On 2 May 2022 I took part in the Vitality London 10000. I always enjoy running in London, and although I tend to take part in longer endurance events these days it is still good to push myself with a bit of speed every now and then. This is the 6th time I’ve taken part in the London 10k, but I hadn’t realised it had been so long since the last time. With covid I haven’t ran the Vitality London 10000 since 2019, here is a recap of my pre covid event.
It has been a long time since I have ran a sub 40 minute 10k, and a whole decade since my PB of 37:27. I knew I wouldn’t be anywhere close today, but aimed for as close to 40 minutes as possible with a realistic goal of going sub 42. I really would like a PB some time but I haven’t done speed work for a while, which is vital for improvement. Also what I will be focusing on for my sub 3 marathon attempt.
As always, the Vitality London 10000 was extremely well organised. I arrived at my allocated time, used the toilet with no line, and dropped my bag with ease. It was great to bump into so many people I knew and it made the waiting time fly by by chatting at the start. I lined up with Simon aiming for sub 40, and planned on keeping him in sight.
We started and eased into a 6:20 min mile pace, but this felt a bit fast for me. The roads are mostly wide but I got slowed down at a couple of points, each time slowing my pace slightly. There was water handed out at 5k. I think it would have been better if there were two stations, maybe at 4 and 7, but it was fine. Overall I’m happy with my pace, I ran my own race, and maintained a 6:30 min mile average pace. I ran the first 5k in 20:42, which is faster than I’ve been running parkrun. My second half pace was pretty consistent with an official time of 41:30.
As I always say, running 10k is hard. It’s hard to run at max pace for that distance and I don’t enjoy it as much as the marathon. But I do enjoy this event and its a good tester each year to see how I’m doing. Even though I haven’t been training for speed this is faster than I have ran in many years, which is progress. I am going to focus on speed over the next month for a mile race, which will be my first mile race.
But before I focus on speed I’ve got something scary in just 5 days time. For the first time ever I will attempt 100 miles non stop, with a goal of completing 100 miles in 24 hours. I am raising money for Cancer Research, so it’s worth it.
Were you running this weekend? If so, how did you get on?
pickupthepacepaul 