Today was a sort of rehearsal – the same 10K race in Battersea Park that I’ll also be doing in November for my sub-40 attempt. It was a good way to get familiar with the course and ensure there’d be nothing to surprise me getting there etc for the main race. The course is four laps of the southern end of Battersea Park. It’s pancake flat, wide tarmac roads, absolutely great for fast running. I know some people don’t like laps, but I like being able to know where I am in the race, when the finish is coming etc.
I knew from training I was probably in shape for a slight PB, but wasn’t tapered (this week will be another 60 mile week, I did a track session on Wednesday, and I’m currently on a 19 day run streak) so the plan was to aim for sub-41 pace but see how I felt and most importantly not push too hard and trash my legs, spoiling next weeks training.
After the usual slightly fast first km (3:51) I settled in to just over 4:00 pace (4:01, 4:01, 4:00) and was feeling pretty good, however I then found myself out on my own and started to wonder if I was overcooking things a little. Physically I felt fine, but the slight mental wobble meant my pace dropped to 4:09 for the 5th km, and I went through 5km in 20:05. Thankfully around this point a group of 5 or 6 guys came up on me, and I was able to keep up with them brining my pace back up. I started feeling better again and the kilometres ticked away (4:03, 4:05, 4:00, 4:04). I felt pretty good still as the 9km marker passed so tried to push a little and slowly dropped a guy I’d been running with for the past few km.
A last push (that could at a stretch be described as a sprint finish) let me pass another guy, and I crossed the line in 40:13 (3:52 final km). Over a minute off my PB! Part of me wishes I had pushed just a little harder towards sub-40, but at the same time I’ve got a 10 mile race in two weeks and this was always supposed to be a practice race so I’m glad I haven’t totally trashed my legs. Achieving this untapered, and with a little still in the bank, means I’m very confident for November now. All in all a good day, and worth getting up for the 8am start!
| KM | Time | Pace | HR | Elev |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3:55 | 6:18 min/mi | 118 | -1 ft |
| 2 | 4:07 | 6:36 min/mi | 189 | 3 ft |
| 3 | 4:00 | 6:26 min/mi | 193 | 3 ft |
| 4 | 4:03 | 6:30 min/mi | 192 | -5 ft |
| 5 | 4:07 | 6:37 min/mi | 192 | 5 ft |
| 6 | 4:07 | 6:38 min/mi | 190 | -4 ft |
| 7 | 4:02 | 6:28 min/mi | 190 | 1 ft |
| 8 | 4:04 | 6:33 min/mi | 190 | -3 ft |
| 9 | 4:07 | 6:38 min/mi | 190 | 3 ft |
| 10 | 3:41 | 6:15 min/mi | 192 | 3 ft |