2019 - my year of 10k races

A little later than planned, here is my review of the year of 10ks! Late in 2018 I decided that it would be a good idea to run a 10k race every month of 2019 as this would really help me to improve my running. I am also (as you have probably gathered by now) addicted to bling so the thought of 12 shiny medals was very appealing. I actually ended up with 16 shiny 10k medals as I got a bit carried away in May and June and decided to run three 10k races in each month. Note to future self - three 10k races a month is too many.

The plan, such as it was, was to get faster each month, although as with most plans, it didn't exactly pan out as hoped. However, the good news is that I did end the year a faster runner than at the beginning of the year. I got slower in the first three months which led to me starting this blog. I then sped up a bit in April and May before deciding to cut carbs from my diet which was a big mistake and meant that June's times were pretty bad. However, since July my times have steadily improved to my best time of the year which was 1:02:29 at Bushy Park in November. For these purposes I am ignoring my time for the Wimbledon Santa Run due to the somewhat challenging course conditions!

I shall not bore you with a rundown of 16 races, as most of them have been mentioned at some point in my blog, but thought I would recap my five favourite races of the year. I guess it should be no surprise that four of the five were also my best times of the year.

Bushy 10k Series

These are such lovely races, they are basically twice round the parkrun route so lovely and flat. They are quite small so you can turn up and collect your number and have a wee without having to allow loads of time. The medals are fabulous and they are excellent value for money. Plus I got my fastest time of the year in the November race at 1:02:29 so of course this makes my top five.

London Winter Run

Well, what can I say about this run? I love a big London 10k as you get all the fun and crowds and music and landmarks of a marathon but only have to run 10k! And this one has polar bears, penguins and huskies. And it is mostly flat. And there is a cool medal. Even after all my races this year, this may still be my favourite race ever. I am excited to be doing it again next month - I hope it lives up to expectations!

Hart 4 Relay Race

OK, so this is not a 10k, but I ran four 4k laps so more than 10k, and it is one of my top races of the year. It consists of teams of four people running 4k laps for four hours. There is a great atmosphere, it is fun being part of a team, and a 4k lap is very manageable, particularly since the last 2k is mostly downhill. But I think what really made this race for me is that it is when I first noticed the benefit of having lost 8kg.

Guildford 10k

Wow - what a race! I had such low expectations as I had a niggle, the course was going to be boring and started uphill and it was forecast to rain. But I absolutely loved it! As it was an out and back course there was always someone to wave to which meant I got to 5k without really noticing the running getting hard, and then there was a lovely downhill finish. I was thrilled with my time of 1:02:33 which was 2 minutes faster than my previous 10k and the medal was glittery! I was a very happy runner after this.

Wimbledon Santa Run

This race made the list not because of my time but because it was a lot of fun. It was the Sunday before Christmas so most people were in festive fancy dress and in the mood to enjoy themselves. There was even a womble helping with the warm up! The course was mostly flat but very muddy and with a lot of puddles and therefore a few detours through undergrowth, so there was no point worrying about time. This meant I could just enjoy the run in the sunshine round a pretty common surrounded by happy Christmassy people! I was extremely grateful for my Salomon Speedcross shoes which meant I was unlikely to end up actually in any of the puddles, it was interesting watching people in road shoes trying to navigate the course!

So my takeaways from 2019 are:

• Running is easier when you are lighter! I know, not exactly rocket science! I reckon losing another 5kg will really help so that is the current plan.

• Running is more fun when you don't obsess over times.

• But getting a good time always feels amazing.

• Running with friends is great, as long as you can keep up without thinking you are going to die. Maybe next year I'll manage to keep up and hold a conversation at the same time!

• I will never stop wanting shiny medals, no matter how many I have and how many extension bars to my medal hanger I need (thanks Rob!).

Best of all, I am going into 2020 knowing that I have so much more in me - I can't wait!

I love running

After September's ups and downs, October has been a great month for me. I realised that I had been getting a bit (ok, very) obsessed with my times and that this was detracting from my running experience. I decided it was time to take the pressure off and just enjoy running for its own sake.

I still recorded my runs as I love to reflect on the stats but I stopped looking at my watch when actually running. I stopped setting myself targets for a particular run and thereby putting unnecessary pressure on myself. The effect of this? I began to enjoy my running again and even managed a couple of amazing and speedy runs!

