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I decided a month or two back to take part the Polaroid 10k race series here in Scotland. I’ve heard nothing but good things about the series, and as the 10k has been a distance I’ve sometimes struggled with (compared to 5k and half marathon’s, my times are a bit below where they “should” be according to time predictors), it seemed like a great opportunity to try attacking my PB.

As there are four events in the series, I decided the first event was really more of a “see where I am” event. The Helensburgh course is also a bit hillier than the 2nd and 3rd events, so if I was going to dent my PB, a bit of patience was in order. My training over the last couple of months has been pretty well focused on the 10k events. A good few sharp sessions pushing my pace and making me feel comfortable. Fellow Glasgow parkrun race director Alan and I have met up on a few occasions now and sneaked in some decent sessions during the week, which complimented my running club sessions nicely. Throw in some good mileage, and I’ve been feeling pretty good about where I am.

So after collecting the chip for timing, lined up at the start, finding a spot at the back of a group of runners from my running club. Didn’t want to set off too fast, and thought keeping pace with them would work nicely. After the start, I was feeling very comfortable. Unfortunately I’d made the mistake of trying out a new setting on my race watch (Garmin 304), and that setting involved it beeping at me if I was under/over pace. Not bad when I’m out training on my own, but beeping watches annoy me in races. So I faffed about and managed to switch off the mode I was using (Virtual partner, if you’re interested), but in doing so noticed it inserted an extra ‘lap’ and also paused things, which threw things out a bit until I restarted it. Consequently my record of the run is a bit messed up, and it’s hard to be precise about km markers.

The course had been adjusted from usual, due to some gas works, and I understand it was a tiny bit hillier than normal. But the hill training I’ve done meant it was easy to keep my effort constant and make good progress in the slightly hillier first half. My pace in the first few km seems to have been around 4:25-4:30 mark (I’d been thinking of something closer to 4:20). But I enjoyed the wide, largely straight roads which gave great targets to head for and a nice bit of consistency, and room to pass runners.

After about 4k I realised my pace was a fair bit slower than I’d been after, so decided to pick things up somewhat. I’d long since past most of the group I’d set off with, so began creating targets, goals, picking off runners and reeling them in. I hit 5k at around 22m42s minutes (hard to tell exactly given my watch laps were out; basing this on Ascent calculated splits), and started to think a negative split was very much on the cards. The second half felt a bit flatter than the first half, so that helped too. Best of all though I felt like I was doing almost all of the passing. Perhaps a couple of people passed me, but if they did, they didn’t get far away. My average pace was falling nicely, and my last couple of km were safely in target 4:15-4:20 range. Broken out by my GPS software, it seems my mile splits were 07:17, 07:20, 07:14, 07:13, 07:09, 06:46 and an average of 06:25 for the last .2 miles. Tasty.

The only negative from the run was through a silly mistake I made as I neared the end. I’d got it in my head the finish was around a particular corner. When I rounded it, I was dismayed to see another 300-400m ahead of me before the corner! I did the right things though: dug deep, kept at it, didn’t lose focus (picked off a couple more runners) – and crossed the line in 44:07, which is a new PB by 20s from my previous best last year, and a negative split. 1st 5k at around 22:42, and 2nd 5k in around 21:25 (give or take a few seconds). I felt in fine form too. Tired from the last km push, but not overly exhausted.

Besides the negative split, I’m feeling quite pleased at getting my race strategy – bar the precise pace – pretty much spot on (a rare occurrence in my experience). Didn’t really feel like I put in my maximum effort, and certainly don’t really feel any adverse affects today. Plenty more in the tank (good job too, I’m running Strathclyde parkrun for the first time!). So the goal for the next event in the series next Thursday is to pick up the pace more to get my time down into the 43 minute range. Aiming for 4:17’s or so in the first half, and then see if I can pick it up any more in the second half.

All in all, a great event, and a superb way to spend a lovely evening. Some spectacular views over the Clyde, some great support out on the course, and a challenging route, and absolutely excellent organisation: Easily one of the best organised paid events I’ve taken part in.

Google maps rendering of the KML of my Garmin trace is here, although lap points messed up

I spent this morning up in Balloch, supporting the hundreds of runners in the Vale of Leven 10k, the last race of the 2009 Polaroid 10k series. I’d have been running myself if I’d got my finger out and entered in time, but figured it’s just as important to do a spot of supporting on occasion to make up for all the cheers I’ve received when running myself! I took my camera along and snapped away quite furiously, and think I managed to capture a picture of almost everybody taking part in the process. My pictures are available on flickr here.

