I'm back home after running the Great Scottish Run 10K. I've had a shower, ate a small a packet of fruit pastels (or something like that) and drank some fluids. I'm now relaxing and listening to Young Americans as I type because I think
Somebody Up There Likes Me as I ran an as yet unverified time of 47.51 - a real balls to the wall-effort if I don't mind saying so myself!
I reckon I could have run close to 45.00, however, but I got bogged down in traffic as I couldn't get to the front of the slow group at the start and there were a few pinch points along the route that meant I had to wait till the road opened up before picking up the pace again. I mean no disrespect to anyone who ran 45.00 or less, of course. I respect the effort no matter what time anyone achieved.
On the theme of pace, the first 1K was slow - something like 6.48 - but as I say it was difficult to get into clean air and besides, the race starts on a hill. Also on the theme of pace, I used my metronome to pace myself throughout the race at 180SPM. There were a lot of times when I simply couldn't hear it, but when I could I stuck with it. It was a great tool as it helped me progress at a steady pace, traffic permitting, and ensure I was all but spent bar a final sprint at the finish. I upped the pace to 182 SPM when I was in the last kilometre and as I say, I was all but spent when I crossed the line. Interestingly, I heard someone say, 'That guy's cheating,' but I don't see how using a metronome is any different from checking splits with a watch, and what's more, there was a 60 Minutes Marker runner running at 6KM pace to let runners know if they're ahead of behind the 60 minute mark. Anyway, the metronome was a great help and I'd use it again.
Thanks for the encouragement and I wish you all well when your next race comes up
Now it's time to get cooking and watch the Malaysian Grand Prix... my invisible six-pack is starting to get hungry