10km - Swindon 10km

Despite the clear skies and sun this morning when we left home to travel to Swindon, by the time we arrived it was pouring and very windy!

We sat in the car for 30 minutes as we were early and too scared to brave the weather! Thankfully the rain stopped just before we started, but it was still soooo cold!

It was a pretty uneventful race for my second 10km - I just wanted to beat my time from my first 10km (68:26). The course was mostly flat, with lots of puddles for splashing in! :D


I kept a really even pace throughout - aiming for 6:30-7:00 minutes for each kilometre, and I managed 6:15 - 7:00 for each one. Just past the 9km marker we turned back onto the main road to be met with gale-force winds! (If anyone has done the Great South Run, it was like the last two miles of that!) The last km was a real struggle - slightly uphill and into those winds. Turned the final corner to see Amy, Dave, Anna, Kathy, Jay and Julia cheering me on! Dug my heels in for the last 100 metres and finished in a time of 66:45 - over 90 seconds faster than my previous time :D

Anna, Julia, Andrew, Alison, Julia, Kathy, Jay and Amy

We headed back to chez Glencross for a quick shower and tea and then out for a yummy roast lunch followed by apple pie and custard - it was great to see so many familiar faces there and catch up with everyone again.

Only two weeks to the *GRIM* now... :D

5km - Basingstoke ParkRun

I've been meaning to go back to Parkrun for a while now, the last time I went (at the end of August) I managed to achieve my mini-goal of finally running a sub-35 minute 5km - my time was 34:26.


A few weeks after this I ran my first 10km - a bit quicker than double my 5km time, so I knew I should be able to get a quicker 5km PB. So I set my next goal at Sub-33 minutes.

Over the past couple of months I've been focusing on building up my distance, and hadn't run a 5km race in that time until today.


Why all the back story? So that hopefully you will understand how pleased I am with my time today of 31:52! :) I even got a mention in the ParkRun newsletter for my PB: http://www.parkrun.org.uk/basingstoke/News.aspx (Event 71).

If I wasn't there, I'd never have believed I could run that fast! :D

5.9 Miles - TVXC: Datchet Cross Country

I showed up for this, my first cross country event, to find the field packed with 'proper' runners. I glanced down at my Sandhurst vest and realised I was one of them! Why else was I in a muddy field on a cold Sunday morning?!

Although it was the first cross country event of the season, in reality, it was more 'off-road' as although it was muddy it was completly flat! I started at the back of the group with a couple of other runners from my club - we'd decided to run at a steady pace and not worry about coming last (its only the first 10 people or so that actually score points for the club, the rest of the runners are just there for fun). After a lap of the field, we were off. It was pretty muddy and slippery in places, but not too bad. I kept my pace steady, and am pretty sure I ran a negative split race. I managed to over-take 3 people in the last mile and even managed a little spurt at the end! :)

The marshalls were amazing and every single one of them (and there were a fair few on the way round) clapped and cheered me on as I ran past - it was a really nice atmosphere and there was cake a refreshments after the run.

I was really pleased as my pace for this race was 10:43 - my quickest pace ever and first one under 11:00 per mile. My pace for my previous off road race was 11:32, so it would seem that although I haven't noticed it, I am finally getting faster :D