Guildford 10k

I was not looking forward to this race. It was an out and back road course with an uphill start. So it was going to be both hard and boring. However, I needed an October 10k and it was local and lots of my friends were running it.

To further depress my expectations, I picked up a hamstring/ITB niggle at the gym on the Monday before the race. Oh, and it was forecast to rain. I also ran around 7km on the Friday and did parkrun the day before the race on Sunday so my legs were far from fresh.

I fully anticipated that I would need to walk part of the route and feared that I was risking my niggle becoming an actual injury by taking part. I therefore resigned myself to a slow time.

What actually happened was that I finished the race in 1:02:33, almost 2 minutes faster than my September 10k, and enjoyed every bit of it! The out and back course meant I saw loads of people that I knew which kept the race interesting. The uphill bits were offset by some lovely downhills. My legs felt strong and my niggle held off. And it didn't rain until after I'd finished!

The Guildford 10k has now become one of my favourite races and I can't wait to do it again next year!

Sub 30 parkrun

Fast forward a couple of weeks (with a Caribbean holiday in between) and I was back at parkrun after missing the two previous Saturdays due to St Lucia not yet having a parkrun.

We ran up and down the beach for 5k in lieu of a parkrun

The weather forecast was shocking, consisting of strong winds and rain. I had just started back at work and I had enjoyed a few glasses of wine on the Friday night. I decided just to get round and not worry about a time.

A few friends and I went to Ifield Mill Pond parkrun as my local run was cancelled due to fireworks. This is a relatively new parkrun; it was appealing to me because it was on tarmac paths and was flat. It also suited some of my friends who needed an "I" for their parkrun alphabet challenge.

Before the run - slightly damp

After the run - drowned rats

It was an unusual course with several out and back sections. As I was running with quite a few friends this provided a great distraction from the driving rain. It also meant a few tight turns which were not so ideal. Again, I didn't check my watch, but I did notice that my speedy friends did not seem to be too far ahead which boded well for a decent time. I also noticed that they all looked like drowned rats - it really was a grim morning. However, this did provide an added incentive to get the run over with!

My official time was 29:14, which was much quicker than I thought possible and I was thrilled. I spent most of the day annoying my other half by reminding him of my amazing time!

Lessons learned

• Running is much more fun when you take the pressure off.

• I love out and back courses.

• When you have low expectations and then have a good run, the high is amazing.

• I am in great danger of getting obsessed with times again and will have to try hard to avoid this.

• I love running.  I love running.  I love running.

September - a mixed month

I was going to call this post "Highs and lows" - then I realised there were lots of highs and only one low. Then I reflected that the low wasn't really a low at all, just not a high. The problem is that the "not high" was one of the last runs of the month which has affected my current mood. I think it is fair to say that I am not being very logical about all this!

So let's just get this out the way - my "low" or "not high" was running Guildford parkrun 6 seconds slower than the parkrun two weeks earlier. Yes, I know, that shouldn't be a big thing. I know you can't expect a PB or improvement every week. It's just that is exactly what I have been enjoying! I have been knocking chunks off my time for weeks now. I kind of got used to it.

To put my mixed month into perspective, let me tell you about the highs.

High 1

On 7 September I took 1 minute 27 seconds off my Guildford parkrun time - completed in 30:36. This was actually faster than my Brooklands parkrun time, which you may recall I was thrilled with. Given that Brooklands is flat and Guildford is undulating, this felt pretty good.

High 2

On 15 September I completed the Reigate 10k in 1:04:24. This was 3 minutes 21 seconds faster than the Spitfire 10k in August and almost 8 minutes faster than the Richmond 10k in July. The route also included some killer hills.

High 3

I have run with the Fitstuff Friday group 3 times in September and enjoyed it! They are always a lovely group but I am now able to enjoy running with them rather than worry all the time about being too slow.








High 4

Total weight loss to date of 12.4kg.

High 5

A beautiful Lake District run, dodging the rain, not thinking about pace, but actually running my fastest time in three years for that route.

Pretty good highs, right? In fact, as I write this I feel like a bit of a muppet for making a fuss.

So let me tell you about the not high on 21 September.

