Race Report : My 1st Race of the Year - The Run Through Tatton Park 5k!

Saturday 4th January, 2024.

Race Report - My first race of the year - the Run Through Tatton Park 5k!

 

This post-race mini-cupcake was such a lovely (and much appreciated💟) touch, thank you Run Through North!

 

Hello everyone! Today marked my first race of 2025! The Tatton Park 5k 💜

There is predicted ice and snow this weekend so I knew it wouldn't be the nicest of conditions to race in especially with how the cold air feels for my breathing with my asthma. It can feel a bit burny. But I actually did a speed session in challenging, icy conditions two days ago and despite it being painful on my lungs in the cold especially once I was at my near-limit for speed and breathing hard, I actually found it ok.

I took these photos on that training session Thursday between my two reps. The workout was 2 x 1km reps at target pace 5 min / km. I did the first rep at 4 m 44 s approximately and the second rep, where my lungs felt sore by the end, at around 5 min 5 seconds per km.

It has only actually been around 3 weeks since my last race which was the Tatton Park 5k where I picked up my storming PB on the 14th December, 2024! 😀

26 minutes 53 seconds

💖

Even though it hasn't been long since my last race so I haven't had too many sessions of putting more speed into my legs since that race, I knew how well my runs have gone and I felt I had made enough progress to make a small improvement to my PB.

I am usually right about how I feel inside about my abilities as whenever I have felt I am capable of producing a PB I have been able to. 

I had had a tiring couple of shifts at the end of the week so I had to get myself prepared for my 6am start in good time. I had a good rest Friday evening too so I went into the day very well rested. As you can see, I had everything in order the night before; my main ones being my Coros heartrate band, Coros pod and my Shokz ear phones (you can hear what is going on around you which is great for races and safety when out running alone).

To be fair I don't always wear my pod as that is more for detailed information about your stride height/ ratio, left right leg balance while running and technical information but I thought I would whack it on for race day. I always use my heart rate band which syncs to my Coros Pace 3 running watch because it makes the reading of my heart rate far more accurate. 

I whacked on two compeed blister plasters on my little toes as this week, in my wisdom, I wore some Converse I haven't really worn properly before and they rubbed but once you have these blister plasters on they cushion you so much you don't feel it and to be fair these blisters are nothing compared to some I've had. Blisters are par for the course with running training as are battered and bruised toe nails I'm afraid! Aside from that my feet are in good form!😅😄

You can see I got my gloves out ready. One of my main irritants when running in the cold is my Raynaud's syndrome so even though I have my gloves on, my hands go like ice blocks and start burning with how cold they get. Not nice. To be fair the hard breathing in the cold didn't fuss me too much the other day as you get used to that pain and learn to tolerate it (in a way) the more you get used to it, whereas, that numb horrible feeling in my hands I find hard to get away from the discomfort of.

To be fair this is a really good way for me to try and explain how bad my nerve pain from my spinal injuries feels so you can get an idea. If you imagine how horrible the pain is - that almost burning feeling you get from how numb your hands and feet get in snow or ice after cold exposure - is similar to the hot cold feeling I get down my arm. 

I went online to see if there were any other ways I could sort that cold feeling in my hands out. I was actually originally planning to have some coffee when I got up in the morning to help my performance but I read that draws blood away from your extremities and makes cold hands and feet worse so first off, I skipped the caffeine. Secondly, I read that ginger (in tea or put in food) helps keep you warm from the inside, out so that's exactly what I did - I put ginger on my porridge this morning with cinnamon and for anyone else this might help, it really did help my hands!!

Another thing I did as soon as I woke up this morning was have 250ml - 300ml of beetroot juice. There is evidence that having it a couple of hours before exercise, it helps boost your VO2 Max/ endurance. 

I actually had a really good sleep last night which I was pleased with. On the fairly long drive to Tatton Park in the dark as the sun hadn't risen yet, I didn't feel tired at all (which is rare) so I was made up! And I was going into the race thinking, "this is it, this is going to be an amazing race!". I felt quietly confident again.

