As part of my half marathon training I’ve been taking part in some smaller races. They have been little confidence boosts, but also training runs with a perk. Who doesn’t love a medal?!
A few weekends ago and my second 10k race of the year brought me to the Forest of Dean. A cooler morning, autumn on it’s way, but it was bright and sunny too. It made for wonderful running conditions. Instead of carrying the world on my back, I decided to run this race with just my water bottle and some energy bloks (from Clif) and keep it light. I’d had a week of bad runs in the week before this race and was hoping it would help. Madly I had also run Maverick Somerset the day before, but that was only 4 miles!
We reached the start line, the temperature warmed slightly as we were all huddled. But before I knew it we were off on our way. A route I partly recognised from Dr W’s and I’s previous 9 miler together. This route is actually a way-marked 10k route from Mallard’s Pike Lake. If you want to run/walk it yourself you can! It’s pretty much all gravel track, a little tarmac, but nothing too crazy.
The route was definitely a bit hillier than I thought it would be, mostly all in the first half. It was a great challenge and I managed to run faster (1:06:14) than my previous 10k at Cannock Chase in May. My half marathon training is definitely paying off here. Luckily most of the second half to the finish was downhill, which I quite enjoyed running down. Before I knew it I’d crossed the finish line by the lake and was picking up my gorgeous wooden medal to add to 2021’s collection.
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