Send in the Clowns - BAC 10K Challenge
It's a crisp November morning, with the sun shining and little wind. A perfect morning to start a new challenge, so today I embark on the Boards AC Aware 10K challenge.
This time last week, I was running up O'Connell Street, in hot pursuit of a pink fairy, a viking and a pint of Guinness. Now, all that's left of the marathon is a medal, a t-shirt, some mild shin pain, and the unanswered question of how much quicker I could have run on the day, had I really pushed myself.
I ran my last 10k race three weeks before the marathon, in the lovely Donadea forest, in a time of 43:07, at the peak of my marathon fitness, (having completed Longford marathon 5 weeks previously), so I'm hoping that 10k specific training (speed-work), will allow me to shave off some vital seconds.
Having spent the last 6-7 months in marathon training (for two marathons), I must confess to being a little nervous about embarking on a dedicated 10k program. What I enjoy about running is getting out there and doing big mileage, with friends or on my own, so the idea of training for 30-40 minute sections isn't terribly appealing (yet).
I had been planning to do the Connemara half again this year, in training for the Edinburgh marathon in May (and because it's such a nice course), but a friend has asked me to consider doing the Full Connemara marathon with him, which would mean kicking off that training in early December. So my greatest risk is not falling off the training band-wagon, but instead falling back into long distance training once more. This would also mean completing three marathons next year (potentially four), where I had only planned on completing two.
Anyway, marathons are for tomorrow, and 10k training is for today. So, out into that crisp sunshine, for 3 miles at aerobic pace. Wish me luck!
