Ran 38:18 in the 10,000 metres at Nuneaton on the track last night.
On the face of it, a poor time.
But that distance on the track really is a grim undertaking...... i was cut adrift from the lead pack almost immediately, and there was a guy on my shoulder for 5 or 6 laps, but he was breathing hard already and fell away...... so ran much of the race completely alone, ultimately finishing about 8th or 9th out of 16.
Was just slipping off the target pace by a second or two each lap..... which doesn't sound much, but then you get to halfway and you're 25 seconds down, you can't just pull that back.
Had the inevitable tough couple of km around 6km point, where i was shedding time at an alarming rate...... but hesitant to blow a fuse trying to retrieve the situation with such a long way still to go.
Finally let it rip with 2km to go and pulled back a bit of time (at 8km i was hurtling worryingly towards 38:30 or worse)....... but was never going to pull it back under 38mins.
Really is intense racing on the track. Its soul-crushingly hard mentally to be running for close to 40minutes but not going anywahere. Getting your time called out by the officials every lap, and knowing there's a second or two slipping away each time, but you can't really do anything about it..... and you're not going to suddenly get a nice easier downhill section or change in rhythm...... it just goes on and on.
On the other hand, its flat, consistent, and conditions were pretty much perfect (ok, it was warm and humid, i was utterly drenched after, but as good as you'll get in this country, ie it wasn't particularly windy and it wasn't pissing down)