I brought along with me my snood and beanie too and I wore my running trousers which I wouldn't normally race in but with the temperatures it was about me keeping warm. I got my Berghaus fleece zipped into the waterproof jacket to keep layered up as long as possible before stripping off layers to race.

I got there in good time as usual but I was in a further car park this time, I must have come in a different entrance this time. I swear to God Tatton Park and the area's geography always gets the best of me! This time, coming off the motorways to Tatton Park I made a mental note of leaving breadcrumbs to remember my route back to the way home as the last few times I have always ended up lost and aggravated and on random roads because my car sat nav doesn't know where it's going in that area!

But anyway, back to the race...😆😆

It was bloody freezing. Once I was out of the car, I had a red nose straight away and could feel my hands a bit. I collected my race number and used one of the portaloos. I had kept hydrated all morning and just before driving into the park, I'd drank some electrolytes as well.

If you go to these events, even early on, there were decent queues starting to form for the toilets so make sure you leave yourself plenty of time!

I jogged back to my car and got inside to warm up in the heated seat and get together the bits I needed for my race. I then did a proper warm up jog for ten minutes and 4 very fast strides. In my warm up jog 6 min km jogs were coming very easily and strides at 4 min 15 ish were feeling pleasant as well so I felt really good and really strong to take on the race.

I did my dynamic warm up stretches and got my race playlist ready. 

I had chatted with my coaches the other day and we agreed I knew this route really well now so to be a bit aggressive and confident as I knew what I was doing and could have fun with it, I had nothing to lose!

From the off, I went off at an admittedly blazing pace for me.

I set my all time fastest time for the 1 mile - 8m 17s / mile💟

and my 3rd fastest time for the 1km of all time too - 5m 1s - 8m 4s / mile 💟

I stuck with the 25 minute pacer for the first kilometre very strongly and I felt good for it. That in itself shows how much pacier I've become even in the last few weeks. 

I think I am seeing my training benefit me so quickly and so well in droves now because I am no longer being hampered by the pain of injury and knee soreness I was blighted with since August. I am not feeling held back at all in my sessions anymore. We have all been there, holding off a bit incase you aggravate or twinge your injury. Having such a straight run of sessions uninterrupted by pain where I have been able to fully immerse myself and push myself without any worry has been amazing.

I think since late October when I saw the Physiotherapist at the local hospital, things have been brilliant since then. I have been following his advice and strength work recommendations and it has worked wonders. And in a relatively short space of time so touchwood, I've been lucky in that respect it wasn't a more serious knee problem.

Anyway, this speedy first km in itself was a win today! I went out very hard, probably far too hard on reflection and I did actually think that at the time but today, I went out with a plan, to run a brave race, putting myself out there, having a play with tactics and speed and to see what I could do and also crucially, it can also highlight what areas need improving.

To share with you, my usual race strategy is to go out hard for the first say, 400 metres and then settle into a relatively speedy rest of the 1km but settle into a consistent pace then that I can keep up for the rest of the race. What I have been wanting to work on since my last race is step up my pace from 3km onwards and especially 4km. But that wasn't possible today, because I didn't follow my usual strategy.

As you can see from the infographic from my Coros data above, after the 3km mark my pace dropped down to around 6 min km / 5 m 45 min km which is really a lot slower than usual for me. It was at this point I knew I was struggling to keep up a consistent pace like I normally would and that this would affect my overall race time unfortunately. I was starting to run on an emptier tank and my legs did feel heavier. I could feel I had taken a lot of energy out of them from the start of the race.

