The last time I raced shorter distances was 2019 when I won the West Australian Marathon Club age group , 50-55. I’ve won this award on numerous occasions over the years but 2019 was the last time I ran the required eight events to qualify. 2020 I lost my running mojo and then COVID hit and before I knew it I was an ultra runner and avoided all the shorter distances. This year I decided to throw my hat back in the ring and try again for an age group win.  So I had to find eight races on the calendar to enter and hopefully do well enough to take out the age group win. ( https://www.wamc.org.au/programme )

The first event was the Fremantle Harbour Masters 10k, a four lap event with many twists and turns and a nasty headwind as you ran up the pier. Needless to say with little , by little I mean ‘none‘ , speed work and coming three weeks post Delirious West 200 miler, I was not set up for success.  I aimed for a sub 40 minute finish as I hadn’t run over forty minutes for 10k since the Aberdeen fun run in the late nineties, yep, for all the young readers of this post , that was last century !

I was 50-50 to even turn up to the start line as I really wasn’t feeling the love the week before the event. My training this year has been minimal , at best, and you can get away with that in ultra marathons as you’re operating in the lower gears, albeit for a long time. Unfortunately your top end pace disappears quickly, use it or lose it type scenario. I was about to find out what this felt like very early on.

I warmed up alone and the legs felt heavy, not a good sign. Mentally I think I was already beaten but this would be confirmed early on in the event. I set off at the required pace, sub 4min/k , and the first kilometre felt pretty good. Briefly I thought maybe I could get away with this, briefly.  The headwind on the second kilometre put all thoughts of a sub forty minute to bed. Runners started to pass me and I knew then I was in for a long time in the pain box, a long time. Hitting the wall before the third kilometre is not a nice place to be and by the time I finished lap one I knew I’d made a big mistake.

Mark , Shaf, John and Adam had turned up to cheer me on but the verbal encouragement can only do so much when the legs are misbehaving and the mind is urging you to stop this silly behavior. Begrudgingly I set off on lap two and dug myself deep in the pain cave with no exit in sight. Lap three was more of the same as my splits continued to rise steadily.  I did find some redemption on lap four and held my own for a 41.22 finish.

Post event , eating a banana crepe swimming in maple syrup, I made big plans to put this right in two weeks at the Joondalup 10k. These big plans were unfortunately , I use that word a lot in this post, just that, ‘plans’  . I did get out for a 19k long run with the Ben Tay Running Club (BTRC) and a couple of 14k Yelo runs but minimum distance.  Certainly not enough to rock up to the Joondalup start line with any confidence.

Joondalup had the same feel about it as Fremantle. Yet again I was 50-50 to even turn up, worried that I’d once again blow up early and find myself deep in the pain box for eight kilometres. I talked myself into going and arrived 90 minutes before the start questioning my life decisions. After I picked up my bib I got changed and started a four kilometre warm up. Conditions were perfect and unlike Fremantle my legs felt good and I was able to hold a reasonable pace. I bumped into Chris Shaw , who was pacing the 90 minute bus for the half, and we chatted about my goal as we both finished our warm ups and prepared for the event.

I watched the half start and then just about got into the start corral in time for the 10k start, by a few seconds. Before I knew it we were off and yet again I was racing.  As with Fremantle I settled into a sub 4min/k pace but this time managed to hold it without feeling my head gasket was about to blow.  If you aked me before the event I would have taken any improvement on my Fremantle time but as I continued to hold sub 4min/k pace I started to think maybe I was on for a sub forty finish.

The course is a an out and back north and then an out and back south, so a 2.5km stretch four times, similar to Fremantle but flat and no head wind, with only two turns.  Halfway I was feeling good and in a small group of runners who started to pull away. I wasn’t concerned , for me this was all about a finishing time, race position was not on the agenda, this time. I got to the last turn around at 7.5km and knew I was in with a good chance. I had 10-12 seconds up my sleeve, assuming the course was measured correctly, and all I had to go was dig deep and hold my pace.

