Today I did something that I’m incredibly proud of. I took part in my first race in over 20 years. It was the Richmond Park 10k and the last time I entered a race of this size (or any race at all for that matter) was back in 1994 when I completed the Seaford 10k.
I kept my entry into the race and my training sessions a secret because pretty much everyone in my life loves to criticise and make fun of me because of the simple fact that I’m doing something that they can’t do. And I was really struggling with my training runs and any amount of criticism or sarky comments would have helped me to just give up.
I didn’t put in as many training runs as I would have liked to because looking after my father and some other issues cropped up and I happily used those as an excuse not to run. I didn’t even manage a single 10k training run!
Below is a schedule of the training runs I managed to do:
Week One (March 9th-15th)
| Monday | 2.6km (1.61 miles) | 00:18:36 | 07:09 per km |
| Wednesday | 3.21km (1.99 miles) | 00:24:29 | 07:37 per km |
| Friday | FAILED TO RUN |
WEEK TWO (March 16th-22nd)
| Monday | 5.20km (3.23 miles) | 00:38:53 | 07:28 per km |
| Wednesday | FAILED TO RUN | ||
| Friday | 1.54km (0.95 mile) | 00:09:54 | 06:25 per km |
WEEK THREE (March 23rd-29th)
| Monday | 4.86km (3.01 miles) | 00:33:42 | 06:55 per km |
| Wednesday | FAILED TO RUN | ||
| Friday | FAILED TO RUN |
WEEK FOUR (March 30th-April 5th)
| Monday | 3.54km (2.19 miles) | 00:26:13 | —————- |
| Wednesday | FAILED TO RUN | ||
| Friday | FAILED TO RUN |
WEEK FIVE (April 6th-12th)
| Monday | FAILED TO RUN | ||
| Wednesday | 3.94km (2.44 miles) | 00:25:07 | 06:37 per km |
| Friday | FAILED TO RUN |
WEEK SIX (April 13th-19th)
| Monday | 6.55km (4.06 miles) | 00:45:53 | 07:00 per km |
| Wednesday | FAILED TO RUN | ||
| Friday | 4.38km (2.72 miles) | 00:29:49 | 06:48 per km |
WEEK SEVEN (April 20th-26th)
| Monday | 4.41km (2.74 miles) | 00:32:42 | 07:24 per km |
| Wednesday | 9.37km (5.82 miles) | 01:09:52 | 07:27 per km |
| Friday | 5.37km (3.33 miles) | 00:45:59 | 08:33 per km* |
* The last training session I did was very slow because about half way into it I needed a shit and it is nigh on impossible to run when you are busting for a dump. As far as I am aware Vicky Park – despite it’s size – only has one set of public toilets and they were on the other side of the park. It was a VERY long walk/run.
RACE DAY (April 25th)
| Saturday | 10k | 01:03:30 | 06.21 per km |
1 hour 3 minutes and 30 seconds, not bad for a fat cunt who hasn’t done any sort of proper running in over 20 years, is it?
I was in for a shock when I turned up as they use a chip to time you that goes through your shoelaces and for weeks I thought it was a lace sensor wiring thingy! The last time I entered a race (back in 1994) they issued you with a raffle ticket as you crossed the line which was the place you finished and you would hand this in to get your time.
Oh how times have changed!
But I thoroughly enjoyed the run and no sooner had I grabbed my medal then I was sitting in a local pub supping a pint of Young’s bitter and planning my next 10k.
