It was held at Trafford Athletic Club in Manchester and was formed of mostly 10,000m track races plus a steeple chase. I entered the race as it formed part of the 6 race challenge of the British Grand Prix. Previous races were Reading Half Marathon, Bristol 10km and London 10km (which I missed due to my race in Liverpool on the same day.)
It was set to be the first time that I would be racing on a track which I was excited about but a little nervous. I usually have one track session with my trainer where we normally do sprints that range between 100m - 800m but I have never done anything longer.
The training session at the track before I was heading to Manchester we did a few 400m circuits trying to get me at the pace I should be running at for the 10,000m otherwise I would run the risk of speeding off at the usual rate I do on the track and burning out uber quickly! The session helped and I felt ready for the race.
In Manchester there were 6 x 10,000m races and I was due to be in the 5th one. So I turned up at the track a few races before mine to pick up my number and settle in the stands to observe the format of previous races. Good plan but actually made me beyond nervous! I had thought that each race would be getting quicker leading to a crescendo of the final race with the elites in so you can imagine my panic when the first race I watched brought home all athletes in a time under 32 minutes. To put this in perspective my best is 36 minutes! Plus many of the athletes were wearing trainers with spikes...were we supposed to?!
I freaked out thinking how embarrassing it would be to get lapped so many times and wondered whether it would get to the point where they may ask you to leave the track? Did that happen at track events?!
The next race took place and was a much slower pace and I realised (and checked with officials) that they had put all participants in a group based on previous performances so I should be ok in my group.
The atmosphere watching the races was fun and I was excited as I started warming up for my race but still did have a few nerves. 25 laps is a long time to be going round in circles.
As they lined us up and the gun went I stuck to the pace I had done in training that week and the laps were going by pretty quickly. Our group started to spread out fairly soon into the race. The two front runners were way ahead but I was sticking to third position. It was fun hearing the commentator giving an update on the race and did give me a boost each time he said my name. I could hear him say at the end of each lap that the girl behind me was catching up with me so that gave me motivation to stick at the same pace. Towards the end of the race I then started lapping people which weirdly made me feel a little guilty but this was eased once the leader then lapped me!
Hearing the little bell rung for the final lap when I went past the marshalls was fun and made me feel semi professional. I pushed on and can say that the last lap was tough but I crossed the line 3rd in a time of 36 minutes 43 seconds. 7 seconds off a PB but still a performance I am really pleased with. The girl chasing me was a mere 1 second behind me.
We took a few minutes to catch our breath before congratulating each other.
So my first track meet was fun and I think I could get addicted to them so watch this space. My performance has meant that I now sit in 35th place in the Grand Prix competition ranking which I am very happy about! The next one in the series is Cardiff Half Marathon next month so let's see what that brings!
Post race I rehydrated in the numerous bars in the Norther Quarter of the city as well as a certain dancefloor on Canal Street. Liquid and stretching after all is what you are supposed to do after a race right?!
Start line:
First lap almost done:
Still going:
Finish line:
Got my breath back....and a medal!
Poster for the event:
My heat's results:
Re-hydrating and stretching....on a dancefloor!
35th place now in the Grand Prix standings:
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