On 10 April 2013, I signed up
for a We Own the Night (WOTN) – a 10km run for women, hosted by Nike and Elle
magazine in the East End of London.
I signed up to this run with
the gentle nudge and encouragement of my fellow fitness darlings (Rachel, Jo,
Ogechi, Nkeiruka, Nneka to name a few!). Basically this time last year…..in
fact as recently as December 2012, my position as to running/jogging was “I do
not run”. No ifs no buts, just no. The thought of running/jogging longer than a
minute filled me with dread! However part of my goals for 2013 was to increase
my cardio and fitness – this included taking up jogging. After all it was about
time that I started challenging myself……..
Fast forward to April (I shall
do a separate post on my running journey) and I challenged myself to do a 10km
run. The basics were in place I just needed to build on my endurance and pace,
which I achieved by running every week either by myself, with my cousin or with
Nike Run Club; this was in addition to my usual NTC classes.
In the week leading up to WOTN, I got my race
pack which included a very, very, bright t-shirt:
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| this is placed at the back of the t-shirt. |
On 18 May 2013 Victoria Park
was overrun by ladies in neon orange t-shirts (including me), ready to lead the
pack, beat their personal best or in my case complete their first ever 10km
run! I was feeling ambitious and wanted to complete my run in 60 minutes or
under……
My first kilometre was the
slowest at almost 9 minutes; I can usually run a km in about 6 minutes. At the
risk of sounding like I’m throwing out excuses, there were just too many people
and not enough space. I think that there should have been smaller groups of
people starting to enable more space between runners. It was difficult to
overtake people so sometimes I got stuck behind people who had stopped run and
started walking. I eventually managed to hit a comfortable pace, but at 7km and
8km, I got struck by a stitch – OUCH!!! I tried to slow my pace and jog through
it as well as breathe deeply to reduce the discomfort, but I had to powerwalk
nearly 1km. I was so upset!
I eventually started to jog
again by 8.5km, but I was disheartened that I had to walk at all. In the end I finished
the run in 01:04:32, which actually isn’t bad for my first 10km run and is a
personal best for me.
My family and friends had congratulated me on my
achievement, but I was still sulking….My training in the 2 weeks leading up to
the main event had been so promising, I honestly thought that I that the run,
while challenging would be comfortable for me. But I really should not complain…….
But, despite my moaning above,
the atmosphere was electric; the crowds were very supportive and they helped me
push on to complete the race. It was brilliant to see so many ladies from
different walks of life come to participate in this event. Overall it was a
great night and I got a few freebies in the process:
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| From Nike I wish I got more coconut water |
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| Courtesy of Leah, check out her blog, Naturally Leah |
I didn’t take a lot of pics of
the event, but here a few to give you a taste of the night:
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| Me with a few of the girls that I normally train with at the NTC classes and also run with; They have all been very encouraging and inspirational! |
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| We definately lit up the night with our wrist bands! |
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| After the run, but before we went on the hunt for free snacks and booze! |
My new challenge - to complete 10K in under an hour.................
looks like fun!
ReplyDeleteAww congrats on at least doing it! The freebies look sweeet :)
ReplyDeleteI wish to complete a marathon this summer as well!
xoxo