DISTANCE OF CHOICE - WHO KNOWS!!??

To 10K or not to 10K now that is the question.

Since I completed my last half marathon in 1901, whoops sorry, March 2011, I seem to have stumbled upon the shorter distance and am liking and liking alot. Not only does it mean I get round quicker but it makes way for more training in other disciplines.

Since Mr T signed up for the Exmoor Beast ( he gets to come face to face with said Beast this weekend) I have been following a fairly regular training program on the turbo trainer. I have to admit to being a little dubious as to how I would fair with the fact that I would be a) going nowhere and b) sat in our garage for up to an hour at a time. I have to say I have found it surprisingly easy and enjoyable as I have my ears plugged into my iPod and have been finding some great tracks to help with the various interval training I am doing.
My session of choice is lovingly called Stairway to Heaven. This comprises of a 10 min warm up spinning the legs, working my way through the cogs whilst on the small chainring at the front. After 10 mins I move to the big ring at the front and keep towards the smallest ring at the back. After 5 mins of riding hard, I take it up at the back by 2 and down to the small ring at the front for 2 mins to spin the legs out and recover. I do 5 x 5 mins sessions with recovery in between, then have a 10 min warm down. Throughout I am listening to a variety of tracks but there is one that takes me through even the hardest climb. The most amazing track to exercise to ( in my opinion) has to be this:

If that won't get me climbing those hills then don't know what will!
The only problem with enjoying other disciplines is that the running gets pushed into a tighter gap within the week, therefore the 10K distance has worked into this new phase of training beautifully!

I very much enjoyed some great runs with the Bude RATS recently. Myself, The Day to Davis, Mr D and Avril enjoyed a morning on the coastal paths and countryside around North Cornwall participating in the Grrrr Rats Relay in September. On 15th October the National Trust supported by Bude RATS held their first Mouth to Mouth race. This couldn't have been planned any better, the weather was AMAZING, blue skies, no wind and I was keen to get into the 10K course. 1 hour and 8 minutes later I felt like I had not one ounce of energy left in my lead legs. The hills were incredible and took it out of me more than I could have realised but I must admit to having had enjoyed it so very much. The atmosphere was so very friendly, with a great RATS turnout, visiting runners from various other clubs gave us some amazing finish time to marvel at, and I came away with a 2nd in age category medal which I was totally amazed at!!!

Mouth to Mouth 2011

My medal!

My next race is on 6th November in Plymouth. Another debut race, the Plymouth 10K, looks set to be a fast course, am hoping I can do it justice. Good to see some new races being added, lets hope both the Mouth to Mouth and Plymouth 10K become yearly additions to the running calendar.