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How Did That Happen?



Sometimes the unexpected happens...

This morning I pinned my race number to my t-shirt, did a very gentle warm-up amongst the crowds around Media City in Salford Quays, waited an age to cross the start line in a very narrow funnel and then...

I ran my fastest 10k in over 3 years!


How did that happen? 

I've been trying to work that out all day.

Perhaps it was being back in Manchester - the location of my first marathon and a race that couldn't really have gone any better. Today's route took in some of the same streets and it was a really positive reminder of a special run. I managed a negative split that day as well.

Perhaps it was getting a good night's sleep and not having to get up too early - we stayed in the Premier Inn just 5 minutes from the start line. I'm never good with really early starts so that suited me perfectly. We could see Salford Quays from our window and didn't have to leave the hotel until just before 10 for the 10.15am start.

Perhaps it was my healthier diet of recent weeks... no Haribo since the start of August and my new fruit challenge too - a different fruit every day in September. So far, I've had blueberries, grapes, nectarines, strawberries, mango, lychees and pineapple and today it was a race-day banana.

Perhaps it was the fitter = faster circuit session at Potters Trotters on Thursday or the simple interval session I tried on Tuesday

Perhaps it was my go faster playlist - I've not run whilst listening to music in a long time but it helped me today, especially where the route was on quiet streets with barely a spectator in site.

Perhaps it was because I didn't have any expectations or put any pressure on myself. I was relaxed and not actually worrying about my time before I started.

Perhaps it was because I had tickets for the last day of the Test Match at Old Trafford and was worried about it all being over before I got there... I only missed 13 overs in the end. It wasn't quite the heroics of Headingly but the sun shone and we had a good day.

The more I think about, the less idea I have.

But it did happen and I enjoyed it!


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Comments

  1. Simon Douglas Thompson9 September 2019 at 18:03

    If I ever do 10km in under an hour again I'll have to eat at least one of my hats

    ReplyDelete

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