I had a great spot in the first 1k where the leaders were already edging ahead, and snapped most people as they want past, even chucking some money in Tommy’s collection bucket, before jogging to the 4k mark where the runners emerged out from their loop of the Balloch Castle park. After snapping most people there, I then headed back to the finish area to catch most of the finishers. I’d missed the winners, but my excuse is I’d foolishly not put on running shoes or gear, so was plodding along in jeans and heavy shoes. Not the best. Ah well. Didn’t do too badly.

It was wonderful to see so many participants, not only from my own running club, but so many from Glasgow parkrun too. My only difficulty is remembering names! So my apologies if I just cheered something generic. So many people seem to know my name as a result of giving the pre-race briefing to the 1200+ runners who’ve now taken part, I only know a fraction of your names. But great efforts from everybody taking part. It was a warm and sunny day, so looked like it was tough going in the second half of the course, where shade was in short supply!

Regarding the pics: As I say on the notes, please get in touch if you’d like higher resolution pictures, or if you’d like to use the pictures at all.

This morning I was up early (it’s starting to get a bit of a bad habit; Who’d have thought it a couple of years ago!) to help with the marshalling for the Ignis Asset Management Women’s 10k. Not a huge amount to do other than point a few runners in the right direction, and hold a rope to keep the pulses separate, but a useful job that the organisers keep asking my running club back to help with.

After watching the runners set off – all 12,000 of them – I headed out around the course to cheer on fellow club runners who were taking part, as many of the parkrunners as I could recognise, and take a few snaps. You can see all my pictures here on flickr. I’m glad the rain held off for most of the event – only coming on hard after a couple of hours, but still plenty of women out on the course, it can’t have been pleasant. But a great effort by all concerned.

I gather it may have even been a new course record from the winner (not seen that confirmed yet, just rumour). Plus I gather an age-graded world record holder was out on the course too. Excellent stuff throughout the field, from the first across the line to the last.

Yesterday I also rediscovered my photography passion, and popped along to watch the rain-soaked Dick Wedlock 10k, and invitational 10k for international firefighters.

Firstly, very best wishes for a recovery to Shannon, who I understand collapsed during the race, and was airlifted to hospital as a precautionary measure. Look forward to seeing you at a run again very soon. 

Last year I ran this race, and set a new 10k PB of 45:01 and came away thinking what a great race it was. It was a bit narrow in places, and the slightly icy conditions we’d had made it a bit perilous, but all in all it was a great run. This year, despite setting a new PB of 44:21, I’m feeling a bit disappointed.

Conditions didn’t help. Whilst the conditions had been great at the earlier Glasgow parkrun, the wind had picked up a bit, and the canal course was much muddier than last year. A much larger turnout too (347 participants, compared to 262 last year) meant a lot more passing, and my poor start positioning (I almost always start too far back) meant I had to do quite a lot more, and got held up a fair bit.

My splits tell the story: 4.21, 4.36, 4.22, 4.24, 4.29, 4.34, 4.36, 4.28, 4.36, 4.03. Whilst my Garmin got the course distance correct, I wondered along the way if the km markers were perhaps a bit squiffy. But from my own experience with the parkrun, Garmin’s are a bit of a nightmare for race organisers: So many experts are created with these GPS devices, and they’re usually wrong.

I’d been aiming for times consistently under 4.25 to get close to a 43 minute time. After setting off and winding through the housing estate, the 1km marker was a short distance along the canal. At this point I really realised my poor start position choice, as I was stuck behind a few slower runners that took me a while to get past. Too many trees, and the narrow canal path. I managed to squeeze past, and past a few others at the first turn when we crossed the canal. I settled in and set a good couple of splits, passing fellow Bella Iain, and setting my targets on Norman, who’s always been a great pacer. I decided to just hang on and see how I felt. Eventually I managed to edge pass Norman around the 6k split, but my timing wasn’t good,  as we rounded a corner into a stiff and cold headwind, and started the gradual incline up for the second canal crossing.  My splits between 5k and 8k are much worse than I’d wanted, and the stiff headwind and incline took their toll. Norman eased back past me between 7k and 8k, and it was all I could do to hang on.

The 8-9 km section was tough. The canal path gets a bit more uneven, and I found myself in a pack of runners. There wasn’t too much hope of finding enough in me to get past, but we all managed to keep each other going, although Norman was easing further away. Whilst I somehow managed to find a bit more in my legs in the last 1k, it wasn’t enough to catch him. Norman finished in 44.12, and I managed 44.21.

As fellow club runner Andy commented afterwards, “A PB’s still a PB”, and I certainly take some delight from reducing my 10k PB from last years 45.01, I’d taken a full minute off my Nigel Barge time last year. This year I managed to take only 15s off the time. But if I’m searching for excuses for not getting a 43 minute time, the larger competitive field, and less than ideal conditions, combined with my poor start position, are probably the answer. As well as finding my 10k times don’t quite fit with what I’d expect from my half marathon and 5k times.

