So, once again this weekend coming is the Bognor Prom 10k. I’ve written this before but this is one of, if not, my favourite running race of the year. As I grew up close to Bognor Regis I know the area pretty well and have many family and friends who still live there. I was introduced to the race in 2004 when I finished in 52:59 and since then I keep on coming back, with the 2010 race being my seventh year in a row. Here’s how I’ve fared over the years…
- 2004 - 52:59
- 2005 - 46:28
- 2006 - 44:26
- 2007 - 39:27
- 2008 - 39:17
- 2009 - 40:24
To be honest I’ve not really trained for running performance over the past few months. What with my foot injury that ruled out December, January and February and since March my main effort has been to not aggrivate the foot and to do plenty of miles on the bike. I’ve done next to no structured training for short distance (10k) races. To top this off my right hamstring has been painful for about a month or so.
OK, so that’s my excuses over and done with. Whats the plan for this one. Well, after last year when I just crept over 40 minutes (I blame the strong wind along the seafront on the day) after a couple of years in the lowish 39’s, I’d love to revisit the 39’s again. I want to plan to do two 20 minute 5k’s and then see what’s left (if anything) in the tank during the last couple of kms. I know I can run sub 20 for 5k without too much difficulty - the issue is that I don’t know if I can do two of them back to back.
As we get closer to race day I felt that I needed to test myself out to see if I can hold together a 40 minute 10k. Last week I was working away and the hotel gym had a fancy treadmill (the ones with TV’s built in - not that I was interested in ‘MTV My Super Sweet 16 Teen Cribs’ or whatever it was called!) so I thought I’d test myself out for a 40 minute 10k. I punched in the numbers and then got on with it. The last 10 minutes or so were not particularly pretty but I finished in just under 40 minutes (39:47) and that was a real mental boost. Provided I have a good nights sleep, a cup of coffee and a bowl of porridge for breakfast (and the weather gods are on my side) I’d love to dip just under 40 this coming Sunday.
This week I’ve done an forced running taper. Last weekend I had a BIG weekend of cycling (just under 150 miles) and my legs have really been feeling it the past few days. However, I’ve got myself some new Asics shoes (I’m a big fan and have been going through the 21xx range for the past few years) and did a 5 mile treadmill run last night. All was good. At a minimum I’ll squeeze in a parkrun on Saturday morning (as you do!) prior to Sunday’s race.
Stay tuned…