Go Team! Go me! Eastleigh 10k 2008

Well done girls!

1st vet team: Miranda, Susie, Shelly
3rd senior women's team: Miranda, Susie, Shelly, Lucy
I didn't fare badly either:
Bronze Medal South of England Championships W45
Silver Medal Hampshire W45
3rd place W45

I picked up 3 lots of B&Q vouchers, and even more should I forget to hand the others theirs! ;-)

I so desperately wanted a PB but I was a minute out. I quote the results page:
The strong North wind (averaging about 20mph at the time of the race) slowed times considerably.

I reckoned after the race that I lost 30 secs to the wind, but it might have been more. Some of the lead men lost a minute over last year and the lead woman, Natalie Harvey, lost over 30s. Due to possible fatigue my heart rate was slightly down on last year so I guess I need to be happy that I'm as fit as last year and in good shape for London. How can I be unhappy after that prize haul? Our vets beat Winchester for heaven's sake!

I got to meet my online pals hilly and BR whom I haven't seen for ages. I also had a chat with our marathon hero Dan Robinson (good luck in London!), and met Leon Taylor, our Athens silver medal diver (yum!).

What of the race? I had a little virtual partner on my Garmin, which was me running the race last year - I'd know at any point how far I was behind PB schedule - nice feature. Unfortunately we started straight into the strong headwind and the little virtual me was soon leaving me behind. That just left me to focus on the real people around me, such as Stubbington Bev, my Havant track partner, and her Stubby team mate Susie. I caught the 2 of them at half way and dropped Bev, but Susie pulled away from me, finishing just ahead. That wind was particularly cruel on the run in around the edge of the playing fields - it was pretty much a re-run of 2 years ago, although without the sunshine. I've just noticed I mentioned Dan Robinson in the report 2 years ago, having watched him get Commonwealth Bronze - how spooky is that?

A very good day at the office!


Finally, as always, the heart rate data. Notice how much higher my HR was 2 years ago!
4:10 139bpm
4:11 148bpm
4:12 150bpm
4:37 152bpm (slight uphill)
4:01 150bpm (slight downhill)
4:09 153bpm
4:12 154bpm
4:14 152bpm
4:17 152bpm
4:24 153bpm (into the wind)

42:26 150bpm ave