This will probably be my last 10k until after I’ve finished the London Marathon. I’m taking some succour from fellow club runner Ewan’s comments that after finishing the Florence marathon last year, he’s found a new burst of speed in his legs. The marathon training improved his endurance, and it’s precisely endurance I struggle with, at the brisker 10k pace.

So, despite a new PB, I’m still feeling a little bit disappointed it wasn’t faster. But there’s a definite challenge for my post-London running, and that’s no bad thing

See also

• 2009 Jack Crawford 10k Results 
• Norman’s write-up

This was a significant race for me in a number of ways. Most importantly last year it was the first race I ran after I took up running (here’s my 2007 write-up), but more recently it was a race I’d taken on to beat my PB in, as part of the XT Wings Challenge. It’s also my most local 10k race – running through Pollok park, which is right besides my house, and where I spend most of my time training.

The race is certainly going from strength to strength, and over 2,500 runners took part. Still a way to go before it reaches the 12,000 in the Ladies 10k that I helped out with last month.

My late write-up of the race perhaps belies that I didn’t finish the race in quite the way I’d hoped. I certainly didn’t beat my PB of 45:01 from this years Jack Crawford 10k. In the end I managed a time of 46:23, which was some way off.

I certainly started off quite well. The first couple of km were in my target pace range (around 4:25) – 04:20 then 04:25, and a bit slower at the 3k mark (04:33). But still reasonable. It’s very easy to set off too fast (something I’m particularly prone to do), so was keen to keep it under control. Unfortunately, the 4k mark (04:44) marked the start of the long slow incline into Pollok Park, and that drained me. I couldn’t make up much time down “Sarah’s hill” (as the club call it), I was just enjoying the easier downhill rather than pushing, so my times went to 04:51 at 5k. It pretty much says all. There wasn’t much hope for me to beat my PB at this point, and I found it difficult to get close to my target pace at all. 6k at 04:40, and 7k, the exit from the park at 04:47.

But disaster struck when I had my first shoelace incident during a race. I’m normally very careful to tie my laces. Not too tight as the tops of my feet hurt if they are, due to their slightly odd shape. So that took a chunk of time, so 8k at 04:45 was probably actually quite close to my target. 9k at a pace 04:45, and the final 1k felt a lot longer – there’s a difficult incline at the start of the park entrance, and it’s a lot further than you think to the finish line. Last 1k was at 04:37 average pace. So my average pace was 04:39 throughout. 9s off the magic 04:30 I needed to stand a chance of beating my 45:01 PB.

Reasons? Well, most likely I didn’t do enough consistent longer train runs in the build up. Plenty of short, faster runs/speed session work, but I perhaps didn’t get out for longer runs enough in April and May. But I have a good excuse for at least most of April . But not much of one for May It’s also a tougher course than I’d given it credit for. Perhaps complacency too given I do most of my training on the roads and paths that the course uses, but it’s a different kettle of fish when you string them together and try to run them at pace. I also was a bit foolish by going for what turned into quite a tough training run on the Friday just before. I hadn’t planned to, but whilst I was very pleased with the results, it really would have been better to have taken it easier so close to a race.

One of the problems I do have is maintaining exertion for longer periods at a higher heart rate, and building endurance is something I really need to focus on. I’m a bit of a whimp, and find it hard not to think negative thoughts when I really need to be “digging deep”. The winter training helped with this, and probably played a big part in my previous 10k PB.

But I still very much intend to get my PB down if at all possible this year. I just need to find a flatter course and ensure that my mileage is up. Oh, and that my shoelaces don’t get untied!

But to put it all into perspective just one year ago I completed the race in 53:56. This year’s time of 46:23 is 07m33s faster. My average pace was 05:23 compared to 04:39 for similar effort. With a focus on building endurance (I’ve entered the ballot for London 2009, so hope to see something along those lines!), who knows what next year might bring. As ever, it’s not all about individual results (although those are nice!) but the journey that counts, and even when you don’t hit your targets, you still learn a lot, and that’s all good

Next week is the MHFS 10k, which is my target race for the XT Wings Challenge. You can see my mug-shot on Salomon’s challenge website.

I’ve been a bit slow(!) with weblog posts over the last few weeks, so I figured an update was somewhat overdue. Mainly because I’ve been very busy, and simply not had the time or motivation to actually sit down and write very much.

I’ve been doing most of my training with my running club, which has had a focus on the 10k distance over the last month or two because of the Polaroid 10k series, the Women’s 10k and next weeks Men’s 10k. So in that sense, I’ve been getting on with it and doing the right things.