I worked so hard to keep my legs turning over as I didn't want to give up on still trying to push my PB and I tried to push my legs to go faster but it was all becoming a struggle. It was fast becoming a test of my mental strength to keep my legs moving. The last time I found a race this tough was my Great North Newcastle 5k in September 2024. I had a nightmare that day 😂, there was a broken down train on the train line so I was kept on the train for an hour in 26 degree heat (which on public transport is always lovely!), then sent back to Manchester. Then had to get 5 different trains and a bus. I arrived in Newcastle about an hour before the race start time and I didn't get a lot of time to settle in or warm up, the humidity was 90 bloody %, it was hilly af and even though I finished 20 seconds behind my PB that day, I seriously questioned on the last 2km why the hell I had taken up running again. I really did! 😂😂

I must have been breathing like a banshee because a gent infront of me coming across the Millennium Bridge turned back and said, "Keep going! You've got this!", god bless him! He kept me going! I legitimately thought, "this is it, this is how it ends!". I may have a flare for the dramatic but that part of the race felt like a punishment.

I remember from 3km mentally having such a battle with my thoughts that I was reasoning with myself, "this race is so hard, this was all a mistake, I am going to tell my coaches I need a 3 month break after this run as this is too hard" - I was being utterly ridiculous 😂😂 but we have all have some tough mental battles at times during races. It didn't feel as tough today but it was up there!

As I said, I finished only 20 seconds behind my PB that day so it just shows, you can be doing so so much better than you think in incredibly tough conditions, but you need to do yourself justice by hanging in there to the death and not giving up on yourself!

I honestly also think that the toughest training sessions and races that you bank actually do make the largest differences to your fitness, physical resilience, race readiness and strategy flexibility and your strength. After that Newcastle run and when I did one of my toughest interval sessions in Olympic Park, London, around July last year, it was 30 degrees that day - after both those sessions and others like it, I have felt marked improvements in my running fitness and strength.

In the end today, much like after my Newcastle run, I finished around 20 seconds, behind my PB today.

I had made my playlist to a timescale so I knew once a certain song ended I had just missed my PB window very very slightly.

You can see how hard I went today from my heart rates across the race.

I couldn't have physically given anymore today. I will be completely honest about how I felt crossing the line knowing in my mind, I felt like I had failed because I missed pushing my PB. I honestly felt crushed.

I was devastated and I felt so angry at myself and disappointed. I thought, "you screwed up by messing with your strategy", "you missed such a good chance to push your best even lower". I was so annoyed walking back to my car. I didn't stop to soak up the amazing things around me as much as I should have done. Because I got so caught up in my emotions and almost mentally attacking myself for not performing how I wanted to. Then at my car, trying to put on my Berghaus fleece on, I got irate because it was inside out and I couldn't loop it through!! I was in a rage... at a coat 😂😂🙈!

I did feel sad driving home as I felt like I had let myself down and I felt frustrated. I go over in my mind what went well, what went wrong. I spoke to my parents as soon as I got home and they were really proud of me which lifted me up. I spoke with my coaches and gave them a rundown of how it went and how I thought if I had followed my usual strategy I would have had more for the end but by the point I messaged them, I was mentally in a better place.

I had thought about how I had really gone for it and had a really brave run and it takes guts to push yourself and to put yourself out there. In running, there is no hiding when you take risks. Either your body responds and you have the fitness to do it, or you don't have it yet. I just didn't have that running stamina and fast paced endurance to get where I had throw my dart at the board yet. And that's ok. 

My coaches agreed that yes, if I had stuck at a consistent 5 minute 26 second / per km pace from the start after an initial faster burst, then yes I would have had felt a bit stronger towards the end and been able to hold the pace a bit better.

But they were spot on that sometimes it is good to race a bit differently and test yourself and that setting off really hard will have forced me to run through the utter fatigue I experienced at the end which should feel easier next time I come to that point in a race. They were also right that it has given me something I have been lacking. Confidence.

Since taking up running again, it is very very strange to go from being a national athlete and winning races without too much trouble to losing my health and fitness completely to then coming back and feeling like I don't really know what I'm doing anymore.

Honestly it is like, if I was a house, I have been knocked down to the foundations, the bricks were scattered all over the road, gardens... scattered everywhere. Over the last few months I have been building up some bricks and a solid, a small but solid foundation. It still isn't too high at the moment but it is steadily building and starting to hold up. Today I whacked a big whooping breeze block that is probably the hardest bricks to build back for me. Confidence.

