Warning: it’s a long one!
Five months ago, the idea of ever being able to run for 30mins seemed like an almost impossible goal. I’d signed up for the Race for Life with no idea how I would achieve it. Fast forward five months and here I am, the proud owner of a Yorkshire 10 Mile medal. And I owe it all to C25k and you lovely people on this forum.
This morning started well with my usual pre-race peanut butter on toast and being from York, I had a sneaky shortcut in mind to avoid the worst of the traffic. I had a last minute change of heart about which shoes to run in, opting for my trusty Asics, which now have a good 300 miles under their soles, rather than my newer, snazzier Brooks pair.
Things started to go a little bit awry once I arrived at the university for the start of the race. I struggle with anxiety at the best of times and this is usually compounded by large crowds. By 9.45, I had a serious case of the jitters. My right calf felt stiff, my contact lenses were hurting and I had a perpetual need to pee. Why was I doing this to myself?
Lining up for the warm up was my worst nightmare. I couldn’t hear or see the person leading the warm up and I had no space around me to follow her instructions anyway. I was being bowled left and right by big, strong, scary men all trying to push their way to the front and everyone else seemed to be wearing a running club t-shirt, to my mind declaring they were a ‘proper’ runner.
I almost bottled it. But then I took a few deep breaths and looked down at my shoes. They were far more tattered than many of the running shoes around me. And that’s when I realised - I’d prepared for this. I’d done my miles. Me and my trusty Asics had as much right to be here as anyone else.
And so I started my first 10 mile. Honestly, it always takes me ages to really find my rhythm and the first five km were only made bearable by the beautiful views of York Minster. I was overtaken by Batman, George and Zippy from Rainbow and plenty of people who were old enough to be my grandparents. But I was running fast, by my standards. Endomondo assured me I was running at a very steady pace of 6.20/km - which isn’t far off my optimum. I thought I should probably slow down so relaxed my pace a little and by the time I hit 8km, I felt great. My lungs seemed to open up, my muscles were raring to go and I couldn’t wipe the dirty great grin off my face. Imagine my joy then when I hit 10km at 1:03 - in line with my pb for a 10k and still with plenty left in the tank. I high-fived all the children who were lining the streets to show their support. It might have added a few seconds to my time but more importantly, it might also have inspired a tiny person to one day grab their trainers and take up running.
With about 4km to go, I was tiring, so I sucked on an energy tablet and grabbed a bottle of water. Staring back at me from the bottle was an image of Darth Vader, which made me chuckle and inspired me to chant “may the force be with me” for the rest of the race.
With 2km to go, I stupidly took a jelly baby from a roadside stand but really struggled to swallow it; I won’t make that mistake again! Now there was just a horrid ascent back up to the university and we were almost there. Finally, I thought the finish line was in sight but it turned out to be a banner declaring we were ‘almost’ within reach of it - whose cruel idea was that?!
With just 200m to go, my foot seemed to give way and I limped over the finish line with a time of 1:46:05. Now, given that I’d hoped I might make it round in under 2 hours on a good day, if I was lucky, I still can’t even begin to wrap my head around that time. How on earth did I do that?! I haven’t the faintest idea but it’s fair to say that I’m pretty chuffed with myself.
So I’m sitting here in my race t-shirt, feeling like a runner. And it’s all down to C25k and all those of you on here who’ve inspired me along the way. Thank you!
You are a true inspiration, just...... amazing!
I can do this! 2 sessions down :-)
Repeat after me: I am a runner 🏃♀️
Becoming a runner
W6R3 I’m a runner 🏃♀️😁
I have finally been analysed