It was pacer week at Guildford parkrun. Full of optimism from my recent runs, I thought I would try to run with the sub 30 pacer. I have never run with a pacer and had no reason to think that I could run a sub 30 parkrun, so what could go wrong?! Apparently I shouldn't start off too fast (although I always do) so I started off more slowly in order to pick up the pacer, which I duly did after the first hill. I then lost the pacer on the second hill and failed to catch him again, although I could at least always see him! My legs were tired from three runs in the past six days, including the 10k and a timed mile, and two excellent PT weights sessions. The whole run was a slog as I strived to stay ahead of the 31 minute pacer (which I did manage to do). The upshot was that I finished in 30:42, 6 seconds slower than my previous time. Bear in mind that two weeks earlier, I was thrilled with 30:36, so surely 30:42 was still a good run? Well, I did tell you that I have left logic behind. For the record, I blame the 6 seconds on trying not to start too fast. I have therefore learned two things - I like starting fast and I don't like running with pacers! So not a total waste of a morning.

So, whilst it may be (and is in fact completely) illogical, picture the scene at the finish. I'm tired and a bit fed up. I just want to get my breakfast and forget about the run. Now imagine a friend calling me over for a mock interview about my run, pointing out how another friend ran so much better than me!  Picture me smiling and laughing and playing along whilst feeling a bit miserable. Now I am glad my friend ran well, I truly am, I just wish I had also run well. But then I did run well really, I was just having a moment. I am over it now, well almost.

I dithered about whether to write this blog as recently I have written my blogs when I am on a high. But then social media is full of people showing off their best life so I decided to share a day when it wasn't all great, or at least it didn't all feel great at the time.

I have come across two quotes in the last couple of months which really resonated with me:

"There are people who would love to have your bad runs ... remember that."
"Don't let a time ruin your time."

Good advice for me!

Hot days and cool medals

Since I did not do a parkrun on Saturday, and therefore have no further parkrun news to impart, I thought I would provide an update on August's races. I did two races in August (parkrun is of course not a race) and both were very different and very cool.

Hart 4 Trail Relay Race - 11 August

The first was the Hart 4 Trail Relay Race, an excellent event consisting of teams of 4 running 4km laps for 4 hours. Fitstuff had 4 teams entered so we had quite a crowd of us. As the slowest member of my team "Team Gorgeous" I elected to run last so that the others would each be able to fit in 3 laps before the cut off, leaving me to run 2 or maybe 3 laps, depending on how fast we went. The rules state that as long as you start the last lap before 4 hours has elapsed, you can then finish and count that lap.

"Team Gorgeous"

As it was a hilly trail route, I had no great expectations, estimating that I would take around 30 minutes. I was therefore very happy to finish my first lap in 26:48, a pace of 6:42min/km. It was very much a course of two halves, starting with an uneven grassy stretch, then around 1km of hill climb, then from around 2km it was mostly level finishing with a lovely fast descent. So as long at you could push through to halfway, you were pretty much there.

Going into the second lap, my legs were a little tired but I knew what to expect so didn't feel too daunted. It felt like a slow lap so I was surprised and happy to complete the second lap in 26:54, only 6 seconds slower than the first lap.

As we were all running well, I had no excuse not to do a third lap, tired legs meant this took a little longer at 27:51 but I am proud to say that I still ran up the hill, even though at that point I could have taken it easy as we were outside of the 4 hours. Maybe the thought of the Prosecco waiting for me at the end helped with the motivation!

Well earned fizz!

I love how grumpy the deer looks!

This race was a real confidence boost for me as I had run 12km with not a step of walk including some rather long hills. It helped me see how far I have come over the last few months. After all the running was done, we got on to the serious business of chilling out with a picnic and Prosecco. It was lovely to be a part of the day with the wonderful Fitstuff people.

Pristine came too!

London Spitfire 10K - 31 August

I am a bit of an aviation nut, so when I found out there was a Spitfire themed 10k around the historic London Aerodrome and RAF Hendon site, it had to be done! The race started with a wiggly route around the grounds of the RAF Museum, then out to two 4km laps following the old airfield, then back to the museum to run through Hangar 1 and under a Short Sunderland flying boat before heading to the finish. Each runner had the name of a Battle of Britain pilot on their back which made the run feel very special. I had Sergeant Holmes who was best known for using his own aircraft to ram a German bomber.

I must admit, the 4km lap around paths and streets did not feel particularly special, just a bit crowded and narrow. But I did enjoy running past the Spitfire Gate Guardian and running through the hangar was extremely cool.

RAF Museum Hangar 1

I had decided before the race not to think about my time but just to run, so I did not look at my watch the whole way round. My time was 1:07:45, which was around 4.5 minutes faster than my last 10k, four weeks earlier. Still trending faster which makes me happy!

