(Posted 02/12/12)
Next up in my bid for qualification for London Marathon 2013 was a 10K. The last time I’d raced in a 10K was the very same race
in August 2011. Sadly it was after this very race that I my shin splints
reoccurred again and I was to be sidelined for a significant time. In order to improve your marathon time you need to be able to run your 10K splits in a certain time so I was doing this 10K to both get some race practice and to see how was speed was progressing since I'd started training again. One of my key training sessions in the build up to a 10K is going down to track and running 5 times 2km intervals at slightly faster than 10K pace with 90 seconds rest between each interval.
It was an extremely early start in leafy Battersea Park.
But the perfect conditions made up for the early rise. It was chilly but calm, crisp and
beautifully sunny.
My aim in this race was to try and improve on last year’s
time but also to try and get more consistent with my pacing, after my poor
splits in Maidenhead. This time I
managed to resist the urge of charging out early. This seemed to pay dividends
early in the race as I was whizzing past other runners who it seemed had made
the mistake that I usually make. That said, my pacing still wasn't perfect with
a whole 19 seconds between my slowest and fastest kilometres. I didn't go over
6 minute miles though and posted a decent time of 35:40, finishing in the top
10.
The finish was a little disappointing. In the final
straight I was neck and neck with another guy. I turned on the booster switch
and overtook him assuming that I’d be able to hang on but he trumped me with
his own sprint finish and I’d already given too much. This actually turned out
to mean I missed out on a trophy as they are given out for places 1-7 within
each age group and this was a battle for 7th for males under 50.
It’s not a bad feeling to have finished a 10K before 9am on a Saturday though!
Split
|
Time
|
Distance
|
Avg Pace
|
Summary
|
35:40.0
|
6.20
|
5:46
|
1
|
3:26.6
|
0.62
|
5:33
|
2
|
3:32.1
|
0.62
|
5:41
|
3
|
3:30.4
|
0.62
|
5:39
|
4
|
3:36.3
|
0.62
|
5:48
|
5
|
3:39.2
|
0.62
|
5:53
|
6
|
3:37.5
|
0.62
|
5:50
|
7
|
3:42.7
|
0.62
|
5:58
|
8
|
3:37.1
|
0.62
|
5:49
|
9
|
3:37.6
|
0.62
|
5:50
|
10
|
3:22.2
|
0.60
|
5:34
|
Time: 35:40 (SB)
Position: 9th/146
Click here for results.