Hi all,

The time has come that I will be competing in my first race next Sunday since I started running nearly a year ago. It is the 10k at Fradley that is a 2 lap race around the village and lanes which are reasonably flat, and from what I have been told it is known to be a fast race.

I decided to go over to Fradley and try out my race strategy in advance on what I considered is the course and run within my low tempo band (150 - 155bpm) for the first 5k lap and then increase to the high temp band (155 - 161bmp) for the second lap, finishing off with the last 1/4 mile (400m) at sprint speed.

I must say it went well and I have posted my PB for a 10k of 46.33 mins, so now I have established a benchmark for the race. Hopefully I won't get to hindered by crowding at the start, although that could be good thing as it will ease me into the race until my metabolism gets used to the run.

I would like to think I could possibly beat my PB on the day, I will be on wind down next week up to the race and reduced my training down to 4 days intead of the usual 6 days with a rest day on Friday and an easy 2.5mile jog on Saturday. I would be grateful if anyone has any tips that could help me further.

Anyone else running Fradley? I am number 28 be good to see you if you are.

Derek

Looks like you are doing well and should be able to get a good time, but Marge is right that the first race of a distance tends to be a bit of a practice and benchmark so don't worry too much.  If I have a race on that I consider important I always have at least 2 days rest beforehand and sometimes 3 (although a short jog as you are planning will be fine).  Have you used the 'race time predictor' on the site - under the routes and races menu?  If you have done a recent race or time trial from 3 miles up this will predict your time for another race e.g. 10K, and then you can calculate your pace per mile or km and keep this in mind as you are running the race.  If you try and keep around this pace per km/mile marker then this should keep you from going off too fast or varying your pace too much during the whole race.  The main thing, though, is to run to how you feel - but this will get easier to gauge after you have done a few races.  Good Luck.

Thanks all for your kind words and advice I am looking forward to next Sunday as this hopefully be the start of many races and have already booked on the Coventry Half also our local 10k Gate Gallop from what I understand is a multi terrain run which will be interesting as I have only run on road.

I think once I get the first one out of the way then I will know what to expect especially with the pre race bits such as how to best fix the number on and this gizmo timing thing that goes on my trainer somewhere. I am hoping to get there an hour before the start to sort them out and do 1/4 hour warm up jogs.

I'll have a go at your race time predictor Louise as that could look pretty useful as I am accumulating the races it will give me an idea for the different distances I intend to run.

Hi Derek Im number 105 for Fradley but you want see much of me as I will be delighted to finish around 58 minutes - good luck and enjoy

Hi Ann good to know someone else is running from here, hopefully it will be a nice day, if I spot you I will come over for a chat I don't know how many will be running tomorrow.

Well I'm back after my first ever race and I must say it was quite enjoyable although it was a bit breezy. There were over 550 finishers with the winner finishing around 30 mins. I came in at 118th with a PB of 44.09 chip reading, although my Garmin did log it as 44.04 but I would imagine the chip is more accurate. I even had enough left in the tank to do 100m sprint finish which was a little awkward as the finish was a sharp left hand turn otherwise I could have overtaken a large group just in front of me.

I wasn't going for the drink at the drink station but as my throat was a little dry I decided to oblige, unfortunately most of it went up my nose :-) There you go lesson learnt about plastic cups, only good for throwing over your face !!!!

I did tend to race at quite a high heart rate at 167bpm (90-95%) but I felt comfortable with that so I kept it around that mark which at the end sprint actually pushed my max heart rate threshold up to 178bmp from the previous high of 174bmp.

It was quite well organised with fruit at the start and from what I understood was the medal/tee shirt/banana and water afterwards. I am looking for another local 10k in April before my 1/2 in Coventry in around 2 months time.

So that's the secret thanks Lisa.

Ann, it was quite busy in Fradley although I did keep one eye out for you both at he start and finish.

Hi Carol you are really doing well in both distance and time considering the short time you have been running. I am running my 1st half marathon in 4 weeks time. Unlike the 10k this is more about distance than speed and I suggest you build up to one 14 - 15 mile run per week at an easy pace, I use heart monitoring for this and in my case keep my heart rate to around 135bpm or below.

I am up to 11.5 miles at the moment and run 1 mile more each week, this should get me near the mark the week before, also don't forget to start tapering at least one week before the race, which means more rest and cut the overall weekly mileage by at least a third. I would also suggest that if you can up your days from three to at least four a week and train hard one day, easy the next.

Think that it is double the 10k and when the race starts I suggest you pace the first half steadily and if you feel good after that you can think about increasing the pace slightly, overall based on your time I would be pleased for around 2 hour time for your first run. 

Good luck for the Bristol 10k, do you know the course? and is it hilly?

Good luck on Sunday Carol, once you start the race the adrenalin and sense of occassion will carry you through and it may surprise you how well you will do at the end. It's always sensible to set yourself a marker at the start and if you feel good during the second part of the race up it a little. Let us know how you get on.

Well done Carol the first race is always a voyage of discovery and you have plenty of time to work up to your half marathon by steadily increasing the distance of one run per week.

As you may be aware I am running my first half marathon in a couple of weeks time and I have actually been running the full distance once a week for the last three weeks and increasing the pace each time, I am now tapering off until the event.

You may want to do another 10k before the HM as they do get easier each time and everyone is different which for me adds to the enjoyment.

Soon you will be running up and down the Quantocks !!!!