Check out the medal, the propeller actually spins!

One of my favourites so far!

The Spitfire Gate Guardian

So, overall, August was a pretty good month. Now, on to see what September will bring.

Achievement Unlocked!

At the end of my last blog, I said I would achieve a sub 32 minute parkrun time by the end of August. My last parkrun in July had an official time of 33:33 so I was looking for a reduction of 1 minute 34 seconds over the month.

I am pleased to report that my last parkrun time was 30:38 - an improvement of almost 3 minutes! If I can keep this rate of improvement up for another four months I will be the first female finisher at Guildford parkrun. If only ...

So, what has caused this improvement?

Firstly, not working is great. It means I have a lot of time to exercise and be generally more active, as well as to plan and prepare healthy meals. I am also a lot less stressed and therefore far less prone to entering a "sod it" state of mind where I want to eat all the food. When I go back to work in November, the real challenge (apart from the whole new job thing) will be to maintain all this healthiness whilst working full time.

I have also got myself a personal trainer called Jack. I have had six training sessions with Jack so far and am having a lot of fun being back in the gym and playing with all the weights. Before I started running, strength training was my passion, so it is great to be getting back into it. I even once entered a Strongwoman competition, but that is a story for another blog. Jack has one task which is to devise exercises and workouts to help improve my running whilst not actually breaking me. After one session, he described my body as "complicated", I think he now knows that the real challenge is my mind! He has lost no time in pushing me to do exercises I didn't want to do (but that would be good for me) so I think the signs are promising that he will have a good effect on my running. Plus, did I mention that lifting weights is so much fun!

I lost some more weight - another 2.5kg - just 6.6kg to go to reach my parkrun PB weight.

And, I confess, I have started trying harder in parkruns. At the end of the July, a friend (she knows who she is!) commented that I don't push myself when running. Of course I was quite offended and thought it was terribly unfair of her at the time. But her comment lodged itself in my brain so at the next parkrun I thought I'd try a bit harder, resulting in 20 seconds off my previous week's time (a time I had been very pleased with). So, it seems my friend has a point.

The next Saturday I took it a bit easier as I had a race the next day (the excellent Hart Relay - to be covered in a later blog) but the following week I decided to see what I could do if I really went for it, resulting in a 32:03 time, a reduction of 1 minute 10 seconds. Awesome, I thought, except that I said on my blog I would do sub 32 by the end of August and only had one parkrun left in which to achieve this. Stupidly, I mentioned to a few people that I was going to try to take 4 seconds off my time to get sub 32 by not drinking on the Friday night and going to a flat parkrun, thereby putting quite a lot of pressure on myself.

A grumbling hamstring on Wednesday did not help my confidence but a sports massage from the wonderful Philippa (ouch!) sorted that out. Jack was told on Friday that I wouldn't be doing any exercises that stressed my hamstring as I needed fresh legs - he did as he was told, focusing on upper body exercises, meaning that I was amazed I could even move my arms on Saturday!

I duly turned up at the wonderfully flat Brooklands parkrun on Saturday, after a wine-free Friday night, wishing I had kept my mouth shut. Not helped by seeing some lovely friends from Fitstuff who had come to support me! I won't lie, I did not enjoy the parkrun and was very glad when I crossed the finish line, but all the effort was worth it with a reduction of 85 seconds rather than the 4 that I needed. Rob, Alexandra, and Abi ran with me for the last 100m which was very sweet of them although I did not acknowledge them at the time as I was focused on finishing and nothing else.

Team Fitstuff before the run

After the run with Debbie - happy but sweaty!

So, my sub 32 is done, sub 30 is my next goal but thankfully my self-imposed deadline is 2 months away.  I miss the parkruns where I take it easy and walk up hills when I feel a bit tired. Maybe I'll treat myself to a lazy parkrun from time to time so that I can enjoy the run. Although for now I think that chasing PBs may be a bit addictive.  Of course, my overall PB of 28:13 is still some way away but now starting to feel achievable.

Trending faster

Somehow we are at the end of July so it is time for another instalment of my blog. My big news is that I have left my job and don't start my new job until November - with three months to play with I am hoping to make some significant progress towards my weight and parkrun PB goals.

