London Spring 10K 2022: race report

Race information

Name: London Spring 10K
Date: 11 June 2022
Distance: 10 kilometres
Location: London, UK
Time: 45:03

Goals

Goal A: complete the 10km in 44:44 (didn’t complete)

This race marked the end of the first block of training I’m doing for the Pen Llŷn Ultra 2023 (50-miler). I had started training for the 2022 edition but injured myself in December, which put me out of action for 3 months. The idea now is to build up gradually to longer distances, helping my body adapt over time and helping me find its limit (which might be a marathon, who knows).

Training

Training started in early March, following the Garmin Coach 10K plan on my Forerunner 745 watch. It’s the first time I’d followed a ‘smart’ plan, rather than following some random PDF I found on the internet, and it was good not having to plan the training schedule and program workouts every Sunday.

Nothing notable to mention for the training really. Did a lot of my easy runs and speed work at the local park, and most Sundays I did my long runs on local trails. A section of the Vanguard Way, for example, or running from Whyteleafe to Hayes.

All in all, I felt pretty ready when race day came around.

Pre-race

Up early to get to Regent’s Park for the 9 a.m. start. Wasn’t sure on the toilet situation so had ~250ml of water after getting up, and it hadn’t been a hot night, so I felt that would be enough. I didn’t want to get caught short either, so didn’t have my usual morning coffee, but did eat a small vegan protein bar.

Annoyingly the race organisers weren’t at The Hub in the centre of the park, where they’d told everyone to meet, so me and some other runners had to find the start line ourselves. Not a big deal but did mean a shaky start to the race.

Race

The gun went off and, lo and behold, I started off way too fast. I was supposed to be doing 4:45/km but my pace was actually 4:17/km! I’d planned to do negative splits, getting faster as the race progressed, but by setting off fast I got it into my head that I had to maintain it, which meant my pacing plan was scuppered.

This, I am sure, contributed to me not hitting my goal.

After the first lap (of 3km), I was tired and really thirsty. Clearly I hadn’t hydrated properly that morning, nor had I got enough energy in me that morning. It was ~18℃ in the sun too, which felt punishing.

I basically dragged myself around, struggling to maintain a 4:24/km average pace throughout, which I managed until the seventh kilometre. Then I dropped to around 4:54/km, getting in some respite. After that I pushed back up to ~4:31/km for the rest of the race, which wasn’t too bad.

On the final kilometre I went the wrong way around the course, near the boating lake, which probably added 10 seconds on to my time unnecessarily. I was just so ready to finish at that point, and I was really digging deep to maintain a high-enough pace.

Gave it a final dash over the line and finished with a time 19 seconds off my goal, which wasn’t too bad. What’s good is that I know where I went wrong, and it wasn’t with training – all down to pre-race prep on the day.

Post-race

Downed a bag of Haribo, sipped on 500ml of water, and walked to St John’s Wood for a gelato.

What did I learn?

Plan ahead for toilets, so that you can hydrate properly before a race
A bit of caffeine before a short race will really help