Bluewater 10km

By some bad planning it was England's first game in the world cup the night before this race. Lots of beer and BBQ food I tried to match each beer with water. In the morning I loaded up with sports drink. All not good for project 79.

It was too early a start for my family to support me and they are still in bed as I leave. I turn up at the car park at Bluewater but no fellow Petts Wood Runners to be seen. I wander round slurping sports drink. Eventually I head for the start. The time bandings are strangely close together the 55 mins right next to the 50 mins. And as I know, there is a gulf between those times. Eventually a group of 7 Petts Wood Runners gather. We chat and wish each other luck. It seems to be the trend that they just start these races with no warning.

I am wearing my light weight racing shoes but they are still very padded. After a couple of km my legs ache. I mostly wear flat minimal shoes now, maybe it is all the padding?

I have run this course previously, and even the organisers describe it as undulating so I take it easy. A smart move. Half way round I decide to focus on just getting round.

7km I see Emma in front. A club member who runs in the same group but is much faster than me. I feel encouraged. When I am not really pushing hard, hard, hard I avoid looking at the watch to prevent me giving up. 8km in and I sense the hills at are an end. I start to open up. My form is tidy and flowing. This is fun. I see a big hill but I can see we turn off before we go near it. Someone shouts
"Come on Petts Wood"
"Glad we're not going up THERE!"I reply
"You are!" they joke

The final couple of kms are straight and flat. I notice something I had never noticed before. When you ride a bike you learn that it is controlled from the hips, not the handle bars. It's the same with surfing, all in the hips. The best mental image is canooing. This is something I had never noticed with running. As I run I can feel something in my hips helping my legs turn over. It is early days but there is something in this. More playing with my form to investigate.

I keep pushing for the finish. 200m to go, I look to the sky and engage the sprint muscles. I jab the Garmin as I cross the line. Just past the finish I see the rest of the club for a quick chat. As I get back to the car all that energy drink and gels combined with last night has had an unfortunate effect on my gut. I sprint into Bluewater and only just make it to the toilet. The second race of the day! I spend the rest of the day "Uncomfortable"

A hilly course with less than ideal preparation. Yet still a pleasing time, well under 50 minutes. Last week the hills were bigger and it was a lot hotter I had run 53"

10km 49"15