Dashing Back...

After confidently declaring in my last post that the Guy Fawkes 10 would be my last race of the year, earlier this week I found myself entering the Abbey Dash 10k. This is a race I've always wanted to do but am usually not around for.

So, I entered last minute, didn't think much of it, had a couple of glasses of wine the night before, got up early, sauntered into Leeds, and somehow or other managed to knock nearly five minutes off my previous 10k PB which I'd achieved only six weeks ago - coming in at 50.47!

The race is a straightforward out and back starting at Leeds Town Hall, then up to Kirkstall Abbey then back down again. I'd heard a few people say it wasn't a particularly scenic race, and some that they just didn't like it but given a PB like that, I'll definitely be back for more next year.

I think it must have helped motivation a little that the previous night, like the stats geek I am becoming, glass of wine in hand, I'd been browsing around Fetcheveryone , comparing PBs of people who ran the same time as me at the Paris Marathon this year. It became abundantly clear that I have the slowest PBs of all of them - the average 10k PB for these runners was about 45 minutes, and 5k times seemed to be nearer to 20 minutes than 25. It dawned on me that perhaps I've simply not been pushing myself enough in these races - have I been taking the good advice to start slow too far? Quite possibly. Or maybe they just weren't pushing enough in the marathon?!

Anyway, I am resolved to take this possible learning forward, and see if I really can get my times right down. This is confirmed by proudly tapping my new 10k into the race predictor calculator on the Running for Fitness site, which calculates my half marathon time should now be around 1.50. Good to have a goal in sight, albeit ambitious.