Southampton 10k, 2015

On Sunday I ran the inaugural Southampton 10k.  I registered for this a few months ago, choosing the 10k rather than the more prestigious half marathon option because at the time I was still suffering from Achilles heel problems and I didn't know what state I'd be in by now.

It started at the unholy time of 08:30, with stern recommendations to arrive 90 minutes beforehand.  This is not family-friendly - especially when you have teenage sons who really don't do early starts.  So I drove the car to Peat and Lynne's place and cycled to the start from there with Lynne and two of her friends.  I'd decided to abandon the idea of leaving a bag, so I gradually got chilly in the damp 9-degree air.  There were a few friendly OS faces there.  I looked around at the start and reckoned that there wasn't a lot of stuff competition here, and moved forward close to the start line.

Off we went.  Great support on the streets, even at this hour, and a few more familiar faces to wave at.  I really enjoyed the route through bits of Southampton that I didn't know or hadn't connected together, and the kilometres seem to fly past.  In the middle was the Itchen bridge, out and back.  I'd heard people talking abut the bridge as a stupendous hill.  Come off it, I thought, it's only a bridge.  It's actually quite a bridge - a long drag up and down, and then back again, all in a steady crosswind.  It was a good chance to check out the competition.  4 ahead of me, the first 3 looking strong and well ahead, #4 distinctly vulnerable. I took him soon after the bridge, and I was amazed that we were so close to the finish already.

Fresh as a daisy

It all threatened to go jelly-shaped in the dying minutes.  Something went wrong with the marshalling and I found myself lost in a park with a sea of people walking around me.  '10k over there!' a lady in hi-vis shouted and I tore off to the right in a state of anguish.  How much time had I lost? How many places?  Adrenaline-fuelled, I tore around the final km.  The finish was quite something - a real wall of noise.  A lady I recognised came up to me, told me she was the referee and that I was 1st M40 and had won fifty quid! What's more, I'd kept my 4th place.

Lonely as a cloud

What a tremendous April! The Bournemouth quarter marathon just before Easter (OS the first team), the civil service 10k last Wednesday in Battersea Park - finished in 37:53; S third team) and today first M40.  My time today wasn't that impressive at 38:53, but it had all gone well and points had made prizes.  Add in a remarkable 5k time, and it's been a most satisfactory month.

Here are the results and here is a video.. check out the stumbling carthorse at 2:30.

Parkrun PB

It was 11am yesterday, and I was, quite frankly, stunned.  Mrs S had come out into the garden waving my phone... on it was a text saying that I had completed the Eastleigh course in 18:18.

I fumbled the stopwatch at the start, so I had no idea how I was doing.  The course was bone dry and the wind was light - perfect conditions.  I finished in 5th place - quite respectable, and I felt it had gone OK.  I had no expectation of beating my PB in the course of 18:44, set around this time last year.

But clearly everything had come together.  The scale of the improvement left me blinking in wonder. I've smashed my ambition of beating my Eastleigh record of 18:35, set at the old course at the university playing fields, and furthermore I've beaten my PB at the Southampton course of 18:22.

Next stop - can I go sub-18 at Southampton?

10k-tastic

This year, April is 10k month.

It kicked off with a very-nearly-10k last Saturday with the East Cliff Easter Quarter Marathon.  I've never raced this precise distance before - it's 10.548 km.  Naomi from work had organised no fewer than 3 OS teams, so 15 of us plus WAGs and children turned out on a bright, cool spring day at Boscombe Pier.  There was a great atmosphere of seasidy expectation.

Off we went... it was the first time that I've raced this distance for ages.  I passed the first mile In about 6:15 which felt about right.  I was steadily overtaking people - almost exclusively club runners. A very simple course - out on the beach promenade, then home on the cliff.

The pacing felt good.  I was really hopping to arrive home in under 40 minutes.  I was looking at my watch as we got closer.... 37, 38 minutes... it's not going to happen... ah, but there'll be a fast downhill bit to the pier... Mrs S and J both told me I had my most awful face on at the finish and I was really working hard, but it was 40:28. Still, that was my first quarter marathon and still early days in terms of returning to racing form.  A thoroughly enjoyable morning out for everyone.