The Virtual Runner Running Blog

Tonight was my first 5km event and it took place in the dark!  Very very good atmosphere and a very good event.  I recommend it to everyone!

For the hour or so before the event there was music which was all halloween themed as well as refreshments.  Your entry fee gets you your race number, chip timing, free skeleton t-shirt, headlamp and a mug at the finish line.

It was really good fun and everyone had a great time.  There was a lot of chatter amongst the runners during the whole event and you don’t normally get that in the daylight races!

You can find more photos by clicking here.

I had my time at about 27 min and 13 secs according to my Garmin.

Well done to my wife for coming out and supporting me again.  She’s a fantastic woman!

And my little boy was there too… way past his bed time!

garmin forerunner 405, halloween 5 nite run, race or event, race report

Outside Buckingham Palace

What a great day out.  My wife and I caught the train from Reading at about 07:30 and after a train journey to London and a couple of trips on the Underground we arrived at Green Park which was the assembly area for the event.  We actually arrived in really good time and we had about 1 1/2 hours to roam around and see what was going on.

The whole event was really well organised and everthing was clearly signposted and there were loads of marshalls everywhere directing people where they needed to go.  I didn’t have any baggage to store (my wife carries it all) so we meandered through past the huge collection of porta-loos (absolutely no queuing anywhere either) towards Buckingham Palace.

The roundabout in front of the Palace was more cordoned off than usual because of the race finishing on the Mall.  The Mall is the main road that runs straight out in front of the Palace, and this is where the finish was.

It was quite a long walk down the Mall to where the finish line was set up but we had lots of time to kill.  When we got there we saw that there were loads of TV cameras set up everwhere and the VIP/Elite runner area was also there.  We could see the media taking photos of people in one of the tents accross the road but I’m not sure who they were photographing because they were all in the way.

My official photographer and wife

We then opted for a walk across St James’s Park towards the start of the race.  There were TV cameras located around the start line and we also noticed two helicopters hovering above the city which we assumed were also filming the event.  The starting area was split into three different coloured zones (Red, Blue & Green respectively) and those were again split into three sections (A, B & C respectively).  Each runner was assigned a colour and section depending on their predicted finish time when they registered for the event.  I couldn’t remember what my predicted time was but I was slightly concerned to be in the Blue A area (first of the blue sections) right after the red numbered runners.

By this point we had about 45 mins before the start of the race so I starting jogging around St James’s Park while my wife looked on in amusement.  I warmed up really good this time and stretched out my calves and quads to help reduce the tightness and potential shin splints during the race.  I was then forced by my wife to proceed to my start area so I didn’t miss the start (although the start wasn’t for another 10 mins).

I was adamant that I wasn’t going to be pulled along by the other runners this time and end up doing the first half too fast.  I wore my running watch this time (forgot it for the Woodley 10k) so I could keep a record of my splits and ensure I was running at an easier pace this time.

My splits are as follows:-

01km – 05:53
02km – 05:30
03km – 05:31
04km – 05:46
05km – 05:45
06km – 05:29
07km – 05:29
08km – 05:18
09km – 05:20
10km – 05:09

Me with my finishers medal

After three kilometres I thought I would slow down for a bit because I didn’t want to injure myself again and I was paranoid about shin splints again.

After the halfway mark I thought I should speed up a bit and did a couple of kms at a 05:29 pace and then sped up even more for kms 8 and 9.  My last km was done at a 05:09 pace which is pretty fast for me.

The atmosphere during the event was really great and along with the thousands of runners there were thousands of supporters along the route giving their various brands of support.  It was really great and the things people were shouting were very supportive.  It was what everyone needs during one of these events to help push them along.  Sometimes I wonder how much the atmosphere actually contributes to finish times because of the positive feeling it can give runners which helps to spur them on.

By my watch I had my finish time at about 00:55:15 but my official finish time, according to the Bupa 10,000 website, shows a finish time of 00:55:13 which is even better!

My wife's vantage point where she waited for me and missed me.

After I got past the finish line it was a long walk through the ramps where people removed your timing chips for you and on down to Buckingham Palace.  My wife and I had agreed a meeting point in front of the statue outside the Queen’s house.  I didn’t see my wife anywhere near the finish (which was odd because I always see her at the finish of a race) so I headed for the agreed meeting point.  An hour later (I’d completely cooled and dried off by this point) I finally asked a stranger if I could use his mobile/cell phone to call my wife.  She showed up seconds later.  She said she was near the arches (at the 400m mark) waiting for me to come through towards the finish.  She said she was getting worried because she didn’t see me come through!  I thought it was quite funny and reminded her that if it gets to about 1 hour and 50 mins into a 10k race (and I normally finish in about 1 hour) and she hasn’t seen me, to head for the meeting point.  She was really disappointed because she travelled all that way to support me and see me running and never saw me run once!

