After the big high and hype of the London Marathon, I have found it a little hard to stay motivated for running, but luckily the York and District 10K Road Race League was right there… two days later! I managed to complete five out of the six league races plus the end-of-season handicap in good spirits despite some very tired legs early on.
My goal for the rest of the summer, and the remainder of the year, is to stay injury-free. This may seem a little odd to younger athletes; however, for the last few years I’ve managed to come to a complete standstill or really hurt myself at some point over summer. So much so that I don’t get back to any sort of exercise until much later in the year. In addition, I’m not a big fan of running in the heat. Heat is something many of us Masters runners struggle with, as Ian will testify.
Anyway, the good news is I remain uninjured. I’ve had a few low-mileage weeks, but have kept on running over the summer. My little lull was due to a sore knee, and so I sensibly backed off.
Running solo is not my preferred choice, so for the last few weeks I’ve been supporting some friends on their own running journeys — some getting back to fitness, others training for milestone events, some big ones at that.
Now living in York, I have the pleasure of exploring new routes whenever I fancy, so obviously I paid £42 to enter the York 10K on 2nd August. I turned up at the Knavesmire as the crowds were gathering. These types of big events always make me think of the scenes from the Quidditch World Cup 🤷♀️🎪
The York 10K was my second-ever race back in 2017, when I had decided to do all the road race distances up to and including a marathon in one year. I didn’t know ultrarunning was a thing back then, thank goodness. I didn’t have fond memories of the race in 2017 and remember moaning about the heat a lot that year!
This time I loved it. I had a little more experience, ran it for fun, supported a friend, and although it was hot, I had acclimatised to it. I loved the crowds, the kids, and especially the choir in Rowntree Park.
York is a beautiful city!
So, one week on, I am still uninjured, coping with the heat as best I can, and running for enjoyment while looking forward to the next challenge — not least the start of cross country season and that chilly water jump at Temple Newsam for PECO.