July's stats:

Weight loss: 1.2kg (9.1kg to lose to get to parkrun PB weight)
Holidays: 2 (so weight loss is an amazing achievement!!)
10k races: 1
10k races with hills and no walking: 1
Minutes improvement in 10k time: 7
Minutes improvement in parkrun time: 5

This month I have been practising the art of moderation. I have no natural ability in this area so I have joined a Facebook group with like minded people to help keep me honest. It probably sounds a bit odd but we share details (and pictures!!) of what we are eating and this somehow helps us make more healthy choices. Of course, whilst on my holidays (Inverness and Copenhagen) it is true to say I was not an active member of the group. 😕  However, it did help me get back to a healthy lifestyle more quickly post holiday than would usually be the case.

We may have indulged a little in Copenhagen:

Yum - just yum.

The beer was as big as Rob's head!!

Drinking in Freetown Christiana - we resisted the herbal offerings!!

Both holidays involved a parkrun, and both were flat, which made a nice change from Guildford. This helped me to get out of my habit of walking when tired which now seems to be paying off as there was no walking in my last Guildford parkrun or the latest 10k (did I mention the 10k had hills?!). The parkrun was helped by an unspoken race between me and my friend Debbie - she beat me in the end but both of us had our best times for a while. Amazing what a bit of healthy competition can do!!

Inverness parkrun is a five lap course so lots of overtaking and being overtaken which kept it interesting - it also meant you had to keep count!!  Copenhagen (Faelledparken) was twice round a park so very straightforward. It was also a small field allowing me a top 100 finish!! Both parkruns were very friendly and are highly recommended.

A tiny finish funnel at Faelledparken parkrun!!

July's 10k was Run Richmond Park, which consists of two undulating laps. The weather forecast was dreadful and there was torrential rain on the drive there but we got lucky as it didn't rain during the race. This is lucky for me as Rob gets grumpy if I make him run in the rain. 😜

I saw a beautiful herd of deer on the run but I couldn't take a photo as I couldn't stop running!! This is a sign of progress as I would have totally used it as an excuse only a few weeks ago!!

So my challenge for August is to keep improving but not get so carried away that I break myself - more of that "moderation" thing. I would love to get a sub 32 minute parkrun by the end of August and sub 30 by the time I go back to work.

Progress at last!!

Here I am fresh from my 21 day blitz - 21 days of clean eating, drinking lots of water, getting lots of sleep and, most importantly, no alcohol!!  And the result of all of this??  I feel great, of course!!  So I should probably keep it up …

So what does this mean for June's stats??

Weight loss: 5.7kg!! 😃
10k races completed: 3
Minutes improvement in 10k race time: 0 😶

I won't lie, the first week of the blitz was not so great.  I cut my calories too much and practically eliminated carbs and the upshot was that running got really hard!!  OK, it's always hard for me, but it got even harder.  I increased the calories a bit in the second and third weeks but was probably still too low on carbs so I need to do some figuring out to find out what works for me.  But I am happy to take a few slow runs in the meantime as the best thing I can do for my running is to lose weight.  Hopefully the speed will come later, as if by magic!!

Here is this month's bling:

Bushy Summer 10k - this race series always has great medals making it a favourite of mine.

Weybridge 10k - this was a slog as I was really feeling the lack of carbs.

The ice cream at the end totally made up for the effort!!

Martian Race on Horsell Common.  This was the location of the first Martian landing in H.G. Wells' novel The War of the Worlds.  So of course I had to run whilst listening to Jeff Wayne's musical version.

It was a tough and slow run but I really enjoyed it.  I tried to imagine I was being chased by a Martian fighting machine to help me speed up but it didn't work.  Clearly, my imagination is not that good.


Being an extremely goal focused person, I have set myself the challenge of completing 250 parkruns before my fiftieth birthday.  This is achievable but doesn't allow me the luxury of a Saturday off the day before a 10k race, which means I am starting each race with tired legs.  Something else I need to figure out!!

I am pleased to say that I have a four week break before my next race.  The novelty of three races a month has worn thin and my dodgy hamstring is starting to grumble so I am planning for July to be a bit less intense.

This is my fourth blog, and finally I am making some progress.  I have 10.3kg to lose to reach my parkrun PB weight so am going to keep up the clean eating but allow a few more indulgences.  Those who know me will know that I am great at the extreme quick fix diet regimes but pretty rubbish at the ongoing moderation.  Let's hope that the desire to get faster will help me to make better choices and prove that a leopard (or tortoise in this case) can change its spots!!