Yesterday I ran my fastest 10K race in 48 minutes and 27 seconds barefoot! It’s also my first sub-50 10K, before this one I used to clock around 52-53 minutes but an improvement of 3/4 minutes is unbelievable to me as well. It was Pune Running’s LSOM(Las Sunday Of Month) run at Blue Ridge, Hinjewadi, Pune. The course was rolling hills and I thought I might do it in 52 coz of hills. We reached the venue at 6:15AM and did the registration on the spot. After a jog of 400meters we did the stretches and was ready to run.
In the meanwhile I went to the toilet twice, and was wondering even after running so many marathons and races I still get anxiety, huh! Anyways, we lined up at the start line and were waiting for the flag-off. After few minutes the race started and I realised that I was the second person leading. I started fast just to get more room and beat the initial chaos. After a while I slowed a bit down to catch my breath and pace myself up for the rest of the course. After 1K my fellow runner Amitabh joined me and asked “Dude, you know that you ran the 1K in 3:47!”. 1 kilometer in 3 minutes and 47 seconds I never thought I can ran that fast and that too on an incline surface!! So finally I joined Amitabh and he was breathing a bit heavily and I told him to slow down to control the breathing. Afterwards we ran at a pretty good pace and most of the course was incline. At 4K I saw my watch and it was showing 20:47, so we were a bit over 5km/per min pace. There were few more hills and then we have to take a U-turn. I decided to sustain till the U-turn and pace up on the decline. Meanwhile I kept drinking and pouring water on my head and that really helped me to keep my core body temperature low.
After the U-turn I started pacing up but Amitabh was left behind and I thought he will catch up because he’s a fast runner. Unfortunately, he’s out of practice for a while and was not able to but I kept going. While coming back was waving, giving high-5s and cheering people and it was FUN! After 2K of decline the hills started again and I kept the momentum. Finally the last decline started and I increased my pace, at the 8.5K mark I was in 44minutes.
I kept going and in the last 200 meters I sprinted and stopped my watch and the time it was showing was 48:27! Wow, I’m more than happy and on top of the world to break my first sub-50 10K.
All set for TCS 10K on 18th May 2014 in Bangalore!
Takeaways from yesterday's run:
- Initial speeding up helps, but keep in mind your pace.
- Don’t go out of breath, if so slow down and regain your breath and hence momentum
- Embrace the terrain, use your practice to kill the hills and enjoy the down hills :)
- Keep hydrating and pouring water to maintain the core body temperature low
- Enjoy the event, give high-5s, cheer for people and pass on smiles
Happy Running :)
