Summer Running by laurajehane

• City of Manchester 10k

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  Jul0520102:55 p.m.

  First of all apologies. I’m still being a rubbish blogger/commentor.
  
  However I  couldn’t let the City of Manchester 10k pass by without a mention.
  
  The last few weeks have been a bit up and down on the running front. I’ve had a virus which left me with hardly any energy and then a niggling chest infection keeps cropping up – nothing major, but enough to make it tough to run.
  
  On Tuesday I headed out for a fast 4 miler and struggled the whole way round. My pace was appalling, but ‘perceived effort’-wise I couldn’t have put any more into the run. Thursday should have been a track session with Belle Vue Racers, but as the afternoon wore on it was getting harder and harder to breathe. I decided to play it safe and headed out for a 3 mile plod, leaving the garmin at home, as I knew I wouldn’t like what it had to say to me.
  
  I woke up on Sunday feeling very negative about the run, given my lack of training in June and the fact itdidn’t feel like the chest infection had cleared. I consoled myself with the fact that City of Manchester is my PB course and that usually 2 bad runs before a race usually means I’ll run well on the day.
  
  I picked my friend up from Rusholme and then headed towards the Sportcity complex. Infuriatingly they closed the road at 8.45am which caused a huge tailback. Is there any need to close the road 45 mins before the start of the race, especially given the main car park is off the road they closed! Surely 10 mins before is enough time.
  
  
  Anyway rant over. We eventually parked and had 15 mins to visit the sneaky ‘secret’ toilets round the back of the track that no one ever seems to find. We then did a lap of the track to warm up and got into the starting pen.
  
  I decided just to see what happened and aim to match last year’s time rather than beat my current PB.
  
  As usual it was a slow start, but as soon as we were out on the roads the pace quickened. I overtook the legendary Ron Hill at the 1k mark. Was going to talk to him for a bit but then couldn’t think of anything to say. Spiderman ate my dust at 2k and by then I’d settled into a reasonably comfy pace. Happily that pace was 8 min miles, but I didn’t dare let myself think about PBs that early on.
  
  I get on going through the depressing scenery of East Manchester, sadly very little support from the residents this year.
  
  The race is a 7k lap followed by a 3k lap, I felt a little sad that when the laps converged there were lots of people charging along towards the finish. But on the upside I’d passed the 6k mark in about 30 mins so I couldn’t complain. Andy and our friend Tony were waiting on the hill and cheered me on. 3 more left turns and I’d be heading back up the hill to the stadium.
  
  I didn’t pay too much attention to my garmin on the last lap until I approach 9k. I was a little confused to see 43 mins on the clock. I assumed I’d misread it and carried on. As I approached the athletics stadium I realised that I hadn’t misread it and I was almost home with only 47 minutes gone.
  
  I charged round the track overtaking as many people as possible and crossed the line in 48:30.
  
  I was absolutely blown away. 70 secs off my previous PB. I’ve no idea where that performance came from, but then again City Of Manchester 10k does have a habit of getting a PB out of me.
  
  On the downside, my negativity and 51-52 minute pre-race prediction meant that Andy and Tony didn’t spot me until the last second on the track and didn’t have time to get a picture. Oh well, guess that’s my fault for underestimating myself.

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  Comments (5)

  • Mick_6 'Great effort just goes to show anything can happen on race day and for you it was an excellent race. Congratulations.' added 5th Jul 2010

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  • Russell_Nimbus 'Wow what a fantastic time! It just shows you what interval training can do for you. What sort of time are you going to get when you actually feel good and on a 'flat' course? I'll be following you at High Legh next year!' added 6th Jul 2010

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  • Russell_Nimbus 'Wow what a fantastic time! It just shows you what interval training can do for you. What sort of time are you going to get when you actually feel good and on a 'flat' course? I'll be following you at High Legh next year!' added 6th Jul 2010

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  • man_in_the_stand 'Well done on a great run and a fantastic time. You just keep getting better and better. Just think what you will do on a flat course. Well done again' added 7th Jul 2010

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  • TheFridayGang 'Thank you for your kind comments on my blog. Really well done on your PB, too - that bodes well for future races! Keep up the good work! Mandy :-)' added 10th Jul 2010

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