Another weekend, another race. Honestly, after this one I’m going to put my feet up. Or return to normal training, anyway. I’d signed up ages ago for the Ealing Eagles 10km race, and though my legs are still a little leaden from the previous two weekends (marathon followed by 21.5 miles) it was nice to do something a bit faster.
Well, I say nice … actually I got a stitch after about 2km and carried it around with me for the rest of the way. I’m blaming that squarely on two weeks of post-marathon gluttony. It was a fantastically well-organised, friendly, local event, started by local celeb James Cracknell, who was coincidentally the guest on last week’s Marathon Talk podcast, on which I also briefly appeared. But since he wasn’t running, he didn’t get a high five from an eagle. Or possibly an aquatic bird. I don’t like to cast aspersions on the club mascot, but I did overhead one toddler arguing vehemently with her father that “dat not eagle, dat penguin!”
The course is three laps (one shorter, two full) around Gunnersbury Park, with plenty of encouraging spectators and cheery marshals. For once I managed to persuade my kids to come and watch, helped by the prospect of a playground near the startline and the promise of a pizza after – and my word what a pizza it was too. Santa Maria, Ealing. Best pizza I’ve had outside Naples.
So, um, back to the race. I finished in 41m 25sec, nowhere near my PB, but that was never going to be the aim yesterday. It’s nice to just try and get the legs moving faster again, and bag a third place trophy into the bargain. Though my three year old claims that since I got one of those already last week, this one is all hers.
So how was your weekend running, back to normal after a marathon, or racing at the Manchester 10km? Perhaps you even caught a glimpse there of Haile, who announced his competitive retirement after the race – or lined up alongside an astonishing athlete, 68-year old Angela Copson who smashed the world age group record in 40m 30sec? Or did you do the Hackney half marathon? As always, come and share your exploits below the line.
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