Silent Running

How quickly it comes around again… my local pub’s annual fun run was on Sunday morning.

I started my training in early April and managed to do 7 training runs before the big day, gradually extending the distance I was doing each time. For the last two runs I was doing 4.5 miles (the distance of the fun run itself) and it felt comfortable! The first few runs I did saw me clocking a mile every 8:50, which for me is very good. Extending the distance saw my pace slip a bit to just over 9 mins per mile. My target was to finish in under 40 minutes and I was very confident about doing so. Heck, I was even getting carried away with myself and considered entering the Blackpool 10 km event again, something I’ve not run since 2003. The only downer was that I developed a sore right leg in my second-to-last practice run, in exactly the same place that I aggravated doing the event two years ago (see diary entry). It’s just below the knee, on the inside of the shin. Ouch. It must be related to the way my foot lands when I run, to keep recurring. Anyhoo, it had calmed down sufficiently on Sunday morning after 3 clear days of rest for me to run on it again.

Ginger Rick came over for the run, but GB Troy cried off, claiming a lack of training and woeful fitness. I’m sure the fear of me beating him was foremost in his mind. Sunday morning was dry, with a lot of cloud about. The wind was a touch on the chilly side too. But for much of the race itself the sun was shining. But it wasn’t baking hot, which was a relief. Carried along by the pace of others, I ran the first mile at a crazy 7:50. Inevitably, that knackered me in a bit and slowed me down for the next two miles. From about the 1.5 to the 2 mile mark, I could hear someone at my shoulder, wheezing like a broken accordion. He then passed me! Some old bloke! How embarrassing. I never managed to catch him up after that either. Nevertheless, I finished the route in a stonking 37:25 – three clear minutes faster than last year and my best time since 2000. Amazing! That was a mile every 8:32. Not bad for a fat bloke. Being half a stone lighter than last year helps. Ginger Rick sped home in a bonkers 31:30.

I had a pint afterwards to celebrate and several more that evening. My leg injury was inevitably aggravated again. It was ruddy painful on Sunday evening and painful all day yesterday too. I was wincing with every step. It’s much better today, thankfully, but still sore. I think that’s probably the end of my running for 2010 so it’s just as well.