PB challenge complete
Having achieved a new 5K PB in February, a half marathon PB in March and a marathon PB in April I only had the mile and 10K to go
My first opportunity to tackle the mile came on 20th June at the Magic Mile event. Tactically I volunteered at parkrun beforehand to save energy and gave my all which was enough to secure my first ever first place finish and a new PB of 5:38.
Shortly after this I went on holiday for two weeks and due to the heat was unable to run at all. The Saturday after we returned I had signed up for a local 10K but wasn't sure whether the enforced rest would help or hinder my ability to go under 40 minutes.
My only other 10K time was a training run of 42:30 but I had yet to set a time under race conditions. The event was run by a local charity called Always a Chance, set up in memory of a young man that was killed while in Florida. The 10K race involved one clockwise lap of the local reservoir. It started at 11am and once again I volunteered at parkrun to keep myself fresh.
There were a good number of people running, most mainly for fun, so it was a group of four of us from PJR who sped off into the lead. The weather was hot but cloudy and we started out at a good pace. Dan took the lead and I followed his pace using him as a shield against the wind that came against us in the opening miles.
We remained ahead of the chasing pack for the first three miles but I could hear others not far behind. At halfway there was a drink station. I was hot and thirsty but when Dan ran on without stopping I did too. At this point I knew that I would have to try and get some breathing room from the others as I don't have a strong finish. I increased my cadence slightly.
Gradually I began to pull away and waited for a response but none was forth coming. I pushed a little harder in an attempt to demoralise those following and make it harder for them to catch up. At five miles I heard footsteps and a young lad appeared on my shoulder asking if I was in the lead.
"I was" I panted as he passed me and disappeared into the distance. First place was no longer a possibility but I was determined to grab a podium place. Head down I continued pumping my arms and legs and tried to keep my pace despite a biting stitch.
The reservoir has a number of inlets that are hard to see until you reach them. Twice I thought I was approaching the home straight when another inlet appeared but eventually the finish line was in sight and I sprinted for home aware that I had second place but determined to break 40 minutes.
I crossed the line in 39:37. Dan followed close behind and Mick and Steve took fifth and sixth. Three out of the top six for PJR. Mick was determined to break his lap record and continued past the line back to the start point to the surprise of the organisers but managed to take 3 minutes off of his PB.
So that was it, 5 PB's in 5 distances, one broken three times in a row. Here they are:
1 mile - 2014 5:53 2015 5:38
5K - 2014 19:08 2015 18:48, 18:47, 18:42, 18:27
10K - 2014 - 2015 39:37
Half Marathon - 2014 1:34:46 2015 1:28:25
Marathon - 2014 3:33:22 2015 3:24:30
What next? I'd like to break 5:30 in the mile, get as close to 18 mins as possible in the 10K. Other than that I have no more goals other than to enjoy running.
