Sunday 8 April 2012

Delapre Abbey 10k - so far so good!

After no run Friday or Saturday I was itching for a run today.  I had kept up the core muscle exercises but no runs.  A part of me really missed the regular run.  The other part of me gave me a good slap to say I need some rest days!  Ha ha! 

Today was the Delapre Abbey 10k by Ultra Go Beyond events.  The last time I went to one of their events I was running through parts of Irchester Forest I had never seen before and I've been there a number of times with the family.  As the last event with them was so thoroughly entertaining and utterly tough I was looking forward to today knowing it wouldn't be a road race but a mixture of path's and field.  So how did it go? 

The morning started with drizzle. Driving to Northampton, the windscreen wipers were on all the way. I had towels and a complete change of clothes. After the soaking I had this week I was determined not to repeat the mistake of being unprepared. 

I arrived in good time to pick up my T-shirt and chip.  Topped up on High5 Zero then did a quick warm up jog to the start line.  It was good to see Shon there.  The last race I saw him at it was a 5k at Woburn Abbey and

We all started in stages, 10k first followed by half marathon then marathon. 

I found the first lap fairly easy, I kept my pace even and not to fast knowing that I'd have to repeat this lap another 2 times.  Repeating the lap felt pretty tough, its been a while since I ran in mud and soft grass and even though my legs and lungs felt good my ankles were feeling a bit rough.  Lap 1 was a loop around the lake and back to the house, a shorter lap than the following 2 laps.  Lap 2 went around the lake like the first lap and then out into the field in front of the main house.  Lap 3, a repeat of lap 2, was thankfully helped along by a very friendly and entertaining fella.  We had a very similar pace and we kept each other going for most of the first part of lap 3.  In the second half of lap 3 this guy kept the encouragement coming that I pushed myself much harder than I would have done if I was running by myself.  A huge thank you to this guy, I beat my last 10k PB this year by a whopping whole 3 minutes!! 

After spending so much time running this week and getting such a good result this weekend I am planning to make sure I get lots of good runs in this week for the Ampthill Flitwick Flyers 10k next weekend.  It will be the third time going round this course and I am totally looking forward to it. 

TTFN
Hels

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