Second race of the Striders 10km series was on today and although I really should not have run – as I still have a painful left hamstring - I ran anyway. The temptation was the new start location to a 10km course where I have previously run a PB. Brilliant running conditions with cool early morning temperatures. And I was keen to see what form I was in for the marathon in four weeks time. It was hard to resist. Just goes to show that I have learnt nothing from my previous injuries. The new start location was near the Defence Department Artillery Museum at North Head.
It is one of a few locations where you can have the road almost to yourself and while running have the stunning view of the entrance to the harbour one side and bushland on the other. After a warm-up run, admiring the calmness of the sleeping city, it was time to race. I ran the first five km trading places with another female Strider. After the turnaround for the second lap I decided to tuck in behind the guy who was running alongside her. The plan was to let him set the pace so I could just focus on not tightening up too much. By 7 km it was clear that this strategy was not going to work, as my pacing Strider pulled away I could not go with her. From here it was just hanging in to the finish which could not come soon enough. Finished in a time of 47:31, a 10 km PB by 14 seconds. Pleasing results with the little speed training I have done to date. I went through the first 5km at 23:17 and the second half at 24:14. Lesson learnt from the race is that I need to learn how to pace myself and run my own race much more evenly as I clearly did not have the pace to finish the second half of the race.
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