Woodhall Spa lies about 40 miles east of Sheffield and offers a fast, flattish course. Today's field numbered about 500. Weather was quite mild but with a strong blustery wind coming in from the North.
Wasn't sure what to expect today as I've been suffering from a stomach bug all week which has left me a bit tired and lethargic. Here's what happened..
1st km was downhill with a following wind. I'd promised myself not to start off too fast so was a bit suprised to reach the 1st marker in 3:20 (5:20 pace). Lying in about 15th position. Settled down after this and a group of 5 of us raced quite happily to the 5k point in 18:09. Next 1k was done in 3:36 and the group started to break up. Now lying in 17th position. Managed to chase down 2 other runners who had started off too fast and were suffering over the last few Kms. Managed a 3:29 final km and finished in 36:17. A new PB by 30 seconds and 15th position. Also achieved a negative split.
Apart for the 1st and last km this was a very evenly paced run and despite the PB one of the most comfortable races I've ran. (It still hurt though!)
Sub 36 min may still be possible this year.
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what a result! Sounds like you had a brilliant race mate. That's a great time you should be well chuffed.
Not sure I agree with the theory - though bear in mind a) I'm moving up from 5K which is the distance I do most often b) the races I've had the last two Sundays have had significant "hard" stretches (off-road and uphill respectively) in the first half of the race. As long as I have a target or something/someone to focus on (so I can stop feeling sorry for myself), I seem to be well capable of inflicting pain on myself in the latter half of a race irrespective of how hard I ran the first half!
An excellent run and presumably that make up for your disappointment at the half marathon. Running sub-6:00 min miles is really fast.
I generally find that 10k's hurt all the way! with the most difficult aspect being the mental one of not letting concentration slip in the face of pain.
I think it seemed comfortable because I've been focussing on lactate threshold and VO2max training over the past 4 weeks. As a result my heart and lungs were operating better than ever. It was really my legs that hurt. A few more races like this, without my HRM should help me to increase the pain threshold.
Tanni Grey-Thompson also took part and finished in 27:37! Now that's fast.
Personally find 10ks the most painful of all distances, hard at the start, dreadful by the end.
I must have misread the Windsor thread 'cause I could have sworn someone just mentioned having met you there. I know you train hard, but surely you didn't get from Windsor to Woodhall in the same day??
Julie, the following is the link
http://www.bbc.co.uk/lincolnshire/sport/woodhall_spa_10k_results.shtml