My 10k time has improved by over 30 seconds in a month.
I read recently that the 4 minute mile was once considered to be quite literally impossible. Beyond the physical ability of mankind. Once the 4 minute mile had been achieved by Roger Bannister, only two months later the landmark was achieved again by two other runners. The point I am trying to make is that it seems like once something has been proven to be possible, it is easier to achieve than when it was considered to be impossible. I'd love to compare my PB to a 4 minute mile, so I will. Once I broke the mental barriers of 21 minutes for a 5k, and 45 minutes for a 10k, it became a lot easier to keep improving the times. The ability was always in my legs, the blocker was in my head.
Unfortunately traditional start line selfie. Giant number bibs by the way! Unnecessary.
The race itself was pretty good. A bit odd in some ways but I enjoyed it. The race felt a bit low key and I think it was maybe a bit early for the good people of Stirling to come out and show support. There didn't even seem to much support from families etc. The route was kind of on the outskirts as well which probably didn't help. I haven't been in Stirling in ages so it was in some respects a trip down memory lane - when I lived in Cumbernauld I went to Stirling regularly.
Registration at Forthbank Stadium. Not to be confused with The Nou Camp Stadium.
I warmed up by doing short sprints at maximum effort. I did the same before the Bella Belter 10k where I recorded a PB and it worked again - I am not sure why or if it really does help, but if nothing else I think I have just got myself my first real superstition! I will be repeating this exercise from now on. 803 runners finished the race and it was very crowded at the start (according to my result, it took me 10 seconds to cross the start line). I was weaving and dodging to try to get by slower runners at the very start and I could sense the frustration of a runner behind me who I was weaving and dodging in front of. Tough luck I'm afraid - we were all in the same boat. Probably through my determination to clear the pack, I completed the first 1km in 3 minutes 58 seconds.
We ran out through Springkerske Business Park, through a housing estate, out on to a country road under Wallace Monument where we turned around a traffic cone and ran back a route which was the same way that we came for about half the distance. Like I said, it was a bit odd. There was a narrow bridge over the river that had to be crossed. We had to stay in the order that we joined the bridge until the end as there was no opportunity to overtake (or be overtaken).
It certainly was
I considered a DNF at about 6km. This is not unusual though. I consider a DNF at just about every race I run. This is The Blerch talking and The Blerch must be outrun, must be silenced! At the 9km mark I realised that I was tired, slowing and although I was still on track there was an emerging danger of not recording a PB. I found some energy from somewhere and pushed on at a faster pace. I ran the last kilometre in 4:07 where the previous one had been 4:28. That 21 seconds gain prevented a pretty stressful sprint to the finish!
Talking of painful sprints to the finish, there was a girl collapsed just over the line. Her knees were pretty bloody and it looked like a bad fall. She was being taken care of by the medics and I hope she's OK. I also hope that she got her PB or beat whoever she was racing to the line! When getting my chip removed, I put my foot on the stool and he girl said, "shaking much?". Ha ha! I was exhausted - I had given it everything. She congratulated me on my PB which was nice and I went off down the line to collect my goody bag and pint of milk. Yes. A pint of milk. I also got this familiar looking t-shirt but no medal. What does a guy need to do nowadays to get a medal? I can't remember the last race I ran where they gave out medals.
Familiar? I'm running the Linlithgow 10k in 2 weeks. I hope they've changed their t-shirt colour.
All in all a great race and a lot of personal satisfaction. Kudos to the guy who ran it wearing a kilt AND SPORRAN! I suspect any pace faster than a brisk walk would have resulted in repeated and painful bruising for that guy.