Surprisingly, a better word than unfortunately,  I was able to do just this and finished in 39;55 , which even allowed for the ninety or so metres of extra course , a factor I hadn’t really accounted for so was lucky I didn’t drop off early thinking the job was done.

So mission accomplished, a chalk and cheese run compared to Fremantle and with little training I’m stoked I managed to pull it off. A 5% improvement in two weeks is reward for having a go and turning up when it would have been so easy to just DNS. I have three more 10k’s planned for the rest of the year and will attempt to keep improving and see if I can get into the high thirty seven minutes ?  Albeit I will need to train for this unfortunately, there’s that word again?

Here’s a post I wrote after I podiumed, my last one, at the Peninsula 10k early 2019 with my good mate Jon Pendse , who was the club accountant at the time.

After the Darlington half last weekend I was buoyed and ready for another race to continue my comeback from the year from hell that was 2018. Seven months of no speed work what so ever had certainly taken it’s toll but the Elliptigo commuting ( http://www.elliptigo.com ) had kept my aerobic fitness and running around like a headless chicken in Kings Park has also helped, albeit on trails and as slow as Jon Pendse running Darlington with a hangover!

Rocking up to the start of the Peninsula I decided that, unlike last year when I set off like a scolded cat,  this year I would try and hang onto the leaders and work my way into the race, hoping the time on the Elliptigo would give me enough cardio base to finish strong. I had tried this at the Point Walter 16k last year and it seemed to work, from what I remembered. Looking at the splits below it does look like we went out too fast but at the start of the race I was running within myself and I’m surprised the first kilometre was so fast. There was a 5k runner taking point but it was obvious he was not in the longer race,  so ignored. At about the 2k mark the different race distance part ways and I was disappointed to see three runners ahead of me take a right turn indicating they were racing the 10k like myself.  That put me in my least favourite position, 4th, the first person to win nothing (assuming the top 3 get medals , which in this case they do.) Worse still one of the runners ahead was a 12 year old running prodigy and who had never beaten me and I had boasted to the boys on many occasions that no runner less than 13 would ever beat me, was today going to be the day I ate my words, again !

Right, 3k in and fourth position, nestled a 100m’s or so behind the leading pack of three runners. Things took a turn for the worst when another runner over took me and I was relegated to 5th place, with the thoughts of a medal disappearing fast. It was at this point I decided to roll the dice on my fitness and put in three fast kilometres to try and get back into medal contention. The game plan was to establish a buffer for the last 2k which would be used to hang on to 3rd place. Digging in from the fifth to the seventh kilometre achieved this and I was confident the gap was enough, assuming I didn’t blow a gasket, to get me to the podium.

As it turned out the plan worked perfectly and the last two kilometres , although still very ‘trying‘ (and that’s putting it nicely),  were do-able and there was no time blow-out as such. That’s not to say it was easy and that is the point of this post.

 

What is the best way to run a good 10k ? First of all I believe you need to either race quite a few 10k races, on a regular basis, to nail them or in training put yourself in the 10k ‘pain box‘ once a week and continually improve your time. This could mean starting 2-4 minutes outside your PB time but getting to within a minute in training, once a week,  on tired legs. Thus when you get on your racing shoes (I assume you’ll have the Nike Vaproflys 4% ?) and you’re rested , together with the racing mentality of a bib on your chest or training chip on your shoe. you can produce the time you need. As with all things running experience and practice play such an important role. The more you run 10k the better you will become at running 10k, it really isn’t rocket science. (I’ve lost track of the number of times I have said that .) This , of course, goes for all distances.

Looking at my ‘regressive’ splits above you’d be right in thinking that today was probably not the best way to run a 10k but I was more interested in the medal,  not the time. At 52 years old my days of getting on the podium are probably limited and I treat every time now as the possibility it may be my last, especially at the shorter distances.  Today I worked very hard to get that third place but I was always have that reminder in my medal collection and it will bring back all the happy(?) memories of the race. (Well I enjoyed the last 100m’s ?)

