Twin Piers 10k – Saturday 23rd January 2010 1pm

(From David in the UK)

“It’s a beautiful day, don’t let it get away……..” U2

Saturday 23rd January contained more joy for me than I have felt in quite a while. Don’t get me wrong I feel the luckiest man in the world to have a wonderful wife and 5 fantastic kids. I have a great life which brings me great joy, but once in a while joy can surprise you.

I am a person who, when confronted by a busy day, turns to lists in order to ensure things get done. The list for Saturday 23rd included registering for my youngest child’s race, running the race, transporting some of the other kids into town, getting to my race, running the race and getting back home in time to make lunch for everyone. The afternoon was pretty quite.

The first race of the day was my youngest daughter’s. After some messing about we got to the registration area with 5 mins to spare. She was very excited. As we approached the start area, of the 3k race, I had a minor feeling of concern. My daughter likes pink. Anything pink. So, not surprisingly she dressed, as she does normally from head to toe in pink! At one point she had intended to wear a pink wig she has for dressing up but eventually she decided to leave it off as it “might make me sweat too much!”

Her liking for pink would not normally have been an issue but as we looked around the start area for the race all the other kids were dressed in “proper” running gear. The only non-black non-lycra item I could see was an orange strap being worn by one of the smallest kids. She could have felt intimidated, and in a way I’m sure she felt a little uncomfortable as she lined up but she really did me proud. As the race started most of the kids went off like crazy. My daughter, not hard to spot in the group tried valiantly to keep up. After 500 metres it was clear she was lagging a little behind as she disappeared off into the distance. In the following 15 mins everyone completed the course except for my daughter. Looking up the course I could see a small pink dot. As I walked towards the dot, it was clear that my daughter was on her way back. The nearer I got to her it was clear she was still running. She crossed the line in 23.01 mins knocking 10 mins off her PB for the distance. I was without doubt the proudest parent on the line. It was only when we returned to the house that I discovered the age limit on the race was 11-16. She weighs in at 9 years and 3 months. After the race she couldn’t stop talking about it. She can’t wait for the next race.. I think the bug has bitten her 

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My race started with a 5 min warm-up as I looked for my friends. I had been training pretty hard for the previous 8 weeks so my expectations were high. The weather was perfect, almost no wind and 5C. The course follows the coastal road from Llandudno Pier to Colwyn Bay Pier. The first 2k run is flat, followed by a 1k assent up 300ft, then a sharp decent followed by a slow drop down to below sea level! A level section is followed by a small rise and finally a 4km slight decent to the finish.

The conditions were great, the scenery was beautiful and my training had been good. My target was sub-48 mins. The year before I had done this race as my first race after just 22 days of training during which I had done a mere 44 miles of running! Now, 1 year later I had 1348 miles under my feet and real hopes of knocking 7 mins off my 10k PB. It was time to see how well the Runners World training plan I had used would serve me.

1pm Llandudno Pier
We were OFF – 1st mile in 7.25 just trying to get into a rhythm. One of the training tools I’d used was the Dean Karnazez running tempo workout I’d bought from Carmichael Training Systems website. I’d used this once a week for the last 6 weeks and it helped me achieve a good early running stride. Trying to keep my HR down as the climb up the Little Orme was looming in front of us.

Mile 2 started on the flat but the climb was right there in front. Heart rate started to creep towards 160. I have a heart condition which means my heart is not as efficient as it might be which means my heart reacts more slowly than most. This means I need to keep an eye on my HR as it can be hard to pull it down when I get into the anaerobic zone. I was running past quite a few people as I went up the hill so I decided to take a walk break for 45 sec to control my heart rate and avoid running the steepest section. Got to the top in good shape with AHR of 161. 2nd mile completed in 15.45min.

Mile 3 sees the sharp decent off the Little Orme and into the long run down to Rhos on Sea. I was feeling pretty strong and, having practiced high cadence downhill running for the last 6 months I increased my cadence from 84 up to over 90 steps per minute. I got a great boost from seeing my wife and youngest child waiting by the side of the road. Their support really helped to keep my concentrating on the task. My pace for this mile also reflected the downhill bonus – 7.10 for the mile. 3rd mile completed in 22.55min

The course now follows the shore line down into Rhos on Sea. I was finding it hard keeping my heart rate down. My hydration was good but I was starting to feel a bit weak. I tried to target my cadence, trying to keep it over 85 steps per min. I achieved an average of 84 for the 4th mile with a AHR of 165 and a pace of 7.56min. Total time after 4 miles was 30.51.

It was at this time that I stopped taking much notice of my watch. I know what an 8 min mile pace feels like so I tried to keep to that. It was a this time that the words of Dean Karnazez came back to me. “It’s at times like this in a race when you known you’ve paid your dues, if you have – you know!” I had definitely paid my dues and I was confident I could push through and achieve my goal. Pace for mile 5 was 7.59min. Total time at end of mile 5 was 38.50min.

The final full mile of the race starts with a slight decent from Rhos to the Colwyn Bay Pier. I was feeling pretty tired by now and I didn’t expect and major accelerations to be on the cards for the rest of the race. My average cadence had dropped to 83 and I was really topping out with a AHR of 167. I tried to motivate myself to run faster by spotting people up front and trying to catch them. This did seem to give me a boost as I finished mile 6 in 46.20, with a 6th mile pace of 7.30min.

The final .2 of a mile was just a crazy race for the tape. I didn’t know what my time was but I was going to give it everything I had left. My HR maxed at 174, 2 beats over my previous maximum and I crossed the line in 47.23min. This made my final .2m pace 5.25! So there were some fireworks after all 

As I sucked hard for my breath it started to dawn on me that I had done it! All those crazy training runs at 6am had paid off. I had paid my dues and achieved the results I deserved. Next race in 2 weeks – The Nick Beer 10k 2010.