Feeling Blue At The Start...

On February 1st I took part in the Cancer Research UK 10K Winter Run.

It started on Victoria Embankment and headed out along the Thames towards the turn at Tower Of London. On the way back we cut in near by St Paul's Cathedral and then back to the Embankment where we passed by Somerset House. The finish line was on Whitehall in front of Horse Guards Arch.

A few of us had arranged to meet before the start for some pre race pep talks for the challenge ahead and to take our minds off the extreme cold.

I agreed with my friend Chu that we would run together as we both want to get under 50 mins for 10K for the first time. To do that we needed to pace at just over 8 min miles for the 6 miles (10K) which we were capable of.

We were well up for it but as our wave crossed the start line it became obvious we were going to struggle to do the required pace with the congestion ahead of us. Eventually we picked our way into clear track ahead and set about the task of making our way through the field.

Jump forward to near the finish line and we have run a good race and there's a little left in the tank for a sprint finish over the final 200 meters. Crossing the line we hunch over and look at Chu's watch.....the time.....50:44! A little disappointing but still my best 10K time for a long while so plenty to be pleased about.

We never recovered from the slow start but you can see from the following that our splits from miles 2-6 show we could have had that sub 50 time had it not been for the congestion.

1. 8'57"
2. 8'05"
3. 8'06"
4. 8'12"
5. 8'04"
6. 7'42"

I'll get that sub 50 next time but before that I have the North London Half Marathon to prepare for and look forward to on March 15th.