Resolution Run 9km Race Report
My first run, let alone race, for 2010 turned out to be a cracker. As I was saying in the December diaries, this race was to be something of a test bed for my aspirations for 2010. I went into it unsure of what to expect but set my benchmarks at sub 54 minutes for the 9kms and every kilometre under six minutes. And as long as I finished, it was going to be a PB, as this is the first time I've run a 9km event. Why 9km? I doubt even the organisers know. There seemed no logical or sensible reason for it. Anyhow, 9km it was.
The weather was perfect, I mean
really perfect (are there degrees of perfection? I think not, but never mind. Writer's license. Or maybe just ignorance, but I'm sticking with it). 16 degrees, no wind, no sun, just glorious.
Several hundred runners and walkers turned up for the event which consisted of two laps of a 4.5km course around Torrens Lake, which is actually a river. Don't ask - I don't know why they call it a lake when it patently isn't. Never mind, it was a fast, flat course and very picturesque to boot.
Mrs MLCM joined me again today, but decided on a walk-only 9km as she has a bit of a back strain. So as the air horn blared, we said bye bye and headed off at our respective pace. As the name of the race "Resolution Run" implied, this race was organised laregly for people who have decided to get fit in 2010. Consequently I assumed it would be full of novice runners. Well maybe some of them were, but as we started it was clearly going to be a fast and furious race. I eased back to the rear of the pack but still flew through the first km in 5:20, well inside my expected pace, and totally ignoring my "go real easy in the first km" advice to self.
I slowed down a bit - or so I thought. Kilometres 2 and 3 also went by in 5:20 but by now i was feeling comfortable and so decided to stick with it. Or so I thought again: km number 4 was my slowest of all at 5:48. Duh.
Anyway, after that it got a little tough but I felt strong and pushed on and was delighted to finish in a tad under 49 minutes... a good 5 minutes faster than hoped.
As I felt good and Mrs MLCM was still out there on the course somewhere on her second lap, I gulped a bottle of water and ran on for another 1.6km until I caught her and then walked to the finish with her. So a really excellent start to the year with 10.6km banked, a new PB, and run at a pace that augers well for perhaps a bunch of other PBs throughout the year if all goes well from here. And no twinges or niggles or even a cramp, so I'm very happy with the way 2010 has started.
LE JOG
So I've started a day or two later than others, but I'm on my way. As I do have strong ties to Cornwall (ancestral home for many generations as far back as we can trace), I began by thinking I would run through East Cornwall and investigate the five or so parishes centred around Landulph that my paternal family came from. Then i got to thinking that if I did that, then I should wander on over to my father and grandfather's home town of Gosport, and then complete the traverse of southern England by going as far as Harwich, which is where my parents lived when they decided to emigrate to Australia (following the '58 floods). Of course, if I was going to do that, I'd also have to call in and visit friends in Theale and Lewes and Brighton, and run some of their favourite routes... and, well, I fairly quickly realised I was going to need two years to get to John O'Groats if I was going to detour via everything I wanted to see and do.
So. Instead, I'm going to head basically north from Land's End and have planned only two major diversions so far: ascents of Snowdon and Ben Nevis. We'll see what else happens along the way. However, as a consolation to my Cornish roots, I have headed
south-east from Land's End, going to Penzance via the coast road, so at least I get a bit of virtual scenery. And first point of (mild) interest on the run was passing through the town of Trethewey, which seems to be a quaint little place with not much in it. The reason it attracted my attention was because I used to work with a John Trethewy, which is the only other time I've ever come across the name. Hardly worth a diversion I guess, but a pretty place.
What fun, eh?
See you on the road (virtually).
MLCM's LE JOG map
Jumpin' Januaries, Batman!
