Firstly, apologies for yet another running blog – unfortunately this is my hobby so I do go on about it quite a lot…..could be worse hobbies to talk about.

So I entered Trafford 10k a few months ago with one eye on going sub 40 minutes (that’s 6 min 26 seconds average per mile) – now for some of you that might seem ridiculously quick for you other more gifted out there, perhaps nothing special.

For me running that pace for 6 miles is not something I have really thought about although others have often said I can run faster than I currently do but until I turned 50 last April I hadn’t really focused on myself as much as I perhaps should have done.

However, with running being part of my job and the occasional spare hour in the day I decided that perhaps it was worth a shot at seeing how fast I could go.

Towards the back end of 2022 my running has increased in volume and I was fortunate to run PB’s at 10 miles and 10k in November and then in January a PB over half marathon distance all of which took some extra time running and a bit of focus without going over the top – this gave me the confidence that I could improve and perhaps the kick up the bum I needed.

So going into February with some additional guidance I attended speed sessions organised by John Danahay at High Performance Runner. For those who know me, I do a spot of coaching myself and I know what I should be doing, however when all of a sudden you have someone looking at your running form or commenting on your strava splits it gives you that little bit of accountability and you can’t get away with a ‘night off’ if you want to succeed.

So jumping forward to the day of the race – the couple of weeks previous had seen an increase in work and a decrease in running and unfortunately being self employed, clients come first so although the training had gone okay, it hadn’t gone perhaps a smoothly as I would have hoped and a few niggles had crept in.

My gut feeling was that I was running okay and my Wilmslow time of 41:14 was definitely achievable if everything went to plan and ideally I would like to go under 41 minutes and get a little closer to that 40 minute longer term goal.

As is my norm, I arrived early (about 10 past 8 for a 9:30 race) but it was already surprisingly busy – collected my number (efficiency personified at most Run Through Events) and visited the little boys room – something runners can all relate to I’m sure.

Went back to my car to sip on my flask of tea, pin my number on and get sorted. It was nice to see Gary and Anne, unfortunately my plan of sticking close to Gary was scuppered when he announced he was ill and not running – next time Gary but you will have to stick to me from now on ;-).

Eventually I decided to brave the cold and get back out for another trip to the loo where i found John and Wayne in the queue (Natalie was busy star spotting and reeling off names of elite runners that were doing the race) – myself and Wayne then went of for a little warm up before the race started at 9:30am.

Trafford 10k is a fast race – there are elite runners from across the UK and although I plonked myself near the 40 minute pacer there were hundreds of runners in front of me which is why it is known as a good race for PB’s as you can get carried along (not literally, although that would be easier).

A quick word with Joanne from Trentham and a few others before we settled down ready to start. In some of the smaller more local races my starting position would mean crossing the line after a few seconds, however it took almost a minute to get over the mat but that gave us a chance to see the elite runners speed off into the distance – they truly are incredible as they bound off into the distance.

Eventually we set off and I tried to settle into a rhythm and not go off too fast, it helped as there was a 40 minute pacer nearby so I used that as a guide. When I first started running I would go off too fast and find that after less than a mile I would be regretting the decision – now that was due to inexperience and undertraining – as you learn you start going off a bit slower and building into a race, however this can then lead to you finishing strong and wishing you had gone off quicker.

This race was slightly different, I have trained smarter (although not quite there yet) so my approach was run to feel and whatever time you get is the time you have trained for – I knew 40 minutes wasn’t going to be too far away so lets see what happens.

As advertised it is a fast flat race – fast runners up ahead definitely, flat pretty much but there seemed to be quite a few hump-back bridges. Now I can cope with a hill and find a nice rhythm but those hump-back bridges are just mean

First mile went by, felt a bit quick (note to self, strides are a must before a quick race), didn’t really check the watch but the 40 minute pacer wasn’t far away, 2nd and 3rd mile also he was still close by but could definitely sense a slight gap opening up. Now mile 4 felt tough, it was a struggle both physically but also mentally, I had not run at this speed for this long and it was at this point where in the past I would have possibly eased back and convinced myself that it was still okay to do sub 45. However, fortunately I spotted Kelly from City of Stoke just ahead and thought if I could just stay close to her it would be okay.

Around mile 5 I gave some encouraging words to Kelly (more for myself I think) and kept going, then Mark Churton, Gary and John were spread over the course of the next mile or so and all had words of encouragement that kept me pushing to the end.

I don’t think I had checked my watch since about mile 2, the 40 minute pacer was possibly 100 yards ahead of me and the clock on the finish line was clicking towards 41 minutes – so in my head when I fell across the line I was chuffed that I had beaten Wilmslow and gained a PB.

40:02 official chip time!!

Now, this was 1 minute and 12 seconds quicker than I had run a 10k before but it was 3 seconds shy of a sub 40 10k, my longer term goal. Gutted or Happy?

I can honestly say I was very pleased to have clocked that time. It has shown me that I am capable of going sub 40 with a bit more training. What if I had done 39:59 – would I have ticked it off and put it to bed?

Now although my goal is still to run sub 40 sooner rather than later I feel I need to re-evaluate and basically run it as quick as I can – why put a time down? If i continue with my training, stay fit and do the right things and pick the right races surely the time is almost irrelevant!

Thanks to everyone who supported me at the race today, thanks to the race organisers and marshals for a great race.

Will do some steady recovery runs this week before pacing a few friends/athletes around the Stafford Half Marathon next week before I pick my next target race and get back on it.

Thanks for reading and see you all soon.

Paul