Cardiff 10k

Race: Cardiff 10k (Welsh Championships)
Time/Position: 34:45 (45th from 3000 [4th v40])
I'd had around five weeks to prepare for this, having been selected to represent North Wales Masters in the Welsh Championships in early August. I was obviously keen to justify my selection, but I'd only had time for three intervals sessions after a summer running exclusively in the hills. However, those three sessions plus my performance in the Capenhurst 5k rather surprisingly suggested that I could get close to a sub-35 minute PB. So I was reasonably confident, and ended up enjoying the weekend and the very different experience of a championship race (my debut at this level of racing after 200 races and 12 years of running!). I paced it quite well through Bute Park, in warmish sunny conditions, deliberately laying down a 15 second buffer in the first 3k then keeping to 3:30 target pace. Some of the route was familiar from the Cardiff Marathon which I did in 2006. I got into a decent group of 7 or 8 runners, with Jez, for around 1k through Llandaff fields at halfway, before the group broke up a bit. The final 3k were then inevitably pretty tough, but the long finishing straight was a great help. Obviously a very strong field, with a home international meet combined with the regional and national championships. Pleased to put in a decent performance in my regional debut, but slightly gutted to miss both the Welsh Champs bronze medal and the 3rd vet in the overall race by five seconds!