You can break a 10k down into three stages, the first 1-5k you should be able to maintain your desired pace, if you can’t the second 5k ain’t going to be pretty. The hardest part of the 10k is then upon you, maintaining your race pace through kilometres 6-8k, this is where the 10k is won or lost in relation to reaching your required time. The last 2k you can normally find something and the mind will release the last bit of energy left to get the job done, bye bye fatigue , hello ‘sprint to the finish’ and vow never to do this again. !

Why is the 10k so hard ? A 5k is a hard race but worst  case scenario, you won’t hit the wall until 3k so only have to hang on for the final 2k. In the 10k this can be double that distance. So many runners set of , full of beans, at their 5k pace. The one problem with 5k pace is at 5k you suddenly realise why it’s 5k pace. Your body reminds the mind that 5k pace is good for, well, 5k ? Not surprise there, leaving you with maybe 1-2 kilometres to digest this information from body to brain and then unfortunately  four kilometres to reflect on your mistake , deep, deep in the pain box. To compound your mistake your body starts to remind your mind that its time to shut down vital bits to survive your earlier exuberance, starting with your legs , lungs and eventually mind. Trust me it ain’t pretty.

Is a 10k harder than a half marathon ? Yes, because for a half you’re a tad more sensible. No 5k pace for a half and also no 10k pace because a half isn just too long to fall apart before half way. The same for a full marathon, these are planned and people are usually sensible enough to set a goal pace and stick to it, at least for the first half of the race. Of course the marathon is a 10k race in itself , albeit with a 32k warm up ! Anyhow the half and full lend themselves to sensible pacing.

So whats the answer to run a good 10k ? As I said earlier practice and this can be either run a 10k race once a month or try and run within 1-2 minutes of your 10k PB once a week. Another option is running a park run every Saturday because if you can get to the end of a 5k and still feel fresh you can certainly last a few more kilometres before hitting the wall. Also if you can get to 8k you can always find something for the last 2k, surely ?

 

 

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Big shout out to fisiocrem , this product is just incredible for tired and aching legs. I use it daily and have noticed a vast improvement in recovery.

Bix hydration is just ace, a product brought to life by Vlad Ixel a professional ultra runner who knows a thing or two about hydration. ( https://www.bixvitamins.com/ )  The best thing about Bix is it tastes good with many different flavours and you never get sick of drinking it, this is a big plus as Maurten and Tailwind (both great products)  can be difficult to digest later in the event.  From the website :-

As an Australian elite multiple trail running champion, with wins in over 40 ultra-marathon races across Asia, recovery from training and races has always been my top priority. 

In searching for a solid recovery and hydration supplement, I recognized that critical vitamins and minerals – both in diversity and quantity – were missing from almost all supplements on the market. I had the feeling that in an effort to maximize their bottom-lines, companies in the hydration space, failed to deliver a product that could meaningfully assist athlete performance. 

In order to address this, I began the development of a hydration product. After two and a half years of development alongside a leading German sports scientist, BIX Recovery, an advanced, high-quality recovery drink was born. 

BIX boosts 12 active ingredients scientifically balanced to replace lost electrolytes and assist in immune function. It’s designed with quality vitamins and minerals, in quantities that work! 

BIX is a recovery solution for everyone, that will get you to the top of your game!

What can I say about HumanTecar,  ( https://athleticus.com.au/ ) it looks great, smells great and is awesome for recovery or even pre-run/workout. Read about the science behind it first and then try the products. The compression bandages are just magical after a long event. Put these on and the next day you are recovered, I have used them on a number of occasions and they never fail to astound me albeit the family poke fun at me as I look like a ‘mummy and smell funny’ !

Fractel ( https://fractel.com.au/ ) have your performance headgear covered. I love the colours and the functionality of these hats, I guarantee there is one model you’ll fall in love with.

Shokz headphones, let you keep in touch with the world around while losing yourself in quality tunes or podcasts. ( https://shokz.com.au/ )

T8 running apparel is the best you can get, second to none. Designed for the ultra humid Hong Kong conditions the owners live in.  It is light and does away with any chaffing worries. T8 is the name given to the highest typhoon warning in Honk Kong,  storms and typhoons with gusts exceeding 180kph, which explains the branding. ( https://t8.run/)

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