Cursa Diagonal DIR - 10k

After only one week of recovery another 10k on a course more flat so better for setting a Personal Best. I went running from home to the start area at the beginning of the Diagonal some 30 minutes at easy pace. I dropped my bag and did some more warm up exercises. Today it was really warm in spite of starting at 8h30 am. I am still far away from feeling strong at the start but at least some little pains I had during the week have subdued and I can run comfortably. The start is smooth and we have space inmediately, but to my surprise in spite of running fast I pass the first kilometer in 4 minutes. So I up my pace a bit and I am even more surprised to pass 2k in 8 minutes. I start to doubt about the validaty of those markers, also hearing more comments of runners around me. At 3k all of a sudden I am running near 37 minutes pace passing in 11m10. That is going to cost me later on, having started so fast, with the marker confusion. I try to stay relaxed and keep pace and pass 5k in 19m19s which is way to fast. Just after the 6k marker we leave the diagonal for a while and that part of the course goes up and down quite a bit, so I take it easy here going up to above 4m/k. Once back on the diagonal I am tired and try to get back at 4m/k pace. The kilometers are still marked chaotically so I can only run as fast as I can now and I will know at the finish line whether it was enough or not. So after the final turn I push out some sort of a sprint and finish in 39m41s. Judging the irregular pace I think that is a great time. In 3 weeks the next 10k race, though training will shift more to mountain running.

Cursa Nou Barris - 10k

While at the other side of planet Earth Kilian Jornet has started his run up the Mount Everest for me a more modest challenge, running another 10k two weeks after my first one in a long time and after some pretty good training. Eventhough I prepared well, I arrived later than planned at the start area and also with a suspicious rumble in my stomach. The regular visit to the toilet some 25 minutes before the start showed that indeed my digestive system was quite upset, so I was just hoping for the best today. After a minute of silence in remembrance of a woman, member of the organizing athletics club, who recently passed away, we were shot away. It was already warm and I was sweating in spite of very little warm before the start. The front group stretches out quickly and running is comfortable right away. Because of my stomach I took it easy and inmediately stayed with the 40m pacer, together with some 30 other runners. The first 2k go by in 7m50, and then kilometers 3 to 5 are the hard ones of this race, 2 sharp turns and some streets that are uphill make running at near 4m/k pace a tough thing to do. Still, with some struggle and practicing deep breathing at times as I did in some of the training sessions I managed to arrive at the midway point in 20m10 still in the group of the 40minute pacer, a very cheerful guy that is continuously talking and checking upon us and letting us recover during the 6th kilometer, which is flat. We pass that mark just under 4m/k pace and he anounces that during the next 2k he will up the pace a bit since we go downhill so we will arrive at 8k just under 40minutes schedule. Up to 8k I am following quite ok, but then I very very slowly start to tighten up and really have to push to follow the group that is only some 10 runners now. After the 9k marker, where we pass with 35m55 I know that as long a I don't blow up I can probably finish under forty minutes sprinting a bit at the end. So I let the group go though the gap is never more than 20 meters and when we enter the athletics stadium I push out a controlled but pretty fast sprint to break 40 minutes for the first time since january 2016 finishing in 39m54s. The coming weeks 2 more 10k races and then it is back to the mountains.

Cursa Bombers - 10k

Finally!!! Running again and starting to enjoy it!!! In spite of recovering well of the triple ultra trail effort last year I guess more deep down my body needed some rest. After many years of repeating 10k training during fall/winter/spring, changing into marathon training in spring and then into mountain running for summer and fall without any breaks somewhat before Christmas last year I had to stop. After a full break of about a month and then a slow and easy start combined with a rest squat program my knees accepted running again. Last month I already had a fun first appetizer, running the Cursa del Corte Ingles with Emma and Jordi. Last week I went to Montserrat with the Collserola Mountain Runners and today it was on!!! 10k. No clue about what pace I could hold sustainably and with sore muscles of last tuesday's sprint training, so my warm up mostly consisted of just running around in Parc de la Ciutadella near the start area with some easy accelerations and nothing else. Somehow they still give me access to the fastest start box, though my times of the last years no longer are compatible, but it allows for a much smoother start. Some five minutes after the firefighters were shot away (they run in full outfit!!!! hats off for them!!!) we were shot away and the first 2k went by quite ok, though the sore muscles don't allow for perfect smooth running. Today will be more like a training in many ways. The first 4k are mainly uphill, not much, but enough for making it noticable, and when I finally arrive at the highest point I know running under 40 minutes will be impossible. I pass the 5k marker in 19m56, but already somewhat tired. I can maintain the 4m/k pace untill the 7k marker, after that my hamstrings start sending signals that they are running at the limit so I slow down a bit and run the last 3k at a very steady pace but without sprinting to finish and as such my final time was 40m41 today. Last year around the same time I remember I also struggled to go under 40 minutes, so I am very happy with how I felt today. Two weeks of recovery and training and we will run the next 10k!!!