Clapham Common – Girl Running Crazy

…I’ve drawn this inevitable conclusion after finishing my 4th 10k race in 6 weeks and still not clocked a new PB. 10ks are stupid.

Sunday was the RunThrough Clapham Common 10k and it was the hottest day of the year so far. The Metro reported temperatures of 27 degrees in London, quite a contrast to the wind and rain just 7 days earlier (where I also blamed the weather for my under par performance…)

Saturday was also a beaut of a day and I found myself in a beer garden with a craving for cider. I never drink before a race so this surprised my friend who was more than happy to join me for some fruity pear goodness (practically one of your 5 a day anyway). Staying sober and sensible hasn’t done me any favours in the speed stakes so I thought I’d try the ‘fluid & carbs’ approach. 3 seemed about right.

I also made a careful effort to match my nails to my trainers to see if that improved my speed…

Conclusion? Well, neither of these things worked but you can’t compromise on style just because you’re a big sweaty mess and fluid & carbs are as important as oxygen (this is a fact), so I stand by my race prep.

It really was a hot, hot, hot day and I was even beginning to feel the heat as I left the house at 8.30am. The sun was scorching as we set off on the 2 lap course and it wasn’t going to let up. Don’t get me wrong, I love the sun and I love the heat but running in it is HARD, I even took a cup of water at 5k which I wouldn’t usually bother doing. I finished in 48.16 and couldn’t get my hands on a bottle of Lucozade quick enough. I’ll just call it a training run then.

The best part of the day was spotting super speedy Cat in the crowd, who I met for the first time at the Richmond Relays and meeting Hannah & Lorna who I hadn’t met before but were both fabulous. It’s always great to meet up with people who think the same way as you and, despite all being amazing runners doing amazing things, they all had their own self-doubts and concerns. I think they’re just bloody brilliant.

On my way home from work yesterday I was trying to draw some positives from my recent 10k attempts and it wasn’t actually as difficult as I thought:

Race 1: I beat Paula Radcliffe, ran a time I was more than happy with 4 weeks after VLM and had a fab evening with Zoe & free Prosecco.

Race 2: I only bloody well came 2nd and am now the proud owner of a badass trophy!

Race 3: I was the 3rd female Chaser in Richmond which officially makes me a Surrey Road League Race points scorer.

Race 4: I met some truly inspirational runner chicks who reminded me of the true spirit of running and that’s something no timing chip or Garmin stat can ever take away from us.

On the plus side, I didn’t ache at all yesterday which meant I was totally up for the Club social run and weekly bants with the Chasers – winner!

*Obviously I don’t really think 10ks are for wimps. I have nothing but respect, admiration and embarrassing amounts of jealously for anyone who can nail this git of a distance that’s too long to put the pedal to the floor from the off and too short to make excuses for. RESPECT

So yesterday I failed once again to beat my 10k PB. Yesterday I failed to run faster than We Own The Night which was only 4 weeks after the London Marathon so I really should have been on better form. It was a bit windy, and there was a tiny bit of congestion on one of the paths, but I’m not sure either are a valid excuse.

The problem with 10k’s, I’ve discovered, is that they’re hard. They’re hard because you practically have to sprint the whole way to get a good time. You can’t give yourself an ‘easy’ mile, you can’t ‘hold back’ in case you run out of energy and you can’t let your focus slip. You go hard, and then you go harder, or you might as well just give up and accept that you’ve already achieved your best.

Yesterday was the Ranelagh Harriers Richmond 10K. As a Surrey Road League race it was about 90% club runners and there was a pretty good turnout from the Chasers – 11 boys and 7 girls. My usual race strategy is to pick someone in front who’s faster and try and keep up, however, this only works when they’re consistent… Yesterday I seemed to overtake all the people I was hunting down which made it all too easy to fall into my own comfortable pace. I say comfortable, it wasn’t comfortable at all but it wasn’t pushing myself to the nauseating limit which is where I needed to be for a sub 45.

Lauren, Ruth and I. A little bit sweaty and a little bit rained on.

The race was 2 flat road laps through Richmond, it was a nice course but it was quite windy in places. I crossed the line in 47.34. It’s not bad, but it’s not good, and it’s most definitely not a PB. My self pity was relieved slightly when I realised I was the 3rd Chaser girl home and got a mention in the newsletter this morning, but I’m still disappointed.

So the quest for a new PB continues, but there is really only one more opportunity this year to smash it before I’m back in marathon training.

Sunday morning. Clapham Common. Flat, fast & all too familiar. Bring it on…