A day of PBs!

Sunday February 16th 2025.

2 races, 1 day. Definitely mental, but it was the influence of friends entirely that made this the case.

First up was 'The York 5k, 10k and Half Marathon Winter Warmer Run'. I opted for the 10KM as my good friend Jack who's recently got back into running wanted to give it a go and run his first proper race! Elise (my girlfriend who is also starting to run more) did the 5KM which was her first proper race also!

My current 10KM PB was 44:52, which if you read my other post 'Onwards!' you'd know was nothing short of a miracle to be under 45 minutes.

I came into this feeling good, probably the best form I've felt for a long while which is great considering I had also ran 26KM during the week. On paper, the course for the 10KM was 2 laps round (5KM 1 lap) the racecourse with a hard 180 degree turn near to the finish line, on tarmac with a small section of trail and mainly flat with a few undulating sections. In reality, probably over 1.5KM was on a muddy, boggy and very sticky path running parallel to the track. Either way, no excuses! Here's the map of the route.

The start line was pretty crowded and bottlenecked due to it being the lap point for both the 10KM and the Half Marathon, so this meant a quick start would be hard without getting right to the front which I really don't like to do because I feel like a cocky twat. I was hoping there would be a pacer so I could try and get closer to 40 minutes but unfortunately there wasn't. Me, Jack and Elise stood together behind a pack of maybe 50 runners as it seemed it wasn't a staggered by pace kind of start line. We high fived, wished each other luck and then got our game faces on!

The countdown started and we got to it. I had a rough race plan of stick to 7:15/mile (4:30/KM) pace and if I felt I could go quicker, do it. I tried to bear in mind that I still had a race this afternoon so don't overdo it because I was giddy. I'd not ran a 10KM 'road' race since the Hull 10KM and that pace was brutal and I may be in over my head here!

I spent the first mile or so trying to weave my way through people who were going slightly slower than me, but my pacing was good. First mile I felt good, fast, strong! This was all along tarmac which was great.

Mile 1 - 7:15/mile (4:30/KM) - on pace

The second mile is where it got a bit tricky, as you turned off the tarmac you were met with boggy, sticky and churned up mud. The tracks that people were sticking too were just not made for road shoes which of course I had on! I spent the first 200m or so slipping all over the shop until I thought "fuck it" and jumped over some overgrown bush and ran along side the track in unkempt and divot-packed grass. Probably not the best thing for my ankles but it meant I could grip and keep going. To be honest I felt like I was slowing, the mud tired me quickly.

Mile 2 - 7:18/mile (4:32/KM) - 3 seconds/mi behind pace

Mile 3 started and I was still running on the grass, it did change to more of an open field of grass but it was still sticky and hard to grip. I again ran on the verge to avoid the mud. I knew I was slightly off pace so tried to shift a bit. The grass gave way to a tarmac section up a little hill, then back down to the right. The next section was 100/200m long with a hard 180 turn at the end of it. Turn and burn, turn and burn I kept thinking. Basically that means, as soon as I stop to turn, give it fucking legs. Get back to my pace ASAP. I did that and shifted on through the start line to mark lap 2!

Mile 3 - 7:11/mile (4:28/KM) - 4 seconds/mi ahead of pace

As I passed through the starting point and back onto the tarmac, I consciously did a bit of an evaluation of myself. Is my breathing okay? Are my legs okay? Can I maintain this pace? Oddly and much to my surprise, the answer was yes to them all. As I carried on down the tarmac I thought about that last point. Fuck it, let's push a bit. I overtook a lad who I saw from the get go went out too quickly, he was gripping on for dear life. Really made me think of myself in the Hull 10KM.

Mile 4 - 7:07/mile (4:25/KM) - 8 seconds/mi ahead of pace

Lap 2, I am not even entertaining the mud this time round. I was giving it high knees all along the rough patch for over a mile. I probably looked a right nobhead, but I had a shift on for sure. I noticed a lot of others were also running the rough as the mud was just appallingly bad at this point. Even after that stint on the rough, I was feeling good! I upped my pace a bit.

Mile 5 - 6:56/mile (4:18/KM) - 19 seconds/mi ahead of pace

I knew that once I'd got off the worst of the mud/grassy verge it was not long at all until I was on the last push of tarmac. I was really quite in shock about how fresh and energised I was considering the absolute state of me only 6 months ago in the exact time in the race. I carried on pushing, but I did have a moment where I thought "ah yes, you're getting a bit giddy, you have a race this afternoon" so I wound my neck in and didn't go too crazy on the final section. I did still want to beat my PB though...

Mile 6 - 6:49/mile (4:14/KM) - 26 seconds/mi ahead of pace

As I hit mile 6 I had just done another turn and burn and got back upto pace. I was on the last 300m to the finish, I looked at my watch and smiled. I STILL had all the legs in the world. I upped my pace slightly, this was giddiness and I was letting myself have it. Mile 6.2 - 6:24/mile (3:52KM) - 51 seconds ahead of pace

I met with Elise over the finish line as she'd finished her 5KM earlier. I was slightly away with the fairies but she looked in great form and with a medal around her neck! I asked how she did and she said she did okay, she had a stitch and the mud was horrible. She didn't immediately open up on her success! Without that mud, a sub 30 would have been on the cards for sure. Amazing running!!! x

We then headed over and waited for Jack to cross the finish line. I was nervous for him because he'd done his hamstring in 2 weeks before and was unsure if he was going to be able to run it, but he turned up and did! He came over the line, and to be honest looking pretty good doing it! He was really wanting under 60 minutes, but was doubting it with his leg playing up. I didn't doubt him for a second. Smashed it mate x

It was really great to run with these two (well, run the same course!). Really proud of their achievements.

Race number 2 - York Bloodaxe Challenge.

This is going to be a very fast story, I promise. The York Bloodaxe Challenge is simple, you turn up and run as many laps of a 1KM course as you can in 2 hours. There's a slight gradient as seen in the blue and red/orange sections but generally, it's pretty flat.

I arrived, I ran, I finished. My initial goal was to reach 20 laps, keeping in mind I'd also ran just a couple of hours before. I was still feeling pretty good, so I decided that I would try to run at 8:00/mile (5:00/KM) pace for the duration and do my best to stay there.

I ran almost exactly how I wanted to, averaged out at 7:58/mile (4:57/KM) pace and ended up coming in 10th place with 24 laps!

Today was a good day.