As my biography on this site notes, I am most definitely an occassional runner. I've done a couple of half-marathons but they were five or more years ago - more recently I've been limited to plodding around the occassional 10K. My half marathon times were pretty slow - 2hr 40mins seemed to be my best effort. That said I've lost the thick end of two stones (10.8kg in new money) since then so I'm sure that I'm faster across the tarmac than then.
Being very competitive, when I got wind that some colleagues at work were doing the Rushcliffe 10k this March I couldn't resist getting involved. I'm all paid up and entered and my helpful (read, provocative) colleague left an eight week training schedule on my desk just before Christmas. I studiously ignored this schedule until this morning when I knew that I needed to face into the training or I'd be a sweaty mess on the day (no guarantee that I won't be, but trying to minimise the chances).
My objective come the race is to cover the distance in under an hour so was a little trepidacious this morning not only because of the snow underfoot but also because I'd had a lengthy lay-off since at least before I went to America. For me, going for a run means that I progress through a very curious arc of emotions - something close to: hope; fear; acceptance; enjoyment; fatigue. Making two and three as short as possible and four as long as possible is always the key!
In the end I felt pretty good - managed just under 8.2km (measured thanks to the excellent http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/) in around 55 minutes so the 60 minutes mark for 10k is well within grasp.
Of course, this is all really an excuse for buying a load more kit...
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