58:18
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| Sunny Manchester |
Thanks to all who sponsored me in support of St Ann's Hospices which has so far resulted in £404.50 contribution to this magnificent organisation. My Mum and Sheila would be well chuffed.
A Sunny Day Out In Manchester
The day was most enjoyable, a beautifull sunny Manchester morning greeted us at Piccadilly Station and we headed into Piccadilly Gardens to pass time until our start. I was amazed that the local trains into town were overfilled with runners and their families, it began to dawn on me just how big an event this is. "Us" refers to my daughter Gillian, who has a couple of 10k's under her belt and had travelled up from London to take part having entered whilst still living in Manchester, and Lynne, my support team (and wife).
We passed a pleasent half hour in the gardens grabbing a bit of sustinence including a gingerbread man from Pret', the cost of using their toilet, then headed our separate ways. I was in the Blue wave starting at 11:25 and keen to stay with my estabished routine took a stride walk in the side streets for 5 mins rather than joining the group warm up. I joined the pack about 3/4 back.
Injury Scare Over
My injury scare descibed in my last post led me to doing no training at all other than a swim in the days before the run. It wasn't until I made the first few tentative steps past the Start line that I was releived to discover that all was well.
The Run
At the start, the pack filtered slowly forward to the line and I was able to get directly to pace though dodging and weaving to maintain it. The pack was dense and the need for wing mirrors and eyes to side and back proved to be hard work in spite of having tried parkrun to experience starting in a pack. This need to pay huge attention to those around, sometimes having to plan a swerve right across the pack just to go forward a few feet, proved to be a lot of effort. I was wearing my trusty heart rate monitor and was alarmed at how high my rate was compared to the same pace running on my own.
I had learned that my pace drops after 6-7 km so planned to maintain a little over 11kph for the first 6km. The last 4km has a gentle uphill gradient and the temperature now after 12:00 was high in the sun. It was good to have the leeway to slow a little 2-3km from the end.I was alarmed to be experiencing a heart rate of 209 bpm and slowed as much as I could just to try to stay under 200 which was still way over the 175 I had set as an alarm as too high. I wasn't out of breath and felt fine and had it not been for been for the HR monitor I would have turned in an even better time. It was only fear that stopped me sprinting at the finish. I've blogged previously at length about my experience with the HR monitor.
Afterward
The three of us found each other and headed off to queue for a table and had a nice lunch before heading for the train home to share a bottle of chilled fizz in the garden.
I was pleasently susprised to feel great after the run. The following morning my ankles were a bit 'clicky' and 48hrs later the muscles on the front of my thighs were a bit sore but that was the worst after affect that I experienced.
What's Next?
So, it was a buzz, I sincerely hope to do more and certainly keep going with some running including parkruns. I was asked on facebook, "What's next, 55 at 61?" to which I answered, "Maybe 70 at 70?".
The big result is that I have proved to myself that 60 ain't washed up so I'll declare my sixties to be my new forties and endeavour to keep a bit of twenties in my head.
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| Finishers: Gillian (55:48) and Dad (58:18) |
Running for St. Ann's Hospice in memory of Margaret Donovan (Mum) and Sheila Waddington.
