Woodhall Spa 10 - Events - Runner's World

drew

22/09/2002 at 14:50

Woodhall Spa lies about 40 miles east of Sheffield and offers a fast, flattish course. Today's field numbered about 500. Weather was quite mild but with a strong blustery wind coming in from the North.

Wasn't sure what to expect today as I've been suffering from a stomach bug all week which has left me a bit tired and lethargic. Here's what happened..

1st km was downhill with a following wind. I'd promised myself not to start off too fast so was a bit suprised to reach the 1st marker in 3:20 (5:20 pace). Lying in about 15th position. Settled down after this and a group of 5 of us raced quite happily to the 5k point in 18:09. Next 1k was done in 3:36 and the group started to break up. Now lying in 17th position. Managed to chase down 2 other runners who had started off too fast and were suffering over the last few Kms. Managed a 3:29 final km and finished in 36:17. A new PB by 30 seconds and 15th position. Also achieved a negative split.

Apart for the 1st and last km this was a very evenly paced run and despite the PB one of the most comfortable races I've ran. (It still hurt though!)

Sub 36 min may still be possible this year.

Hilly

22/09/2002 at 15:14

Drew that's a great time, well done! You're obviously well on form and in shape for a sub 36. Someone once said to me "if you don't feel pain/discomfort when racing you aren't working hard enougth". Not something that can be said of you I'm sure!

mmmm...marmite

22/09/2002 at 16:41

Drew,
what a result! Sounds like you had a brilliant race mate. That's a great time you should be well chuffed.

Velociraptor

22/09/2002 at 17:02

Great stuff, Drew. Well done! Scarily fast already and with the potential to be even faster.

Stickless

22/09/2002 at 17:19

Bravo! 15th out of 500, just over 36 min., new PB. Makes inspiring reading. Make a note of what you're doing. It's got to be something right. And after a week of gut rot too. Again well done!

drew

23/09/2002 at 10:44

Hilly, a very good point you make. The theory is that the first half should be comfortable so that you've got enough left to hurt yourself in the second half. Ideally you should finish the race believing that you couldn't have gone any faster. I probably could have hurt myself more if I'd been feeling a little bit better as the effects of the stomach bug were still evident.

Mike S

23/09/2002 at 11:16

That's a great run Drew - and an excellent PB. I'm sure with enough quality runners around you in a race situation you're capable now of breaking 36 minutes.
Not sure I agree with the theory - though bear in mind a) I'm moving up from 5K which is the distance I do most often b) the races I've had the last two Sundays have had significant "hard" stretches (off-road and uphill respectively) in the first half of the race. As long as I have a target or something/someone to focus on (so I can stop feeling sorry for myself), I seem to be well capable of inflicting pain on myself in the latter half of a race irrespective of how hard I ran the first half!

MartinH

23/09/2002 at 14:29

Drew

An excellent run and presumably that make up for your disappointment at the half marathon. Running sub-6:00 min miles is really fast.

I generally find that 10k's hurt all the way! with the most difficult aspect being the mental one of not letting concentration slip in the face of pain.

drew

23/09/2002 at 14:56

Martin, I purposely tailgated some runners for a few miles, which definitely helped (specially since one of them was a bulky 6'3") But once I'd got into my rythm it seemed quite "easy" and I managed to tow the group along for a couple of km.

I think it seemed comfortable because I've been focussing on lactate threshold and VO2max training over the past 4 weeks. As a result my heart and lungs were operating better than ever. It was really my legs that hurt. A few more races like this, without my HRM should help me to increase the pain threshold.

drew

23/09/2002 at 16:02

Just checked the on-line results. Winning time was 31.35. My official time was 36:15. First time my official time has been faster than my watch time! Guess which one I'll use for my PB.

Tanni Grey-Thompson also took part and finished in 27:37! Now that's fast.

proper bo

25/09/2002 at 15:29

i think you got 18 seconds from my official time!

drew

25/09/2002 at 16:13

Graham, that would have been excellent - if I had - as it would have got me under 36 minutes! Do you think the official times were wrong?

TITCH

29/09/2002 at 20:37

COULD YOU TELL ME THE WEBSITE FOR THE RESULTS OF WOODHALL 10K PLEASE.WELL DONE BY THE WAY.

Scar Runner

29/09/2002 at 21:54

Drew well done, you really deserved that PB after Glasgow and your determined training. It's a brilliant time, you must be well pleased.

Personally find 10ks the most painful of all distances, hard at the start, dreadful by the end.

I must have misread the Windsor thread 'cause I could have sworn someone just mentioned having met you there. I know you train hard, but surely you didn't get from Windsor to Woodhall in the same day??

drew

29/09/2002 at 22:47

Laura, Woodhall was last weekend! I'm actually starting to enjoy 10k's more than anything else.

Julie, the following is the link

http://www.bbc.co.uk/lincolnshire/sport/woodhall_spa_10k_results.shtml

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