ASICS London 10km

This race wasn’t in the plan. However a message on Monday from Up & Running, telling me I’d won their Facebook competition & was going to London.

It seemed a long week waiting for Saturday to arrive. The tension of waiting for hotel, train, etc. To be booked wasn’t helped by a the kids coming down with norovirus. The last week of term always means rundown & someone gets a bug. This time it was everyone, I thought I had survived until Friday morning & I had to have a day off work, spent in bed. I lost over a kg in 24hrs! Plus I hadn’t run in two weeks since injuring my foot playing football.

Packing Saturday morning was a bit of a rush, but I managed time to triple check. It wasn’t until Sunday morning I realised I forgot a buff, not an essential, but something I usually have and felt a little gutted not having one. Our train was at just past one & I arrived in plenty of time to collect the tickets from the machine. David wasn’t far behind. The journey up was exciting, almost kid like. Before half three we were in London, on the platform of Waterloo station.

Instead of the tube we walked in the London sun. The walk was further than planned, past the eye, over Westminster bridge, through parliament square & past horse guards. The bag drop & race control was being set up just off the mall. The shock of seeing the bag drop sectioned & numbered up 12,000, gave realism to the size of the race, my largest to date. What should have been a short walk to the hotel, turned in to an hour after a unintentional detour. The hotel found, the miles walked had been way more than intended & the days bed rest Friday had been forgotten & my foot was sore.

Dinner was next door, burger, chips & a shandy. For London it was very reasonably priced & half decent! It was early, I wasn’t feeling it. The knock on from Friday, the pre-race nerves. An early night was needed. I was apprehensive of lack of sleep usually gained in a hotel bed, but a bit of telly & the early alarm was waking me!

I’m not great early morning. The alarm was only six, but that does feel very early to me. The usual pre race routine & I was downstairs for seven fully packed up & checked out. Rather than risk another wrong turn we got the tube to green park. I thought the number collection would be busy, but arriving at half seven meant we had the place to ourselves. We convinced the team giving out numbers we deserved to be in start pen C. Once numbers collected & bags given over, we walked down the mall to Buckingham palace. I realised I hadn’t been there since school. I was a tourist again!

Getting up early meant a long wait at the start. Something again I’m not used to. But the weather was good & I was looking forward to the run. I drunk nearly all of my water, which was supposed to last the majority of the race. We met a fellow goat at the start & while chatting I realised we might have made a mistake on the start pen. My 10km is 58:56, I’ve not run quicker than 62 mins since my return from injury. David often runs sub 55, but our new friend runs mid 40’s. As the start pens filled up, I noticed the 45 minute pacers were with us. I was going to be a bit of a rolling road block!

The first mile was fun, I was passed loads, but I felt good. The sun was shining, but not too hot. I was running sub 10 minute mile pace & my foot was no more than a niggle. The course was vibrant, regular bands belting out music early in the morning, the regular switchbacks didn’t feel as frustrating as I expected. I realised before mile two though how central London is not flat. It was definitely an undulating course. I still felt fine at the 3km marker the first water station was just before & I’d finished my bottle & took a paper cup to keep me going. It was the only water station I ran through the rest I walked. By the 4km marker as we passed Trafalgar Square, I was starting to feel the pace & my foot. There is a surprisingly steep hill there & while I ran up it, it took its toll. I got through half way in just under 33 minutes & in all honesty I was happy with that. I felt okay, knowing harder half of the race was to come. I walked through the water station & took on a couple of cups of water. The temperature was starting to increase & I noticed a fair few runners around me suffering because of it.

I really struggled to get going again after the midway drinks break. The strand was flat & included a shower station. Definitely a welcomed cold shower. We dropped down on to embankment at all went a little quiet. There was a DJ, but I was finding it difficult. I passed a couple walking up a small incline at about six & half km. They where celebrating the furthest they had ever run. It reminded me that while I was having a tough day, 10km is hard. I might have run a marathon, but this was a different day & the fortnight before hand had made race day a far greater challenge than it could have been. Also it was a good day for running & I should be celebrating too, that i was there, not wallowing in self pity about not being fully fit. We soon turned to face Westminster bridge & although I felt enthused, my foot was getting worse, I had to walk a little & stop to stretch. As we passed 7km I knew any possibility of a respectable time had gone & getting to the finish was my only goal.

At 7km there was another shower spray unit, well need. A drink station I walked through. Plus toilets, I decided to stop & take a comfort break. It did me good, but getting going again was hard. I felt decent running over Westminster bridge. Through parliament square however I suffered again. Going through 9km & the last showers I had to walk a little. Well a fair bit, I was only running when I saw a camera! Thankfully it wasn’t long until the finishing line was in sight & I passed the 400m to go sign. I debated a long sprint for home, but not for long. I got closer & did break into a sprint. I have to! Crossing the line was a massive relief.

The finishing funnel was good, a medal, a goody bag & water all handed out as I walk towards Trafalgar Square. Crossing the route of the walkers & late starters, again gave me reason to be happy with my mornings work. The walk up to Trafalgar Square & the t-shirt collection was a bit of a way, but not as far as it looked on the map. The queue for t-shirts was ridiculous however I think I spent best part of half an hour waiting. I heard a few around me & give up. I did consider it myself. But the t-shirt, the medal, the goodie bag. They are the reasons for running races. I had to just wait, I didn’t want to go home with out it. The goodie bag itself was one of the best I’ve had ever. A very reusable tote cotton bag, loads of healthy snack samples & a can of beer!

The post race atmosphere away from the t-shirt queue was good though. A lot of people celebrating personal achievements, a lot of PB’s including David, who was chuffed with his run. My time wasn’t anywhere near my PB, but given the circumstances I cannot complain too much. It was a short walk back to the bag collection. It was a hive of activity as well a buzz with satisfaction. The lack of a changing area was a frustration. I had to expose myself getting changed. A small price to pay & not something which worries me on a warm sunny day, but if a wet & cold one a changing tent would be a useful addition.

We walked back to Waterloo, fully of smiles for a successful trip. A sore foot, tired legs, but a smile! A quick lunch selection in M&S & we were back on the train less than 24 hour after boarding one in Poole. Just over two hours later, back in Poole & home.

I ran in my lonely goat t-shirt, Nike compression under vest. Adidas training shorts with adipower compression shorts underneath. My long compression socks, plantar assist ankle straps & adidas pureboost. I record my run on my garmin 235, I checked the stats with Strava & thanks to asics & Virgin sport for supplying official event photos to everyone for free. Finally I was as always running in my oddballs pants.

Thanks for taking the time to read my ramblings. You can follow my journey @benrunnerpants on Instagram, Facebook & Twitter.

I have to thank up and running for running a competition & selecting me to win. Thanks to asics for organising the train & hotel, this just isn’t something I wouldn’t have done if I didn’t win it. I really enjoyed it & will look at doing this or something similar again. Finally thanks to Dave for joining me, at shot notice, it was ‘tag a friend’ comp & we often enter these & tag each other. Never expecting to win. I suggest everyone does enter & often as people do win, I won, & what a prize it was!