Thanks everybody so much for your good wishes. Thinking about my virtual support party really kept me going. Well! ~ I did my usual five minute run, 45 seconds walk programme and it worked really well. I had my Garmin set to a 7.40 min per K pace which I thought was ambitious enough for a granny and it worked a charm. It kept saying I was on pace and even above pace and I kept giving little internal whoops. After the first 2K I decided to try and sprint for the last 30 seconds of each five minute run segment and it seemed to help keep me up to pace. It was such fun. Up until the last 3k when the sun came out and it suddenly became really really hot. I poured whole bottles of water over the back of my neck which helped , but by 8K I found my legs turning to jelly and I was no longer able to do the sprint bit at the end of the 5 minute segment. It was now really hard work and it was all I could do to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Didn't help when I was pushed aside by a person running inside a bright yellow pillar box fancy dress. I never had any doubt that I was going to finish but my Garmin kept saying 'behind pace' and I felt a bit despondent. And then suddenly people started dropping like flies all around me and I was passing people being given oxygen and loaded into ambulances and I thought. Come on. It could be worse, and decided I wasn't going to walk any more. Then there was music and loudspeakers and we saw the finish line and people with younger legs than me were invigorated and started sprinting past me, But it was okay. I was going to finish. And so did! I resisted the urge to collapse and carried on walking to collect my medal and goodie bag and then there were my lovely boys waiting to greet me. We got a kind passing lady to take a photo of the three of us in our 10K t-shirts and then we headed down to Leeds station for the best lager and lime of my life.
Still on a high. The results came in this afternoon and I finshed 6005th out of 10,000 runners. Of the 14 people in my age group, I was 6th. Garmin also said I shaved seven minutes off my PB 10 K time (though I I'm not sure I believe it. Son 1 finished 50th overall and son 2 was 141st. All in all quite a day!
Written by
turnturtle
Graduate
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
What a team , what a photo and what an amazing memory you will always have! So pleased for you. Today is the result of all the hard work you have done this year so be very proud of what you have achieved . huge congratulations
Wow!! TT you absolute star What a fantastic run report and photo to illustrate it. You must be soooooo proud of yourself and your boys. 6th in your age group is brilliant and to keep going in such very difficult conditions is amazing. Very very well done. Brilliant! Fantastic! Awesome! Sleep well, you've earned it!
Oh you are so kind. It feels really good to have my cheerleaders behind me. I was very conscious of you all when I was running and you really motivated me to do my best..
GREAT!! So pleased to see that you are using a run /walk strategy that works for you - and at a predetermined race pace !!! You will build from strength to strength after this -- last week I did an actual "race" of 8.3 klm using a similar run/walk strategy to you and finished tired but "easy". This strategy was 4min/1min run/walk at a 7:06 pace - then 3 days later, I did a 15 K training run using a 2/1 ratio which was the second last at this distance before my actual 4k race in early August. My previous longest training run had been 12 K - I did that run at 8:06 mins per K which is very close to what I want to do the actual run at. (Hoping to finish in under 2 hours) But the most important thing for me now just lies in the fact that I have actually completed these distances -- now you are in the same position and can only build from here !!
Thanks Bazza. I am really a run/walk convert. And as you say, you can build on it. A slightly different ratio maybe. I'm no longer self-conscious about getting pitying looks from other runners at 2K as I drop to a walk. I know I may well be seeing those pitying folk walking themselves at 8k. because they have run out of puff. But the best thing about my change of training methods is that I do think the cross-training and hillwork has made me stronger. You can actually see muscle definition on my thighs now. Not a pretty sight but impressive to me!
fantastic work Turnturtle! what a running family eh, they must be VERY proud of you!! A great photo! All you 10k ers today have inspired me to definitely sign up for October 10k in Bournemouth! great results too, hope you are having well deserved rest
Do it, do it aliboo!The support along the way is inspiring - it gives you a taste of being in the Olympics! Having a rest now watching Monty Python live! Perfect end to the day.
Wow lovely pic of the family and the boys must be so proud of mum. Well done for all the hard work put in to even be thee today. Amazing achievement and you are a true inspiration to us all. Chocked up a bit reading your post and looking at the pic.
Thanks Nellyharte. I suppose it has been quite hard work, but fun too.. And my boys not laughing at my late life conversion to exercise has helped considerably
Oh what a big grin you must have! Well done, what a great day for you and your boys. That is a wonderful photo, definitely one to keep on display. You are an inspiration and I am smiling for you.
What a brilliant run, and a lovely photo - and your strategy worked coping with the frankly ridiculous heat. That's an impressive overall placing, I'd be very happy with that. Also love the fact that you too are a chelonian TT....
Yay! Well done, TT! You, and your son's, did amazingly and I hope you're feeling so proud! It wasn't easy in that heat; it was hot from the outset, but you did it: congratulations! Such a shame I didn't bump into you. It was a great course though, wasn't I?
That's a lovely photo; those t-shirts are ace; I'll be wearing mine on my training runs for some time to come!
This is a story of the Turnturtle and the Hare! 10/10 for keeping buggering on even though you had jelly legs, you did it, and that's inspirational stuff right there!
Your description of your post-race beverage has made me hanker for a lager & lime now though
Sounds like an awesome run. You're an inspiration to those of us who have't graduated yet. It's great that you were there with your sons. Beautiful picture!
Wow, so impressed! Well done just sounds so inadequate! You look so happy, that's why you don't look tired! XX
That lady is a runner. Well done TT. An impressive run.
Woohoo! Great post and what a fantastic photo of team TT! Fantastic effort and I imagine you'll be basking in the glow of that achievement for some time yet... enjoy every minute of it... you did it! And in that crazy heat too!
Congratulations, it's so good to read this after all the set backs you had earlier this year when you thought you might not make this - must make your success all the more sweeter. Beautiful photo too, fresh as a daisy!
Thank you everybody. AS the fat woman says at the end of the Morecambe and Wise Show. "I love you all'! Sorry I can't respond to everyone individually as I am in total frenzy of packing for NZ (leave in 48 hours) . Am I mad? It's winter there! Will post blog of my next cold muddy runs very soon.
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
They think it's all over - it is now!
We did it!
W7R1 - a series of unfortunate events
W5R3 - I did do it! 
Further than I thought!!!
