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Stretching before the Nike RunLondon 10km

Frustrating few weeks
1st November 2005
Hi Everyone,

Well, it has been a frustrating past couple of weeks for me. I was really looking forward to my couple of races in the UK but sadly didn't get out of them what I had hoped for. I felt a little tired in the last few days of training before the Nike 10km race but thought I would be fine after a few easy days and a rest day. Sadly as soon as the race began I realised it was feeling a lot harder than it should do, deciding to keep it steady and try and pick it up later in the race didn't work either Ð I only got slower. I finished in 32.19 feeling like I'd run a lot faster and worried whether I could get around with the second group just twenty minutes later.

Thankfully, I felt fine running at a steadier pace and really enjoyed guiding my group around. Okay, so I started off with 10 and finished with only 3, but you try keeping ten people together weaving through 7000 runners when everyone is dressed in identical red t-shirts! It was great to see the rivers of red weaving through Hyde Park and a really great atmosphere. I hope everyone enjoyed it and keeps on with their running year round.

The next day I still wasn't feeling great and was running a high temperature which frustratingly kept me off training all week as my body fought off a virus. This meant I had to miss the national road relays in Sutton park which I had been really looking forward to, although I did go along to watch. It's a great event and was good to see everyone out there and Bedford finished a strong third making things even more frustrating to know that we could have won.

That evening was the BAWA dinner in London, where it was a big honour for me to win the senior female athlete of the year. They did a montage of much of my career, all the ups and downs which was quite emotional before I had to make my acceptance speech! It was also great to see Emily Pidgeon win the junior female award after a great year. Congratulations Emily.

This week I also announced that I will again run the Flora London Marathon title next April. Having seriously considered an earlier marathon, this option gives me more down time now and a better chance of running really well on the track at the Commonwealth Games five weeks before Ð perfect timing for me. I'm really excited about racing in London again. I would love to equal or even better Ingrid Kristianson's feat of 4 wins there and I know that the quality of the course and organisation will always be outstanding - giving me every chance of achieving the best possible result from myself. Add to that the magic of the London crowds and atmosphere and you can see why I'm looking forward to it so much.