I have to say I write to you in a state of euphoria having completed my local park run this morning 54 seconds faster than my PB. But before I tell you all about it, I want to reflect on a few things from the past to help understand where I am now.
It doesn't matter what you have done,whether you have trained well, you never know what injury may strike on the day. And for that reason you shouldn't think 'What If'. However today I am thinking what if, or more importantly, where would I be now had I listened.
My coach Richard was forever telling me that you should start of slow and keep it steady and then dig deep at the end and you will get a far faster time than starting off fast, burning out and crawling to the finish line. But I never listened, to be fair, I always turned up with the expectations I would, but once the start was in sight, it all went out the window! Needless to say I never finished as fast as I could have.
So My Park Run today was 38:11, now you may ask why am I so happy when I have done 5K in 36:11 before, well I will tell you the answer for that. The 36:11 was the first 5K at Silverstone Marathon, which was a slight decline and flat road... the easiest form of 5k you can get. For so long I have averaged the 40 minute 5k, in training an in races, no matter what I did, they were always just shy of or just over 40 minutes.
Today was my 10th Panshanger Park Run, and here are my official times for each of the 10....
12.09.15 - 42:54
19.09.15 - 41:36
03.10.15 - 41:28
24.10.15 - 39:15
05.12.15 - 45:50
25:12:15 - 39:10 (this was incorrect time, tokens must have been mixed up as my watch was 49:19)
06.02.15 - 40:20
27.02.15 - 39:50
21.05.15 - 39:05
04.06.15 - 38:11
So, as you can see my Park Runs were generally 41 - 43 minutes, they increased in December as I didn't have trail shoes and could barely stand up in the swamp that was the park run at this time. In February they were faster, which is understandable as I was having professional training for London Marathon, and therefore my speed and stamina was far better, but still close to the 40 minute mark.
On 21st May, I really don't know why it was as fast as it was, other than my legs were fresh as I hadn't been doing any training, however they really hurt after. I ached all over for a day.
Why do I believe I went 54 seconds faster than just two weeks before... I don't know the answer but I have various reasons why it could be.
So all week I knew I was going to run, and I wanted to go sub 39 minutes, I had thought about it last night and had decided on a couple of things,
- I would start off slower, that first KM which is up hill I wanted to run it all but make it to the top not feeling dead.
- I wanted to beat my mental block of the grass straight between KMs 3 & 4, it is a straight grassy path going round the bottom of a hill and therefore you are running on a slight camber. When I started Park Run I wore road trainers and the camber really affected my ankles, now I wear trail, but as I am tiring at this point I use the excuse of possible injury to walk it rather than pushing on.
Park Run Day
Breakfast
I got up really early this morning, about 6.30 am and had breakfast, Golden Syrup Porridge and cup of tea. Up until the previous one I had not eaten before the run, and the on the last one I had eaten but only about half hour before and had felt quite sick.
Loosening Up
I then chilled out for an hour and then got dressed and started my Core Warm Up (See last Blog Post). I believe this is a huge factor in my running as I don't seem to find the first 3k a slog anymore, something yet again Richard has always told me to do!
Race Option
I decided to use the race option on my Tom Tom watch, I had never used it before and wasn't sure what to expect but set it to race the previous park run.
Starting Out Slow & Steady
I finally listened to what I was always told and I took it slow, I moved myself to the side and didn't care if I was in the way I was sticking to my pace, I made it to the top of the hill, rounded the corner to the 1KM mark and had ran it all and was still feeling good.
I didn't look at my watch until I reached 1 KM. So was a bit surprised as I looked to see how fast I had done that KM only to find my watch only showed me how far I had left and +31m which I was guessing meant 31 meters ahead of the previous run.
Keeping Steady pace
As I was running I felt like I was keeping a steady pace (as you all know my splits are never equal and differ largely). When I felt like I was tiring I slowed to a speed walk and got my breath back.
My watch seemed to be racing my last race exactly, and the meters were going up and down between 50 and 80, knowing I wanted to be 6 seconds faster than the previous I guessed that if I could be at least +20m by the end I would be OK.
Using The Hills, But Holding It Back
I always race down the hills to bank a bit of time however I find as soon as I hit the flats it takes me a long time to recover, and as the final down hill comes just before the grassy straight camber it is the worse time for me to be so tired. So today I still used them to speed up but I held it back a bit and found I recovered quicker.
My watch was reading about +130 at this point, which I thought would give me what I needed for the last straight where I would likely walk.
Determined Not To Let It Beat Me
I really believe that the stretch of grass between KMs 3 & 4 jumps up, holds my legs and shouts at me - how rubbish I am and what an insult to runners I am walking along its path!
So today I was determined I was going to beat my mental (it is all mental) block, and I did it, I ran the whole part (although I may have scared the lady with the baby in a buggy as I shouted 'You are not going to beat me, I will run over you, because I can!' as I rounded onto the start)
Making It To The Finish Line
After the 4th KM I was starting to get tired, not my body, just my breathing so again I speed walked for a while.(you know the beauty, when your bum really wiggles from side to side and your arms swing and you look like you are trying to squeeze that poo right back up your buttocks!)
Rob met me around this point and we chatted for a bit until I got to that final 150 meters that climb back up, it is the longest incline that rounds a corner and it kills.. it really does! All you want to do as you see the finish line is sprint to make up those last few seconds, and you are faced with that... I used to hate the old finish that was very steep but very short, now I wish they put it back!
My watch was still reading about +100 so I ran it as fast as I could, and as I rounded the corner my legs went to jelly and I started to slow until someone shouted, 'you are there, don't slow down race it!' and I looked ahead at the finishing lane and ran as hard as I could.
When I stopped I felt I was going to be sick, I just had to sit down until my breathing slowed and the sick feeling stopped. It only took about a minute.
My watch told me I had beaten last week and by a massive amount I was so happy, but what was weird was the fact that I recovered very quickly and my legs felt fine. (In fact I have since walked into town and back and feel really good.)
The only other different possible factor is my weight, I started eating far healthier since Tuesday, cutting down my portions and cutting out the crap. I am already losing weight because on a normal day before this I was consuming a ridiculous amount. I am going to be logging my weight and measurements later but am going to put it on a page rather than a post, so those of you that are interested can look but those of you that are not don't have to.
I think having my watch on race mode played a big part, as I had no idea what the time was, or what pace I was going at. I was really happy with my splits which are normally all over the place but today were:
1 - 7:45 (up hill)
2 - 7:44 (flat)
3 - 7:20 (down hills)
4 - 7:25 (flatish)
5 - 7:56 (mainly flat until finish beast hill, also the part I walked the most, so need to work on that)
This really has boosted my confidence right in the nick of time, as I will be starting my new training on Monday where the focus is to build the quality and the speed of my 5K and 10K.
But I do wonder, where I would be now if I had listened to Richard and implemented these things right back when we started in December... BUT no point in what ifs. Instead I will publicly say, Richard, I am sorry I didn't listen, I hear you now and I will take note!
My time is now, onward and upwards I will run!
Much Love
FBB xx
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