So the first thing I did to prepare for my first 10K is suss out the competition i.e. what's the average time that a woman can run a 10K. It's near enough impossible to find a definite answer to this question on the internet. These questions are answered by no-it-all pro's that start with the sentence 'it doesn't matter what time you finish it in, it’s the taking part that matters', this is extremely frustrating. First of all it does matter what time you do it in because at some point they are going to re-open the main road whether I'm still running or not.
So after an extensive search, which included buying several (yes several) books on running I came to the conclusion it was ok, as a beginner, to finish a 10K between 50-70 minutes (stop working it out/judging).
Now all I had to do is run for another 30minutes (easy no?...no). My mum never told me I was one of those people that could run before I could walk and this spans true for most of my life, but the first time I thought, right I'm just going to do it.... I ran 14K. Then I didn't run again for nearly a month/walk for two days.
Thankfully my body has reached a point where after a hard slog, every muscle movement from climbing the stairs to lowering to sit on the loo is no longer a painful exercise. That is until I change my usual routine or my spinning/aerobics instructor decides she has more energy for a hard sesh this week.
So my first 10K was in a local village. It is was advertised as a fun day out for the whole family (including a BBQ, tennis, some army people, a bouncing castle, kids fun run, adult 5K etc). I (naively) was led to believe that it would be a nice jog around a nice village with some nice country bumkins (er wrong). I turned up on the day fairly early, not knowing what to expect, I mentally noted the start/ finish line and went to register my arrival. I was ready, my body was ready, my ipod was set to Lady Gaga and Britney Spears, and I was all psyched to go until...
A man in the queue wanted to make small talk while we waited.... Him- Have you done this before? Me-no, Him- have you done a 10K race before? Me-no, Him- well I've done loads Me- really, that’s nice (Me thinking- show off.....you have only done loads because you are 20 years older than I am) Him- this is the hardest one I've done. Me- nervous laughter (cheers mate exactly what I wanted to hear). According to my book this is a technique used to scare your competitors (this and wearing a t-shirt that says I did 50K last week and it was easy- it's definitely all about the t-shirt). When everyone had arrived, I got up to inspect the competition and realised I looked like the most amateur runner there, no word of a lie everyone was affiliated with a running club or looked like a pro. Too late now....I pushed in my head phones turned up the Britney Spears and just went with the flow.
This off the path course consisted of three whopping up hills that felt like you were running on the spot for 5 minutes, a little bit of flat (where your legs feel like they have permanently adjusted to the uphill running position) followed by three whooping down hills and a little bit of trail running (tree trunks etc). Now this sounds ok if you did it once, but no it was three circuits of it. All at the hottest time of the day and the hottest day of the year so far.
Despite doubting my ability at the beginning I never thought 'why am I doing this?' The sense of achievement when you cross the finish line is like no other. Position 120 out of 123 in 62 minutes (better luck next time).
P.S I finished this day having signed up for a half marathon (with a bloody geordie!) it's amazing what a little sun stroke can do to you.
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