After bouncing off my bike on the ice early Sunday morning the 4th January, the impact injury to my left knee meant no injury free running until Monday 16th March, a gap of ten weeks. That left me with under three weeks to get fit for the Maidenhead Ten Mile race today. My Smart Coach training plan came to the rescue and with a slow 8 miles just over a week ago, it was just a matter of how my legs would stand up at a better pace.
I managed two Parkruns and although at my slowest ever times of over 32 minutes, they were faster (ten and a half minute miles) than my training runs that averaged over a minute a mile slower. Coming in at 91st position out of 120 runners at Parkrun was a whole new experience.
I did have the benefit a fantastic pacer. Although we were near the back of the field at Maidenhead, the steady pace Alison set meant that the second five miles were only two seconds different to the first five. I struggled a bit between miles seven and eight, but a decent last two miles saw us pass quite a few runners. We came in at just over one hour forty three minutes, inside the target of one hour forty five. Our overall pace was ten minutes nineteen seconds a mile, better than I could ever have hoped for at this stage in my recovery. If it had not been for my pacer, it would have been a lot slower.
The best thing is that I never felt my knee at all, and I was less tired at the end than I had any right to be. If I keep injury free, the Oxford Half Marathon still looks a possibility. But in the meantime, there is the Marlow Five Mile to look forward to.
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