I’m starting to get a bit anxious that I’ve not done enough endurance work recently, and sustaining my target pace of at least 04:30s over the 10 kilometres might be a bit tricky. I’m not very good at pacing myself either – I frequently set off too quickly, and keep going at that pace for too long and then suffering, and dropping below my target pace, in the long-run.

Runners know what I’m saying when I say that this sport we do is at least as much a mental challenge as it is a physical challenge. Knowing you can sustain a particular pace, and then actually sustaining it requires mental effort to battle the demons. It’s often not – at the time – a whole lot of fun operating at high heart rates, so you need a lot of determination to push through the thoughts and doubts that it’d be really much easier to stop, walk or just slow down for a bit. The solution is endurance work, which is what a lot of winter training involves. Simply running for longer distances at a slower pace. Mixed in with plenty of pace work, involving exertion over shorter distances.

The reward in running for me, and I imagine most other runners, comes from pushing through the personal doubts and challenges, and going on to achieve goals and targets. Even simply completing a particularly hard training session can be just as rewarding as pushing a PB by a few seconds. Just the other week we were doing 8 x 800m sessions at 10k pace. It was a lot of hard work, and a few of us taking part weren’t sure we could manage it – largely because we’d made the mistake of trying to keep pace with faster runners in the first few repeats. So finishing it felt very good indeed (as well as a timely reminder about pacing!). The 3k run home afterwards wasn’t so much fun though – I didn’t have much left in me! But that particular session was, in hindsight, probably one of the most useful I’ve had in a while.

My doubts with the MHFS 10k are that the course isn’t particularly level in the Pollok Park (PDF course map here – Pollok park is the 3.5k – 7k section). It’s certainly not hilly, but it’s not flat, and my PB does come from a flat course (doh!). There’s only one nasty hill in Pollok park, and the race course takes us down it, not up it! But as the course through the park is then very gradually back uphill, it’ll be important to push hard in the main downhill section to compensate for the loss of time later on, and not let the change in pace through the park throw me off. The “average pace” indicator on my Garmin should help here.

So whilst I’m getting a bit worried it is probably more pre-race nerves and worrying about pacing. I probably have done enough training to put on a reasonable challenge on my PB next Sunday. I’ve been running to and from my running club (ok, our training is frequently in Pollok park, so not far to return from), so I’m averaging well over 10k in the weekday club sessions, and getting decent runs in over the weekend (a nice 10 miler at 8am this morning was especially enjoyable). I managed to get my current PB by being careful about pacing, so I’m intending to do similar this time and ensure I focus on being consistent. I know how I feel when I’m at the right pace (runner, know thyself!), so if I can find that “sweet spot”, I just need to hang on in there.

Bigger than the challenge though is that this race is the first anniversary of my very first race (the 2007 MHFS 10k, so the same course) since taking up running. I ran that in around 54 minutes, so to be even considering a 10 minute improvement from a year ago still feels like a huge achievement, and I’m looking forward to comparing my performance from the two race to see how my general fitness has changed. Fingers crossed for good running weather too!

I had quite an early start this morning, as I’d volunteered to help my running club with the start marshalling at the 2008 Glasgow Women’s 10k.

I’d not marshalled before, so was quite looking forward to it. The Women’s 10k is a big event (over 12,000 participants), and while there are professional stewards and event organisers, the club has been invited to help with the start marshalling for a few years now: I was to help out with the ‘pulse’ signs (to phase the runners so the faster runners were at the front), and ensure runners weren’t moving too far forward. With a complimentary pink t-shirt (Not sure it suits me), and an impressive sounding ‘Race Official’ tag, it was all very enjoyable helping out. Nobody seemed to want any of my safety pins though

After the start, and our responsibilities finished, we were free to go and watch the race and lend our support to the runners, so I barrelled over to Pollok Park to catch the lead runners pass by at the top of the biggest hill on the course (named “Sarah’s hill”). There was an impressive Elite field boosted by a number of Eritrean runners who were, I understand, seeking asylum in Glasgow, and had been invited to take part. I don’t (yet) know the winning time, but it was fast. And fellow club member Ian deserves a prize for his vocal support to all the club runners that passed by our various support pitches.

I took a number of pictures (click here) with my old compact camera (I need a new one!) during my travels.

All in all a fun day, and hopefully some great times will result for the Bella Girls. I’d hoped to get out for a run myself after getting home, but gave it a miss as I’ve not been feeling too great. Hoping it’s temporary, as I need to make some serious inroads over the next couple of weeks if I’m to get below the 45 minute time I’ve got in mind for next months Men’s 10k.

Update

• The Evening Times has a video piece on the race, and today’s results supplement is available online here too.
• The front page of the supplement is dominated by fellow Bella runners!
• And I even feature (bottom left, looking chirpy) on page 2 of the supplement.