10k for a takeaway

The title as above pretty much sums up my evening. Following a misunderstanding with Lee last night (he said 10k, I thought he said takeaway) we agreed I would do a run and then we would have a Chinese. It’s all about balance!

Positively glowing!

Lee did a 'do shoe up' action shot

It was a mild evening so I opted for shorts and t-shirts with the all important reflective bands now the clocks have gone back.

Before leaving I have the aim to go for 8:30mm, hoping for a big PB, it had been a while since I had done a 10k run.

Just as I left I grabbed a water bottle, quickly filling it and screwing the lid on as I left the house. I headed off with a route planned and confident I could get into my pace quickly and maintain it.

FAIL

Just as I set off I realised that I hadn’t screwed the lid properly on my water bottle and with every arm movement, water was sloshing everywhere. I decided to plough on and hoped that as the water in the bottle lessened, less would end up on me.

Getting to around a mile my shins were starting to tighten and burn. I started wondering what the hell was going on, I did a half marathon 11 days ago and now I’m struggling with a mile?! I completed my first mile in 8:37 but the way things were going there was no way I could maintain that pace.

It wasn’t until I was well into my second mile that I realised that instead of focussing on my form and breathing I was instead concentrating on holding my bottle as straight as I could to stop the water going everywhere. The result was a Phoebe-esque running style and I knew if I didn’t stop and sort this out or I wasn’t going to finish my run.

Mile 2

A quick stretch and a re-screw of my bottle lid I finished my second mile in a slower 9:14. If I wanted to PB, I now needed to pick up my pace again.

From that point on I relaxed into my stride and managed to progress each mile from that point on.

8:51, 8:47, 8:36, 8:28 and the last .2 at 8:15

Completing my 10k, Strava told me I’d succeeded in my PB attempt- 54:31!

Now, where’s my takeaway…