A few Sundays ago I participated in the Sport Relief ‘mile’, except I chose the 6 mile version. I signed up for it so long ago that even though I had it in my diary, my training for it wasn’t what it could have been, surprise surprise!
The race was held the day the clocks changed, which meant getting up even earlier for the race. They had the 6 mile race twice during the day, and boy am I glad I chose the 10.30am one, it was such a hot day I think I’d have really suffered if I went for the mid afternoon session.
I woke up around 7am and ate a bagel as fuel before going back to bed for an hour before the race. Ryan and I walked down to the start leisurely as we hadn’t been there before, but it was easy to find and actually in a really nice part of our new home town. The start was a big disorganised, and I was surprised how few people were running the 3 and 6 mile race.
I kept saying to Ryan how unprepared I felt, and how I might drop down to the 3 Miles. I’m glad I didn’t though! The race took place on all completely new roads to me, covering hills, trails and a golf course! It’s pretty close to where I live so I’ll definitely be going out to explore this new area some more.
The first mile or so felt relatively easy despite the hill, but around 2.5 miles the heat started getting to me. I picked up some free water and carried on, but I was getting overtaken a lot. The bottle of water probably slowed me down a bit and once I ditched it I felt a lot freer. I also got some pretty bad chafing under my arm, but that was my own fault for not wearing a sports tank top and just wearing a cheap cotton one instead!
The course was two laps of 3 Miles, so once I was half way through I knew how to pace myself for the rest of the race. For the second half of the race I was pretty much running on my own, and I think I was the last person. Whilst it was quite nice not to feel any competition I think a bit of competition would have sped me up!
I finished the course, which actually turned out to be 5.6 Miles and I felt like I could have gone on further. My knees also didn’t feel bad like they did after my last 10K race.
Here are my splits:
Mile 1 = 11:21
Mile 2 = 11:58
Mile 3 = 11:53
Mile 4 = 11:55
Mile 5 = 11:35
Mile 0.6 = 07:00
Total time = 1:05:44
Average pace = 11:43
I know I’m not breaking any records, but it definitely gives me something to work on! I’d love for my next race that my splits be under 11 min/mile each and that will take some hard work!
Now I have to plan my next race! Any suggestions? What races do you have coming up?
Stripes and Snapshots 