With my thigh still causing a bit of jip the end of last week I decided to have a break from running this week in the hopes of getting healed ready for this race. I did some rowing and cycling in the gym, including some fast rowing and cycling intervals, but stayed away from the treadmill and off the roads. It does seem to be working, although it’s still not quite 100% so will see how I get on next week.
Anyway, today was my first attempt at the Regent’s Park 10K, a race series that takes place the first Sunday of every month throughout the year. It consists of three laps around Regent’s Park, which is very scenic and largely flat with just a little undulation which is always nice.
The weather today was pretty attrocious, and to be honest when I saw the rain out of my window I was very tempted to go back to bed. However I’ve been pretty lucky with race weather in my short running career, so figured some experience of adverse conditions would be good for me. I therefore wrapped up in my thermal base layer, long sleeve top and Windstopper vest and headed down to Regent’s Park.
Things started badly as I crossed the start when the strap of my Garmin disintegrated as I hit the start button. The strap has been a little dodgy ever since I went arse-over-tit a few months ago and smashed the screen, but seemed to be holding up – needless to say I have now ordered a replacement strap! I managed to grab the watch off the floor before anyone stepped on it, or me, and headed off in to the race.
The first corner as we headed past the boating lake was a bit chaotic as people darted around trying to avoid large puddles and a completely flooded pathway at one point, although thankfully the field thinned out quite quickly meaning future laps weren’t quite as mad. However the frantic darting about and the watch incident didn’t make for the best of starts and at the 1km mark I was feeling a bit unsettled and out of breath already.
I don’t really like running in the rain and the weather made it tough going. My clothing choices seemed spot on and I felt comfortable (if not very dry!) throughout the race. My pace however was gradually drifting slower and slower throughout the race though which was a bit demotivating. I stuck with it though and even managed a 6:30 min/mile pace sprit for the last 200 metres.
In the end I came in at 47:54, faster than my Garmin pace was suggesting. Looking back it seems the Garmin thinks I took a shortcut on the first lap which I didn’t, shortening the race distance and throwing the pace off. Overall I’m reasonably happy with the time – it’s two minutes faster than my 10K in May, and while the resulting 7:43 min/mile pace was 10 seconds slower than what I had hoped for given the weather it wasn’t too bad I suppose.
Despite the weather I really enjoyed the race and I’m looking forward to entering more in the future. They make for an interesting change to the usual training routine and give something to work towards short-term versus the distant half-marathons of next year. Fingers crossed next month my thigh injury will be healed, and the weather will be a bit more pleasant. I hope then 7:30 min/mile pace will be within reach.
| KM | Time | Pace | Elev |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4:36 | 7:23 min/mi | -20 ft |
| 2 | 4:52 | 7:50 min/mi | 28 ft |
| 3 | 4:47 | 7:41 min/mi | -1 ft |
| 4 | 4:45 | 7:38 min/mi | -25 ft |
| 5 | 5:08 | 8:17 min/mi | 42 ft |
| 6 | 4:58 | 7:59 min/mi | -30 ft |
| 7 | 4:51 | 7:47 min/mi | 6 ft |
| 8 | 5:14 | 8:26 min/mi | -3 ft |
| 9 | 5:04 | 8:09 min/mi | 25 ft |
| 10 | 3:40 | 7:30 min/mi | -22 ft |