Run for Cake

I ran the Bupa Great Manchester 10k today... here's a picture of me, and my friend, lovely Louise, before the race...

In a state of frenzied dementia earlier this week, I had set myself a target of 53 minutes for the race! I don't know why I thought I could achieve this as my last 10k time was over 56 minutes!

I didn't.

But... I did have a good time, which is the main thing. And... I definitely ran faster because of my target; and because Coach Pete jumped in and sped me along for a bit on the way out, and the way back; and because Paula cheered me on; and because a random person shouted my name in encouragement with 400 metres left to run (thank you, if that was you!). Of course, I was a little gutted as I have run it much faster than this in the past; but...realistically, I am not up to full fitness at the moment, and I am not running as much as I was when I hit my speedier times. I'm on it though, and I'm trying to exercise more, run harder and eat better - except for today... ignore today... because today, I ran for cake...

this cake...

As for my friend, lovely Louise, it was her first ever 10k race and, despite her nerves at the start, - I tried to tell her I still get those but she was muttering some rubbish about me being a pro! - she smashed her target of 1.15, hitting 1.01 instead! A well deserved medal for speedy Louise...

Something speedy Louise noticed - once she'd recovered from her speedy antics and was watching the coverage at home - was a little sneaky me: on the TV, bombing plodding past Jonathan Edwards' shoulder... look... teeny, tiny, three second me...

Go Mum... Go Mum...

Running is catching...

... But you and I already knew that...

;-)

Hunt Lane Death Laps

There's no better feeling - for a runner - than realising that there was a point to all the pain!

Having set myself up, like a right plonker (still a en vogue word right?!), in my previous blog post for Coach Pete to 'push me' in training, I worked VERY hard tonight. The session - 4x hard efforts around a 0.84 mile loop - left my lungs gasping for breath and my legs struggling to stand throughout each 3 minute recovery period; Combine this with the screaming muscles, inability to breathe and near-death experience of each hard effort, I had little confidence that I had run well. I finished the session disappointed.

Thankfully, Pete is better at maths than I. Which is a good job as he was able to work out from my splits that my slowest lap (6.46) had seen me running the loop at a 7.40 min/mile pace! 7.40? Wow! Who knew I could do that?

Needless to say, by the time we'd completed the cool down and returned to base, my confidence,that I can complete the Manchester run this Sunday in 53 minutes, had returned... And that's all I need right: confidence? Well, that and a strong pair of legs, a lot of will-power and hell of a lot of stamina... But that's all? Yes?

Yes.

That's all!

It's time...

My times are on the up again! I have just achieved 26.53 at the Littleborough 5k; in March I ran the same race in 27.01. It's a small, but significant, reduction!

But, it's time to do better. It's time to cut the excuses. It's time to shape up! I need to lose the fat and improve the fitness; lose to gain, so to speak.

So, I am now banning biscuits, buns and booze for the next two weeks. This will make me less blimp-esque and more brawny-esque! I will then run the Bupa Great Manchester run in 53 minutes... Then, quite possibly, gorge myself on sweet, tasty carbs in celebration for the rest of the day...

My goal: to return to sub 25.30 5k times and sub 50.30 10k times.

All I need to do now is apply a little bit of PRB - positive running belief - can I do this? YES I CAN!