This past Sunday saw me and the rest of my family (Dad, Sister, Sister’s Fiancé, Mark, even Rich popped along – my Mum and Lily acted as official cheerleaders), peel ourselves out of bed way too early for the day of rest, trudge down the wind beaten Brighton seafront and participate in what was for me, my first 10K race. Having completed the distance in my own time during training and doing it without stopping/keeling over I was pretty confident up until the point that a week before the race my shins started to play up (appointment with the physio booked), but with a bit of foam rollering, my family acting as one collective cheerleader force and the wind hitting the right direction on the approach to the finish line (let’s not discuss when it was in the ‘wrong’ direction in the 8K up to the finish line) I made it. Here’s what I learnt from completing my first 10K race…
1. Wear lip balm. I picked up this tip during my longer training runs as after a few miles my lips were getting Sahara desert-type dry. I went for the thickest formula I own – BITE Beauty’s Agave Lip Mask – and it was still there at the end of the race.
2. Layering for runs in the cooler months is something that I still haven’t quite worked out. I went for leggings and a long sleeve top which means you feel pretty freezing at the start line and want to strip off to your sports bra by the end. Any tips for this?
3. Running without music is a slightly startling experience that will make you realise you sound like a manatee struggling for air and that everyone else is silent.
4. Bellowing back an enthusiastic ‘Thank you’ to everyone who speaks out with an encouraging phrase is a really energy zapping episode and each time I did it it took me about five minutes of panting to get back to my normal breathing pattern. A smile and nod of acknowledgement is what lovely people in the crowds got in the end. I’ll work on it for next time.
5. It’s really, really fun. I know – it might not seem it when you’re squelching in your trainers at 6am in the morning on a cold, dark, wet morning to get your run in – but when you cross the finish line it all seems worth it. I’m not sure I’ll be saying the same when it comes to the Half Marathon that’s booked into my diary for next year, but we’ll see about that one.
If there’s one thing that the whole shin splint episode taught me, it’s that I actually really love running and being unable to kit up a few mornings a week and get in some fresh air and a bout of exercise kinda sucked. It’s taken me months to get here (I think I started with my 1 mile very painful jogs round the block in May), but with four races booked in for next year already I don’t see this whole running palaver stopping anytime soon…
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