05/05/10 - Troon 10k

Pretty much every other time I have been to Troon in my life is to play or should I say attempt to play golf. But on Wednesday night I was to be running round all the golf courses rather than through them!

It is always a good omen for a race when even though you turn up 45 minutes before it starts and the place is mobbed; you manage to park in the last space which happens to be the closest to registration and probably the start as you can get. So I went in got my chip and number and met up with a bunch of Giffnock folk. Before I knew it we were off on our warm up along the coast and then back again. The way back was right into the wind which was also the last k of the race. 5 minutes before the start, there must have been at least 10 of us Giffnock Northers all hanging about the sub 45 sign along with Alan Dempster from the park run and Jo from Dumfries ac who was part of the team that won the Kintyre way relay the previous weekend.

My PB going into the race was 46.50 and was my last PB to be beaten from 2004. This was only my 3rd proper 10k ever and I had not done one since the hilly Balfron course last April. So I was pretty confident about getting some sort of PB today. I set my watch to beep and show me the kilometre splits and thought if I can do 4.30 kilometres that would get me round in 45 minutes which I would be pleased with. I reckoned I could do 44 minutes at a push and sub 43 was my gold target but I thought that would be out of reach tonight. Speaking to Martin before the start and he said for a flat 10k, which this was, to double your Glasgow park run pb (21.31) and that would be your roughly your time. I went 'i right, good one' and then we were off...

The first k, I settled into a nice rhythm and got round in 4.08. It was flat and the wind was behind so I didn't panic. More just readjusted and went slightly slower. The next 4k was a very gradual ascent and I was pleased with my pacing getting between 4.20 and 4.30. Steven was cycling along on his bike supporting everyone which was a boost too along with the bits of other support along the route. At this point I was running with 2 clubmates, Maureen and Martin. So I went through first 5k in 21.54. I didn't know this at the time as I just focus on kilometer splits and thats it. But if I did look I would have been pleased, especially as my legs were feeling fresh still.

Then I concentrated less on splits and just ran how I felt and 5-8k as you can see I managed to up it and they were between 4.10 and 4.20ks and the legs were still feeling good. It was at this point I started breaking away from Maureen and Martin, and started reeling in Jacqui who was having an off-day and apparently was feeling nauseas from 2k. I found I was overtaking people quite regularly now but then I got a stitch in my right side. I knew from training that I could run through it. So i gritted my teeth and really dug in for the last kilometer which was my fastest kilometer of the race! I looked up at the clock as I crossed the line and saw 43.08...09! I couldn't quite believe it. I saw a few club mates but I just focused on getting my breath back. When I did I went round and heard about peoples races, went for my warm down and went home feeling very chuffed with myself.

As I was driving home it daunted on me that I may have got under 43 minutes as the event is chip timed. I looked at my watch time and it was 43.03 so I knew it would be close. Then when I looked at the results today and saw 42.59!!! WOW, I hit my gold target!! Kintyre way maybe my best achievement but this has to go down as one of my best performances too. This means that the second 5k I did in 21.05 which is a 5k PB! I won't count it as a 5k PB but it does show what I am capable of over flat courses which I am really excited about.

K split total time Min per mile pace
1k 4:08.36 4:08.36 6:41
2k 4:23.68 8:32.04 7:06
3k 4:30.24 13:02.28 7:16
4k 4:28.99 17:31.27 7:14
5k 4:22.99 21:54.26 7:05
6k 4:15.88 26:10.14 6:53
7k 4:12.97 30:23.11 6:49
8k 4:19.64 34:42.75 6:59
9k 4:09.98 38:52.73 6:44
10k 4:05.65 42:58.38 6:37
0.01 Mi 0:03.97 43:02.35 6:37