Felsted 10k

A scorcher of a week and playing in a concert yesterday meant my hydration plan was a bit off track. Luckily, the race had a late enough start that I could play catch up, so, a cup of tea a cup of beeple, a banana, 500ml sis go energy with chia seeds and a few swigs of water from the water fountain was my pre race prep.

This race was part of the Essex Championships, so was full of club runners. I decided to use my Adidas boost as race shoes, and that I would keep to an 8 minute mile, with the heat, I didn't want to risk pushing it beyond that. Got stuck behind a couple of slower runners at the start, but once I was past them, the field pretty much stretched out, and it was easy enough to get to pace. I ws on pace by about 0.4 miles, so remembering womens running tip, the plan was to sit at this pace until halfway. There were some undulations which would have been fine if it wasn't so hot, but the slight uphills were tough in the heat. I was also beginning to regret not carrying water with me, and couldn't remember if there would be any on the route....at 5km, I was beginning to struggle, the heat was getting to me. I remembered that the tip from womens running was to start chasing vests from 5k. The water station came up very soon after the 5k mark, so I stopped to take on 2 cups, and pour some over my head. Now I could focus on chasing bibs. It was a mind game now- had to keep reminding myself that I was well trained for this. But was also thinking to myself, this is the pace I want to be doing for a marathon, and whilst its fast, it doesn't feel as uncomfortable as previous 10ks, so maybe it's possible.... Wonder if I should be aiming for 8mm for Colchester Half Marathon next year?

I started counting bibs I was passing. Got to around 23 then lost my mojo for a bit, plus the men I was overtaking were playing mean, swinging out in front of me so that I couldn't just run straight but had to add extra distance to the run!

8k and it was time to go hard... I actually didn't have much left, the pace was up slightly, but it was all about focus to keep going. I kept looking at my watch, the sub 50 really relied on me keeping going and not stopping. I didn't want to risk blowing up with heroics, until I was past 6 miles.... Managed to overtake another couple in this last section, and went for the finish hard.

It was a tough finish. This was a tough race because of the heat, nice and low key, so great for setting pbs, except for some minor mishaps with other road users not being all that considerate, it was great. I guess I would have preferred it to start a bit earlier so i could get on with the rest of the day a bit sooner. And of course would have liked a medal! But I think that was me not realising where to get them from...I might contact the organisers to see if they'll send me one.

Mile splits:

Mile 1: 7:56
Mile 2: 7:57
Mile 3: 8:11
Mile 4: 8:02
Mile 5: 8:01
Mile 6: 7:50
Last 0.25 (garmin extra distance) 6:55

Total 49:42, avg pace 7:57