Bupa London 10000, my wife, race or event, race report

I almost didn’t run the Woodley 10k today because when we left the house at 10am it was raining quite heavily.  I like running but I was not going to run in the pouring cold rain (I guess I’m a fair weather runner).  I weigh up things like how much I want the medal and how much I paid for the run.  If it was only a cheapy run (like this one was) then I’m not too bothered about missing it.  If it was expensive (like the one in London on the 25th) then I’d be running it no matter what!

Anyway, we drove to the event in the pouring rain and I made the decision to come back home (it was 10 mins away).  We got home and then the sun came out!  My other half (who doesn’t run) made the executive decision that we were going to go back and I was going to run.  I’m glad she does that because I’m so indecisive a lot of the time.

We got to the event about 15 mins before the start and I stretched a bit but had no time to warm up properly (something I regret now). 

I kissed my lovely wife and son and then the next thing you know I’m off.  The first two kms were quite painful and I had terrible shin splints.  I mean, really bad.  I haven’t had shin splints like that since I started running and I couldn’t understand it at all.  I had to stop many times and walk/stretch during the first 5km and I was thinking “there is no way I’m going to do this in under an hour”. 

I knew that because of the shin splints my gait was being effected and I should’ve slowed down or walked more.  I could feel some niggling pain in my left ankle and in my right foot on the outside edge.  I’m such an idiot.

I managed to plow on and even felt a bit better during the last 3km.  My pace increased and I passed a lot of the people that passed me when I was walking.  This meant that I finished the race in 00:57:52 which is about a minute faster than last years time.  Not bad considering the pain and the amount of stopping and walking that went on.

When we got home my shins were still tight and burning for about 45mins and my left ankle still hurts now when I walk.  It feels like some bones or something grinding on each other and I don’t know if I’ve sprained it somehow or what.  Who knows.

This means I now have to see how it is tomorrow (I don’t run on Mondays anyway) and judge what running (if any) I’ll be doing this week.  I want to ensure that I do the 10k in London in a week because that race/event was quite expensive and I want to do it no matter what (I’ll walk the damn thing if I have to).

I’m glad I did the race but not happy about being stupid about the injury.  I should not have pushed myself so hard when I felt the pain.

Duh.

foot pain, my wife, pains and niggles, race or event, race report, weather

According to Dictionary.com “undulating” is defined as “to have a wavy form or surface”. Clearly the word undulating is used a bit to loosely when it comes to running events and their descriptions.

The Princes Trust 10k which I ran today was described as “undulating”, even by the announcer at the event this morning. They also announced to all of the runners that the race route was “sodden” in places.

Overall the organisation of the event was okay but obviously not fantastic (they didn’t send me a race number and timing chip). There was also no clear indication where the finish line was for spectators to await the finish of their loved ones.

As for the race it self, there was a warm-up beforehand and then the race was started by 2004 Olympic Gold Medal winner Marlon Devonish. My warmup was good and I felt like it was going to be a good race. Marlon sounded the air-horn and off we all went. I crossed the start line and passed waved to my family as I ran past. Initially the race was fine and on asphalt which eventually led on to hard packed gravel trail through the woods. I thought “this is fine” and kept on pushing through.

After a very short distance the trail became a “sodden” grass road through the woods. Like a dirt road but grassy. There were some muddy tire grooves and many people avoided these to run on the grass in the middle. There were many occasions where we had to stop because of a huge muddy section and a bottle-neck formed as people made their way through the muck (my trainers are not clean anymore). I’d say this was a bit worse than “sodden”.

There were a few hills and I believe it was “undulating” like they described, however as the race went on the hills became more and more frequent and steeper as well. When you combine that with slippery grass and mud it wasn’t ideal, but definitely a challenge!

I had to walk on about three occassions, usually near the top of a large hill that I managed to run most of and just couldn’t take anymore. I kept watching my time and at the 5k mark I was at about 27 mins which (if I could have kept up the pace) would have put me on about 55mins finish time. Alas! This was not to happen.

The hills got progressively worse during the second half of the run and even though going downhill was enjoyable, I just knew there would be an equally large hill waiting at the bottom as we progressed through steep wooded valleys.

At the 9k mark I thought I could push on through and still come in with a respectible time of around 57mins. Wrong again! The whole last km was uphill! What bright spark at the Princes Trust decided to put the finish line at the top of a hill? I had to walk with only 400 metres to go (but only for a second) before plowing on for a slow (no sprinting) finish.

Hardest race I’ve ever run and I definitely feel I earned my medal. Would I do it again, probably (50/50 chance I think). It was also nice to receive my medal for something so insignificant as a 10k race from an olympic gold medalist. He congratulated me and I said the same to him for his achievement in 2004.

I clocked my time at about 58mins 14secs but I won’t know officially until they post it on the site. Considering the surface I was running on and the massive hills I’m still impressed with my finish time. I’ve put some photos we took at event on facebook and on my website for you to see.

It was great having my family there to support me and they help make it worth it. Now I have a break from events until December when I’ll take part in the Santa run in Reading, Berkshire. After that my next event isn’t until the Reading Half-Marathon in March 2009.

Overall a great day out and a great sense of achievement for surviving!

hills, princes trust 10k, race or event, race report