I wasn’t really feeling this one going in!
Geth and I booked it in May after feeling a tiny bit disappointed with our Sunderland times (I was still of the belief at that point that I would be getting a PB at every distance in 2025 like I did last year… I have since been roundly disabused of that notion!). After a hectic autumn, heading off to Leeds to race a 10k in the cold was the last thing we wanted to do. Nevertheless, we decided to make a weekend of it – there was a Christmas market, after all, and we seem to be collecting those this year.
Despite the forecast, I didn’t feel as cold on the start line as I did when we last raced this one in 2023. I was in a vest last time, mind, whereas this year I went for a longsleeve. It used to be a mid-October race but Run For All have taken it over this year and moved it to the end of November. This did result in an improved course by our standards (the start was right outside our usual hotel and there was no hill towards the end) as the route had to avoid the Christmas market.
It was one of those races where I chose not to look at my watch at any point, ran the whole thing on feel, and tried not to second-guess myself by looking at the pacers. The result was a fairly steady run, a negative split according to the results, and a consistent 50:25. Three seconds slower than Sunderland, which is a bit annoying, but I honestly didn’t expect to be anywhere near 50 minutes. I have found it really hard to recover from Amsterdam over the last month, and I’ve been suffering a bit in the colder weather with my asthma – my interval paces have been much, much slower than usual – so I just didn’t think I’d be able to run at a faster pace. Apparently I was wrong.
The fact that I can pull out a 50ish minute 10k after far-from-ideal training has given me a lot of confidence for next year. Overall I’m really happy with that race. Not at all what I expected!
