This weekend I completed my 3rd running goal, the 10 Mile by running the Bright10 which was a great run along Hove and Brighton seafront. Going into the race I had no idea what time I was aiming for, it was more about completing the challenge but last weekend I went on a 17km very windy, hilly run around Lancing and Sompting in 01:48 so expected a 01:40 would be a comfortable target to go for. On the day, I was joined by my two brothers, both of which had run this before. One was aiming for the 100 minutes, and one was aiming for 90 so I decided to push for the 90. I'm quite pleased they provided a 90 minute pacer and resisted the temptation to go out fast and stuck with him. My brother stayed with me for about 3 km or so and then increased his pace but I went in with a plan and was sticking to it.
As I approached the half way turning point above Brighton Marina I saw my brother coming in the opposite direction, he wasn't too far ahead but I was sticking with my pacer. Coming around the loop, it was great to see my Mum had come over to cheer us on and was a great lift as the pace was starting to get to me. I'd got some SIS Energy Gels for this race, and decided it was time to take one and quite frankly the fairly instant energy boost was welcome. Entering East into Madeira Drive I could see another loop and kept lookout for my brother again on his return West. Once I finally saw him I could see I was catching up with him and my constant pace was working well. It wasn't much further and I could see him just ahead and caught him by the Palace Pier at about 12.5km in.
Another SIS Energy Gel, and I was reminding myself I had less than a 5k run to go and I was comfortable with the pace I was running. The final segment was busier with lots of people cheering and as we ran the final stretch to loop back towards the finish line I could see my family which again was another boost. I had this! With 1km left to go I started to pick up the pace, thanked the pace setter and sprinted to the finish and beat my target by 30 seconds to get 01:29:30.
Towards the half way point, I also achieved 900km towards the Under Armour You vs The Year challenge so only have 110km to go to complete this years goal.
Buoyed by the achievement of today, I've entered the Worthing Half Marathon for February and also entered for the ballot for the April Brighton Marathon. I'm really pleased with how this journey has evolved, starting less than a year ago and challenging myself to do a 5k run before the end of 2016, then for 2017, a 10K and 1017K for the year all pretty much achieved. Next year's goal was to be the Half Marathon, with 2019 the target for the full Marathon but I'm sure I can do them both next year.
What's next!
