After a late night at the comedy Club, it was a later than normal alarm call due to it being our 'home race'. Picked up Tim and parked at the hospital, deciding to jog in to the start for a warm up rather than take our chances in finding a parking space close to the start.
My race plan was to keep to 4.10's for as long as I could with the aim of hopefully dipping in under 42 minutes.
After registering we made our way to the start line bumping into Andrew on the way. Before we knew it the race was about to begin and we were standing at the back of the pack gasbagging! Beginners mistake given the first km or so of this course with the congestion around the annoying double loop of the car park. Andrew pushed his way to the front but Tim and I stayed where we were and decided to fight through the masses instead.
Anyway, the gun went off and surprise surprise, it took us 5-7 seconds to cross the starting line. Very frustrating! For the loops the only way to pass people was to run wide left which in turn meant running further as the loop ran to the right!
After what seemed an age, I eventually made it out of the loops and onto the first incline past rego and on to the top part of the course.
Surprisingly, despite my dire start position, I was actually travelling ok by this time and getting in to what felt like a good pace. There wasn't a 40 minute pacer and so I didnt know how far behind I was but I went through the first km in 4.11 so not that bad considering the start.
Once I had reached some relatively open road the pace increased and it was about this point that Tim surged past me looking very strong. He quickly gapped me as I tried to keep him in my sights.
The next km split passed at 3.59 which indicated that the pace had picked up again, not surprsing given the start. From here the course falls away across the roundabout and to the turnaround point which is at the lowest point of the course. Not surprisingly, the 2-3km was another quick one at 4.02 with Tim still looking strong in front, albeit not extending his lead. So far so good!
From the turnaround point, we both pushed the hill back to the roundabout and back onto the flat section. 4.07 for the next km. Still looking good!
From the crest back to the rego point and onto the loop section again I started to reel Tim in as he was slowing down, and I eventually passed him on the lead into the loop, managing to pull away as the course started its second lap. 4.08 for the next split and I was still on target for a sub 42 at the 6km mark.
I was feeling strong at this point and so continued to push past rego and up to the flat section again, passing a couple of slower runners. From here to the roundabout I started to struggle but put my head down and pushed on knowing that there was only really one more hill to go.
I put the hammer down a little more to the turnaround point and immediately tried to hold my pace on the hill up to the roundabout, following an English guy I recognised from my 6 Foot training. By this point a group of 3 of us had formed, all familiar faces, with me at the back of the trio.
From the roundabout, the 2 others tried to pull away a little as I tried to hold on. 4.12 for km 8 and 4.08 for km 9. From the crest of the hill and the flat section I knew it was basically downhill to the finish and so I tried to hold on to the tails of the 2 guys, pushing as hard as I could!
The 2 guys eventually pulled ahead as we entered the loop for the last time and ran out of sight. Strangely enough it was at this point that I started playing mind games with myself and doubting myself. Quite why this occurred 400m from the end I have no idea! Probably as I was running by myself which I am not used to during these races.
I eventually rounded the last corner, put in my customary sprint finish and crossed the line at 41.10!
I waited around for Tim who crossed the line just over a minute behind me having done another PB. Apparently he got a second wind for the last 3 km's.
On reflection I am stoked with the time considering what I was aiming for. Despite not being an outright PB, it was a PB for the course, beating my time of 41.17 in 2008. I suspect that it was actually the second fastest 10km I have ever done so not bad considering! Seems having the km's in my legs is helping me maintain form during the latter sections of races, something I have been struggling with over the past year or so.
Great to catch up with Andrew afterwards and his tales of Oxfam. He only missed a PB by a few seconds despite having run 100km a week ago! Inspirational stuff.
Ran back to the hospital with Andrew and Tim for a warm down.
Km splits went as follows:
4.11
3.59
4.02
4.07
4.08
4.13
4.09
4.10
4.08
3.58
Finishing position: 109th
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