisiting and thinking about how far I have come in 7 months. Amazing.

[RunBrianRun Graduate10]

Brilliant! Well done Alan. 👏👏👏👍😀 That’s a massive achievement.

I remember my first 10k so well, coming in at 1 hour 16 on a treadmill only 2 years ago. It’s amazing how our bodies can strengthen and adapt to the demands we make of it.

Take it easy and I hope the recovery goes well. Going by what you have written I would suggest a minimum of two days rest. 👍

[Hidden in reply to RunBrianRun]

Thank you Brian.

I suspect I will rest up now until Parkrun on Saturday. A few light walks to loosen things up I think is in order.

My body is complaining at the moment - but I feel on top of the world.

[CBDB Graduate10]

Huuuuge congrats!!! Woohoo 🙌 🥳 🎉

Well run! I’m still waiting for the time the 10k distance feels normal, so I’m also just at the start of exploring this distance!

Here’s to loads of future 10k exploratory runs!

[Hidden in reply to CBDB]

Thank you. The feeling of it being normal i think is some way off for me 🤣.

It feels like a great achievement though and now I know I can do it. Woooo !

[ForbiddenPlanet Graduate10]

Congrats - for a first 10K that's blummin' marvellous. Mine was a 1:12:42 in December 2019. (Though I am superannuated 👴 😂). You're killing it, as ever. 👏

[Hidden in reply to ForbiddenPlanet]

Thank you. I think it nearly killed me. That last km was tough but looking back I'm so pleased I didn't stop with .75k to go. I would have been sooo disappointed.

[StoneDragon]

Congrats Alan - in my mind that’s quite a pace for 10k. Amazing achievement- you deserve to celebrate with a cheeky hobnob or five 💪👏

[Hidden in reply to StoneDragon]

Thank you. Hobnobs and beer. Yikes!! Good job I'm resting tomorrow.

[Dexy5 Graduate10]

Very well done on your first 10k Alan99, that’s definitely something to be proud of.

Garmin has a feature where you can share your location with your wife if this is going to be a habit (it will) 🤣🤣

[Hidden in reply to Dexy5]

I usually try and hide from her 😅 Thats great information. Thank you. I will take a look

[PandaCory Graduate10]

Congratulations - it's a great feeling, isn't it? I celebrated my first with a black pudding supper, so I understand how us top athletes need to refuel afterwards 😁😁. I haven't done one for a while, but I'm feeling the need to get there again. Well done 🥳🎉🏅.

[Hidden in reply to PandaCory]

Thank you. You are certainly right. Us top athletes need our fuel 🤣🤣🤣

[Hidden]

The first, but probably not the last. Once I reached 10K, I knew I wanted to do it more often. It is now my weekend run, 10K or more.

[Fionamags Graduate10]

Fantastic - well done! 10k is just magic, isn't it? 🥂🎊🎉🥳🥇🏆

[Hidden in reply to Fionamags]

Thank you. It most certainly is although I'm still aching this morning. Well worth it though.

[Fionamags Graduate10 in reply to Hidden]

There's something about that distance that takes a toll on the body. I had to deal with some annoying niggles after it. Still working back up to it. So take care.

[Meanmommab Graduate10]

Well done! 👏The feeling of achievement will last a lot longer than the aches and pains. Here's to the next target!🎯

[Hidden in reply to Meanmommab]

Thank you. My goal was to get to 10k by the end of the year. Having got very stressed by trying to do a "program" to get there i just decided to do my own thing and run at what felt comfortable for my own bones lol.

[Meanmommab Graduate10 in reply to Hidden]

I only run once a week usually but did exactly the same and broke the 10% rule in the process! I have currently achieved a pb of 11.75k and still increasing the distance. Happy running!🏃‍♂️

[SkiMonday Graduate10 in reply to Hidden]

Likewise, I found that 2 or 3 easy runs along with a steadily increasing long run did the trick. I had a cutback week every other week which is over cautious but I think that routine built up a good solid base.

I have followed a training plan and found that it made a big improvement to my pace but, by the time I started it, I already had the distance.

[swissfish Graduate10]

Well done Alan - a big milestone (or kilometre stone?)And you deserved the hobnobs!

[Hidden in reply to swissfish]

Thank you. It is certainly a great kilometre stone.

Why is it that Brits measure distances in imperial (its 3 miles away) but then run in kilometers 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[BS44 in reply to Hidden]

My treadmill is in miles, my Fitbit is set to kilometres but if I check my Fitbit to see how far I’ve run I have to google it back to miles 🤣🤣

[Hidden in reply to BS44]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[Mudita11 Graduate10]

Well done! It’s a great feeling isn’t it? Did my first 10k last week and still buzzing. Your time is lot faster than mine but I’m working on it 😃

[Hidden in reply to Mudita11]

Fantastic. Well done to you too 👏

[Sulley101 Graduate10]

Lovely write up! Congratulations! 🥳🎉🥳🌟👏 😁

[Hidden in reply to Sulley101]

Thank you 👍

[SkiMonday Graduate10]

Congrats on achieving 10K!

Any plans for what’s next?

[Hidden in reply to SkiMonday]

First thing is recovery and a parkrun Saturday (hopefully). More medium term im thinking of consolidating at 10k maybe every two weeks.

In a strange way, I actually really enjoyed this distance more than a 5k. Maybe because it is a slower pace.

[SkiMonday Graduate10 in reply to Hidden]

Sounds good.

I think the standard approach when building distance is to have a cutback week once a month. I suppose a cutback every other week means that you build more slowly but, apart from that, I think it’s a good approach.

I’ve found that easy paced runs can be really enjoyable. I’ve done some ParkRuns at a deliberately easy pace and it feels surprisingly powerful compared to pushing the pace (says he, having run at ParkRun a grand total of 4 times!)

[Hidden in reply to SkiMonday]

Yes, that is my intention on Saturday although I fear I will end up a quivering jelly of exhaustion at the finish line - as usual 😀

[SkiMonday Graduate10 in reply to Hidden]

🤣🤣🤣 book a race for the following day; that provides a great incentive to reign it in at ParkRun.

[Druanna]

Well done!

[Hidden]

Thank you Druanna and congratulations to you too for your achievement. Yay.

[Chesterlove Graduate10]

Well done! What is IannodaTruffe’s pace calculator?

[Hidden in reply to Chesterlove]

It is a link he puts out where it tells you your training easy pace, tempo pace, race pace, long run pace etc.

Its not actually

IannodaTruffe But a link he shares the link to i think Runners World pace calculator.

runnersworld.com/uk/trainin...

[Chesterlove Graduate10 in reply to Hidden]

Thanks

[acountrycabbage 60minGraduate]

I hope every single hob-nob tasted victorious. Congrats on your 10K! 🥳👏🏼