I signed up for the Samsung night run on Sunday 27th April and started training on Tuesday 22nd April. Bad idea. Real Bad. Today is Tuesday - 48 hours after I crossed that finish line - and although, I'm writing this blog so I obviously survived it, I am in a LOT of pain!
So far this blog looks really negative - so I'm going to change that!. If you think you would like to tackle a 10k - or a 5k maybe, it is a really great thing to do. I enjoy races for a number of reasons; I like having a route outdoors without 40 sets of traffic lights or running the risk of getting knocked down by the 46A, the adrenalin before and during the race is amazing and most of all - on finishing the race - there is a massive sense of achievement. I'm also a bit competitive - so I love passing people out during the race and tripping people up to get rid of the competition. All lies - but running is a race is a lot of fun, just don't take anyone out!
A friend of mine, Olga, signed up for the race with me. Another great idea - to have support in the lead up to the race, on the day of and during the race too. Just another handy tip -I will go into more on our race in a little bit.
Training (or lack of): In preparation for the race I took to the treadmill and ran 3k on a Tuesday night in 15 minutes. That was very fast for me! My knees were in a LOT of pain the next night. But psychologically I said - right tomorrow I will double it. I was advised by a pro to only do 3k again and maybe 3k on a cross trainer. But guess what I did - 6k on the treadmill. Silly move. I was now shattered and sore before the weekend! So lesson for you all - give yourself a few weeks to train for a race- and rest in between each day!
I did not run any more until race day, I spent time in sauna and steam room and spent a lot of time foam-rolling seriously tired muscles. One more day til race day - how many more mistakes can I make? One...yes just one. I had planned to go out on Saturday night. I went out and drank about 5 drinks (possibly more!). Worst mistake yet. I felt EVERY one of those drinks during the race. So - I make all the mistakes and you can all learn from them. Do not, under any circumstances drink alcohol the night before a race. You may see that booze again after the race!
Race day -Hungover but I managed to eat strategically, little and often. Things like eggs are good, nuts for energy and carb loading is allowed (woooohooo to Carbs!) and I made sure that I ate about 3 hours before I ran to give it time to digest. I also bought a protein bar for directly after the race (this was the only sensible thing I did!)
We arrived to the start line around 15 minutes before the race, the atmosphere was electric. Everyone in the same glow in the dark tops (but yellow is so not my colour) - there was an organised warm up and a DJ. It felt very cool to be part of! With your race pack you get a timing chip - and your result gets put on a website, so there is no hiding when you cross the line! With that in mind, Olga and I had set ourselves a target of between 54-57 minute for the 10k.
The race was tough, really tough, The route was hard work - a lot of uneven surfaces (kinda dangerous when it is dark out!), and I think the race was over subscribed. There was a couple of "gridlock" moments. But once we got into our stride it was fine! There are usually markings to show when you hit each KM, which is great at times (but I did want to cry a couple of times - like eh at 2,3,4,5 k etc!). Olga and I stayed at same pace for the whole race - she jogged fast and I kept up. If I was on my own I would sprint and jogged slowly. Everyone has their own way - so my advice is do your own thing or maybe find out by doing a few races what works for you.
We finished the 10k - and felt very proud! We did it in 56 mins - I was hoping for a little faster, but always next time. Finally - warming down and stretching in the hours and days after the race cos guess what - I didnt do that. And now I am in bits!
I have added a list of a few races that are coming up - I will probably run a few of them - so if anyone fancies joining me - just let me know!
Date
|
Event
|
Location
|
Distance
|
June
2nd
|
Flora
Women’s Mini Marathon
|
City
Centre
|
10K
|
June
28th
|
Dublin
Race Series
|
Phoenix
Park
|
5
mile
|
July
20th
|
Dublin
Race Series
|
Swords
|
10K
|
July
17th
|
St.
James Hospital
|
City
Centre
|
6K
|
August
23rd
|
Dublin
Race Series
|
Phoenix
Park
|
10
mile
|
August
30th
|
Great
Pink Run
|
Phoenix
Park
|
10K/5K
|
Sept
20th
|
Dublin
Race Series
|
Phoenix
Park
|
Half
Marathon
|
Hope your enjoying the blog! SJ x
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