10 Miles Virtual Race Experience

I've never really been able to push myself that much when not in a race environment so I wasn't looking forward to trying to race 10 miles on my own. But when I received a message from Freetrain to ask if I'd like to join their team for the ISO Race III, I obviously said yes! I've been a big fan of Freetrain since I got one of their vests at Christmas time - you should definitely check them out!

Whenever I set out for a long run, I don't normally set off too fast as I worry I won't finish it. I think this is the reason my half marathon time isn't very reflective of my times in shorter races. But on the morning of the virtual 10 miler, I decided to set out a bit faster and just try to hold on. But as it turns out, I actually got quicker throughout the run which surprised me!

I planned my out and back route where I had to cross as little roads as possible and considering I started at about 6:30am on a Saturday, there wasn't much traffic on the roads anyway. I popped on my Aftershokz headphones and headed out with some music on. I don't normally listen to music when I'm running, I usually like to get lost in a podcast or audiobook, but I felt like I needed the beat of music to help on that morning.

It was hard work but I really felt like I could have carried on going, which definitely isn't like me! Maybe the speed and strength work I've been doing is starting to pay off. I found it difficult mentally at times to keep the speed going as there wasn't anybody else to chase down as I normally would try to do in a normal race.

I finished the race in 71:21 which is much quicker than I've ever ran 10 miles before. I really need to start believing in myself more when I'm racing and have more confidence in my ability.