Framlingham 10k

For the last few years I have had an annual holiday in Suffolk and had been aware of a 10k not too far away from where I was staying.  This year I decided to enter, partly to get a greater understanding of my current fitness levels as my performance at the recent Burton 10k ended up not really telling me much.

I knew the race had its undulations and that it was a two lap course, but other than that it was brand new to me.  The start was in the market square and at the off I temporarily hit the lead up the fairly sharp ascent out of town, but soon settled into third.  About 500 metres later I moved into second and just behind the shoulder of the leader.  It stayed this way up to the 2km point at the top of the gradual climb where I was able to hold on but could offer no more.  At this point my co-leader injected additional pace on a short flat section and to follow this would have put me into the red zone.  The rest of the 3rd km was sharply downhill and the lead extended to perhaps 10 metres or a couple of seconds, even then I did a 3.03km which is seriously fast but perhaps goes to show the descent was very sharp.  It was make or break time and although the elastic band stretched between the two of us, it never quite snapped and I managed to close the gap again over the 4th km and was back on his shoulder once more.

Lining up at the start.

Over the 5th km, it involved going through the town square again and another sharp ascent, at which point I now knew what was ahead of me as we started the second lap.  The support through the square was pretty amazing, far closer to something you would expect in a bigger city marathon, not a local 10k.  All the public could see was two runners together which added to their excitement, but the reality was far more nuanced.  I was sizing up where we were tactically; up the hills I could sense I was a touch stronger but not enough in a way where I could make a move, whilst on the flat and downhill I was hanging on.  It didn't bode well as much of the final mile was flat.

Over the remainder of km 5 and km 6 it was mostly climbing back out of town and again I felt fractionally more in control but not in a meaningful way.  The next km was the very sharp descent and again I hung on but on this lap was only a couple of metres behind.  My mind was now starting to turn to how we might finish and I felt like there was little in my favour.  There was only the climb back through town to come, but that finished at about 8.75km at which point it was more or less flat to the finish.  If I were to make a move it would have to be at about 8.25km and hope that I could hold on.  The alternative approach was to try and hold on to the home straight and leave it to a sprint finish but this is always a crapshoot.  My body, not being used to the mental strain and suffering of 10k's in recent years was screaming to me that 2nd would be good enough and to just drop back if this was the best I could do anyway.

The sharp ascent through town to end the first lap.  Sharing the lead but took quite an effort to stay in touch.

As it happens as we passed the 7km marker I felt my co-leader just drift behind me.  I certainly had not made any move, but now seemed the time to make it stick.  I just tried to keep my pacing even and not let my own pace drift.  I had little sense over the 8th km how far I was ahead as by now I was starting to lap several other runners.  A quick look behind now and then wasn't particularly informative, but listening to supporters on the roadside suggested the lead was probably 5-10 seconds.

The 9th km back through the market square was pretty amazing, lots of cheering and I made a conscious effort through here to really go for it.  Again, I had no real idea what the scale of my lead was but either way I was committed.  The final km came off the two lap course and at the sharp turn with about 500 metres to go I could look back without seeing lapped runners.  It was now that I knew the race was won and I was surprised how far I was ahead considering I had only moved into the lead at the 7km point.  It was then just a lap of the sports fields and crossing the line in a time of 33.25.

Now in the sole lead at the end of the second lap at about 8.5km.  Passing by lapped runners made it difficult to judge the scale of my lead.  Not that I knew at the time but it was probably 20 - 25 seconds.

In the end I won by 54 seconds which although comfortable, was anything but up to 7km.  I did speak with second who confirmed that he made a conscious move at 2km to drop me that didn't work, ultimately paying for that effort more than I knew at the time.  Although I made no move at the 7km mark when I took the lead, my fellow leader fell away considerably in a very short space of time.

The finish time of 33.25 was very poor, the slowest I have done for some considerable time.  Despite having won, there was therefore a tinge of disappointment as it was 20 seconds slower than the Burton 10k.  That said, the course just felt long for some reason and most of the GPS logs suggest it was at least 100 metres too far.  The course is officially measured but its possible that being on twisty open roads you cannot always take the shortest line.  In addition it was 22 degrees and very humid with the vast majority of the course being in the blaring sun.  Finally, as it turned out the total ascent of almost 100 metres was greater than the Burton 10k (as shown by km times ranging from 3.03 - 3.25) which itself is about as hilly as a 10k gets.  All told, there are reasons to be much more optimistic, but nonetheless I would rather run the fast time than make excuses!

Finish.

Prize giving.  Unusually, also winning the V40 age group prize as well.  Normally overall prize winners are ineligible for age category prizes.

I have decided to enter the Potters Arf (Half Marathon) at the end of September.  I'm currently leaning towards not doing a marathon at the end of October as I feel I just won't be able to do it justice.  I will make a final decision around then.