It’s been a great few weekends travelling and seeing friends, but I’m enjoying getting back to normal – it was back to work today, and other than the Blaydon Race this upcoming Saturday, I’m going to be enjoying a quiet few weeks – which means I’ll finally be able to get cracking on the house again!
Maybe by the end of June I’ll have broken the back of it. Maybe? I just have to hope nothing else gets in the way work-wise – you never know when you’re a freelancer!
So, the EMF 10k, which is always a memorable race. I first signed up to do it in 2016, but then it turned out to be the wee bro’s wedding in Toronto the same weekend, and I obviously couldn’t be in two places at once, so I had to wait till 2017 before I could do this challenging race for the first time.
2017 certainly did not disappoint in terms of challenge – the 30°C weather, almost unheard of for Edinburgh, took care of that. This year was much more amenable with the temperature, and so not only did I take almost fifteen minutes off my time from last year, but I was only one minute and two seconds slower than the PB I set in Sunderland a fortnight ago. That’s pretty good going considering the ridiculous elevation of the EMF 10k and its steep climb up Arthur’s Seat!
Geth was only about a minute off his Sunderland time as well, so we’re both pretty happy today. Next up is the Blaydon Race in another fortnight’s time!
Well, it feels like I’ve been talking about it forever, but the Sunderland City 10k finally rolled around today.
We got up at stupid o’clock, set out at still stupid o’clock, met our friends Sean and Ed on the Metro, and arrived at Keel Square in Sunderland in plenty of time to drop off our bag in the baggage area and make our way to the starting pen. After the usual ridiculous mass warm-up shenanigans (I’ve given up trying to follow those – there’s never any space in the crowd and it’s not something I’d do for a normal run anyway), we were off, a lot more promptly than last year.
I went off far too fast – an opening kilometre of 6:01 mins, when I should have been aiming more for a steady 6:55 or so – but although I ended up paying for my too-speedy start a bit in the second half, I did settle down over the course of the race, and I came in at 1:09:56, just snatching the sub-1:10:00 I’d been aiming for. That’s a 7:29 min 10k PB, and I was thrilled, obviously! It did require a pretty epic sprint finish at the end, when I spotted the gun time on the board and realised I was in with a chance.
After meeting back up with Geth and Sean, we went for breakfast at Caffé Nero while waiting for Ed to finish the half marathon, then met back up with Ed, got back on the Metro, and went for a few pints once back in Newcastle. Then Geth and I went home and ordered pizza. Perfect race day, really.
Looking forward to the next one! Only two weeks to go.
One thing I’m really looking forward to about race season starting again is pre-race evenings in (the first one being tonight, given that the Sunderland 10k is tomorrow!). Because we have to run optimally the next day, we can’t do anything fun or weekend-y like drinking alcohol or staying up late or leaving the house, so instead we watch ‘running TV’ (i.e. road running, athletics and triathlon events I’ve recorded off the TV) and running films (Run Fatboy Run is Geth’s favourite, Chariots Of Fire is mine). Then we get a nice early night. Rock ‘n’ roll!
Then the following evening, after the race, we do it all again, except this time with booze and takeaway. I think I’m looking forward to that more, to be honest.
Tonight’s viewing will be the Great Birmingham 10k that I recorded off the TV last Sunday, followed by Chariots of Fire (we’ve watched Run Fatboy Run the last few times, so it’s time for a change). I should probably see about procuring some different running films, though, as we’ve got a lot of races coming up this year!
I’ve been making an effort to get back to running again – I went out for a short run last Tuesday and then to parkrun yesterday – because race season is starting again soon (my first race is the Sunderland 10k on 13th May) and I need to get training. It’s generally been a bad winter for my running, partly because of the crappy weather, but mainly because the move has taken up all of my mental energy, and when I’ve got a big thing like that going on, exercise does tend to take a back seat, unfortunately.
I can’t let it slide next winter, though, because in April 2019 I’m running the London Marathon – my first (and probably last) marathon!
I was lucky enough to get a ballot place for London Marathon 2018, but with the move there was no way training would have ever happened this year. Thankfully, the London Marathon organisers give you one opportunity to defer your ballot place for a year, so I’ve opted to do that, and will be running in 2019 instead. It also gives me an extra year to prepare and get fitter before the event.
I’ve run three half marathons (and will have run five by the time I do London), but everyone says the full marathon is a very different beast, so I’m going to have to be absolutely religious with my training. I’m hoping for a really good season this year (no injuries would be nice!) to give me a good base for the winter.
I’m also hoping we’ve seen the last of the cold and wet. Let’s just have spring and its associated good running weather now, please weather gods!