The Abbey Dash
17 seconds is not very long at all. Ordinarily, you lose 17 seconds without even noticing they’ve slipped away, disappeared.
Sometimes, though, 17 seconds is forever, bending time and space with its sheer There-ness.
I had made much hullabaloo about trying to run the Abbey Dash in under 50minutes, but those 17 seconds unequivocally wedged themselves between me and that goal.
On race day, I wanted to run by myself rather than together with Mum – to be alone in the zone as I pushed myself. And push myself I fricken did. 10K is such a ghastly distance, with not one second’s respite from running yourself ragged.
I had high hopes at first, but it was at 8K that I suddenly knew for certain I wasn’t going to come in under 50 minutes. 8K had taken me 40 minutes and 21 seconds, and so each of the last 2K would have to be run at 4:50 pace rather than 5:00. Those paces look so so similar as I write them! Less than 4% difference. But the world of pain in my legs and heart, and the HILL before the finish line, knew otherwise.
I came in at 50:17, not a PB, but a course PB. Disappointing but I can definitely hold my head high, and start planning for the next 10K.
And Mum? She came in at 49:51… I hope she’ll have me back and let me run with her again next time.
Blog Comments
We’ve been half wondering where all of our comments are for a while now. You guys chatter on ALL the time with us on Twitter, we’ve recently started getting some ‘100 Like’ photos on our Instagram and you make us smile on Facebook too. But we never seemed to get any comments on here. Like, ever.
We just make like Swifty and Shook it Off. But then David (who makes some of our great playlists) mentioned the other night that he had written a mega-long comment in response to Sarah’s speedwork article, only to have it disappear entirely. And that it had happened to him several times over the last year.
Turns out, our spam filter has been chucking all of your lovely comments into the bin, along with the 1500 spam comments we get a day. We’re so sad – all of that natter, lost forever! We hate the idea that you’ve been thinking that we’re ignoring you, too.
I *think* I’ve fixed the problem – an overenthusiastic plugin activated in the Summer has been quieted. Please, give us another chance and let us know if it’s truly working. I’d really appreciate a comment or two so I can check that I’m not just chucking my words like letters to Santa up the chimney.
Did you mean 50m17secs? I can identify with the blog post. I had a very similar experience trying to get sub40…finished at 40m42s….close but just not there!
There was just NOTHING I felt I could do to get myself under that barrier.
Have you signed up for your next one? I want a nice flat 10k in February to focus on, but haven;t had the heart to start looking yet.
It just means you weren’t quite ready. But you will be next time. My top tip: proper weekly speed training. Done more for my times than anything else.
Feb 10K: flat and fast means it’s got to be Dewsbury. By god, it’s not picturesque, but it’s great PB territory.
10K isn’t the time for seeing scenery. I will check it out!
Last time I did it, the only spectators were local residents stood in their gardens drinking tinnies at 9am and peering at us like we were mad people. So yeah, it’s NOT picturesque
10k is always such a hard distance I think – not quite short enough to go all out but not long enough to ever feel in a steady pace either (not for me anyway!). Well done on a course pb though and I’m sure sub-50 will be achieved soon – I’m aiming for that next year but it seems impossible at the moment. Then again….so did sub 55 at one point 🙂
I’m the same – in 5K you just belt it and hope for the best, but you still need to pace a bit in 10K or you have nothing left.
Next year is our year! We’ll get there.
So close! Runs vary by much more than 17 seconds though so I’m sure you will bag that sub 50 soon! Well done on your course PB. I get really nervous before 10ks and never perform at my best. It’s something about having to be on it from the very beginning of the race and each of those seconds making a difference…
Ah that hill. I got to it thinking, the day before I had watched people fling themeselves for 17 miles around Pendle Hill, with 5,000 feet of ascent. I thought, that hill is NOTHING. But it felt like 5,000 feet of ascent. I was delighted with my PB of 22 seconds but it was hard. Well done though: 17 seconds is a hop and a skip away and you’ll do it, Bibi.
I just looked at my Strava from the course and there is almost NOTHING there, just a tiny bump… I guess it’s all relative, as it most certainly didn’t feel like nothing by the end.
Pendle Hill sounded insane!
We’re back!
And hey, Bibi, it took me ruddy years to go sub-40. I screwed it up SO many times, including one time on the Abbey Dash when I ended tripping myself and one of my own clubmates, hitting the deck completely – and coming in at…40.20. Doh!
And then last year, it all came together and I smashed it. And this year, went even a little better (38.34). Sometimes you think you’ll never reach a running goal, but if you stick to it, you will 🙂
That’s not just a little better… You’re eating PBs for breakfast nowadays!
It was a bit ‘too little, too late’, but since about 3 weeks ago I’ve been running with a club – hill sprints, 100 stair climbs, fartleks – and I can see what good it would do me. I would NEVER push myself that hard on my own.
17 seconds – Argh!! But definitely do-able. My 10k PB is 54:02 – do you know how much those 2 seconds have bugged me for a whole year??!!!
Those 17 seconds will definitely spur me on to training over the winter – I think I might have just sat on my bum otherwise!
Do you have a race planned for whupping those 02 seconds?
Erm yes – just entered a race on Sunday, but haven’t been doing much speedwork lately so we’ll see…..
Well done both of you, it was very crowded this year – so crowded that it must have added at least 18 seconds to your time! And hope you can see this comment!
I CAN see it. Hurray hurray!
Need to find an unpopular flat race in the next few months… any ideas?
10k is such a vom-inducing distance! 17 seconds is so close! I would like to get closer to 50 mins too, I did my pb 53.30 5 days after a marathon and after a 3 mile warm up, so hoping on fresh legs to be quicker!
It nearly was literally a vom-inducing distance – I was gagging at the finish line so hard the St John’s Ambulance lady came and gave me a bottle of water!
Well done! This was my first 10K race. I was aiming for sub 50min and managed 43min, so pretty pleased. Although I imagine I’ll be chasing sub 40min for many years now and not sure I’m looking forward to it! [S]
43 minutes! You machine! Really really well done – good luck for the next one.
I did my first road 10k the same weekend, it’s certainly a tough distance, such a different pain to a marathon. You have to push at a hard effort for the whole way but it’s actually quite a long way!
I’m thinking of spending the next few months working on pace as a nice change and hopefully help with races for next year.
There is absolutely no let up in the distance. I think I might focus on it for February too, before doing some half-marathons later in the year.
Good luck!
Awh, I’m frustrated FOR you – 17 seconds is so close, you’ve absolutely got the sub-50 – it’s factors like the having to sneak around all the people at the start. And hey, when you do you’ll have a medal to go with it!? (I’ll always take a medal over super-massive tshirt, haha!)
*whispers* I just cut a non-technical tee up to use as rags yesterday!
Well done – I know it wasn’t sub-50 but it was SO close!! 10k is the hardest distance. It feels so close to flat out and it just hurts so much!
Casi se convierte en una distancia que provoca vómitos: me da arcadas en la línea de fondo tan fuerte que la mujer de la ambulancia de St John llegó y me dio acompañantes Moreno una botella de agua.