Run > Race

Stirling 10K. That was nice! Left in plenty time, slightly slow journey with some re-directions, possibly cos QE2 body coming down from Balmoral, anyhoo, got there 9.25, plenty time. Saw Matt, Alex and Stephen from Kinross and Hannah, Jane, Sarah and Lucy too. Got a pic (though Sarah H was doing extras before and after as a long run with pace before Berlin marathon in 2 weeks - and Chicago in 4, impressive!) And loads of other run pals - Lesley, Isobel, Karen, Barry, SoapMan (G), Gail, keyring from Carnegie, Ada, Tigger, said congrats to Jen Whetton after (think she won!) All the super fast kids, but a few old yins like us too. Went into the 40-50 min pen (2nd last pen, cos that's how fast this race is!) Chip timed, so not bothered about 30 seconds to cross line. Settled in, plenty room (think numbers are still down, they said 730 entrants, but I'm sure it was much busier last times I did it). Anyway, going a bit fast at start, target was 6:50, but it starts a bit downhill, felt good in the new shoes, pretty comfortable. Chatted a bit to a few folk, went past keyring and Sarah who was pacing sensibly. Wee bit of a slow down going out onto the road on to the turn, not sure why, managed to keep some reasonable pace on mile 4, even with slight climb and slowing down round a cone! Then mile 5 I knew it had the climb back up from riverside, but that was fine and pushed up as best I could, then felt fine until about 1km to go, but knew I just had to push through it! Knew I was OK around the 6:45 pace and hoped I'd picked it up a bit but couldn't be sure. So, 41:24 on watch, 41:22 official. And 74.5% WAVA (_andy generously rounding it up to 75%!) definitely going in right direction. I would like to get down to low 20 for parkrun! Will try Kirkcaldy and see where I am. Think it's quicker than Lochore. No idea if new shoes helped at all, felt quite bouncy in some bits, but also sluggish and shuffling in others. Oh and massage after so see if combination helps right ham string to settle down. At moment, it's quite tender. G

Split Summary
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1) 1m - 6:44(6:44/m) 172/184bpm [1158b/mi] 110cal
2) 1m - 6:36(6:36/m) 175/182bpm [1154b/mi] 112cal
3) 1m - 6:50(6:50/m) 174/180bpm [1190b/mi] 116cal
4) 1m - 6:43(6:43/m) 175/182bpm [1175b/mi] 114cal
5) 1m - 6:38(6:38/m) 178/181bpm [1181b/mi] 113cal
6) 1m - 6:27(6:27/m) 183/185bpm [1179b/mi] 110cal
7) 0.26m - 1:39(6:18/m) 185/189bpm [1165b/mi] 27cal