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...