I have lost so much of it in so many areas of life. And losing it in running is a big area for me personally to lose it in as it has been such a huge part of my life and competing was such a big part of my life. Today was really important for me because it has given me confidence in an area I didn't before today. Having more strategies in my arsenal to pick from on race day. Beforehand, I had one formula and now I have a bit more resilience for the later parts of a 5k race and I have more flexibility in being able to switch strategies during a race if I need to. Now I know I can suffer through a tough and testing end of a race even if the start is blistering.

It has, therefore, given me a bit more personal confidence in myself in general.

For example, it is nice to reflect today that, for example, if something like today had happened in my racing days in an 800 metres, I would probably have gone to pieces confidence wise and mentally been absolutely horrible to myself for such a long time about it. Whereas now, I let myself feel the same anguish and disappointment I would always feel in any situation where I feel like I've fallen short. But within an hour today, in large contrast, I was able to reflect and see the good and the tough, celebrate the wins and absorb the reflections.

I've found over the years that in contrast to when I was a teenager, I deal well with emotions by talking about them, because I used to bottle them up so much it made me ill.

I talked through my race today with my parents too and last night beforehand, it always really helps and they always give incredible advice.

AND as another bonus today, pushing myself has actually improved my running fitness by 0.2! 

Yes, only 0.2😂 but that matters to me! It normally only goes up when I set PBs so the bravery in pushing myself paid off so much.

In summary, I am proud of today's race 😊 and I know that today is money in the bank of my training overall!

You've got to have a wider perspective - one race does not an athlete make.

We all have good and bad days and to be honest, today was a very good day for me where I pushed my own boundaries.

It was a day where I did something really positive for my health, my fitness, myself and my confidence. I also think that by keeping promises that you make to yourself, you build strength and confidence in yourself. The more that you keep your commitments to yourself, especially the tough commitments and activities that are hard in the moment but make your life easier overall, make you trust in yourself more.

Writing about the day has helped me smile about it too. 

I accomplished something good.

And tomorrow - I am really happy because I get to run all over again! I have my long run tomorrow as normal😊 so even though it may be a snow warning tomorrow, whether it is outdoors or on a treadmill, the miles will happily get done!

I have started to love doing races again the more I have gotten used to them again, but even more than that, I am in love with the process. The long-term, consistent, sometimes gruelling, sometimes taxing, always rewarding, process. 

I love being in the routine, having the consistency. Building more fitness for yourself; more mental fitness and physical fitness. Building strength in your body but strength and bravery in your life that transcends fitness. It teaches you so much about yourself. It teaches you that you can do hard things.

Well, that is my recap of my race day, the first of the year!

Next Races...

The good news about my races is I have a good few weeks to get some training in my legs. I have four weeks until my next race which will be a tough race. 

Four weeks tomorrow is my first 10k race since my spinal surgery so honestly, I don't really know what to expect apart from it feeling bloody tough.

I am looking forward to it but I do feel apprehensive. I don't think I am going to go into this race with any expectations or time goals, I just want to finish it and finish it as strong as I can possibly manage. I think it's going to hurt throughout and hurt afterwards but I honestly think it is going to feel like such a sense of accomplishment. Just finishing will feel really great!💜

It will be a great starting point for me to work with as well for the future.

Five weeks from today, I run the Tatton Park 5k again!💜

Six weeks today, I travel to Birmingham for an Athletics event as a spectator and I'm making it into an overnight jaunt.

Seven weeks today, I travel to Bishop Auckland for a week's solo holiday exploring the North East coast! And seven weeks tomorrow I do a 5k trail race there! My first ever trail race so I don't know what to expect. I think it will be really fun! And a great challenge.

Then after that I have another Tatton Park 5k race 💜 and a Harrogate Trail 10k and more as the year goes on!

I hope anyone who read this far (thank you so much for listening to me drone on!😂) enjoyed my reflections.

Much health, much happiness and much love,

a bit of a sore-legged

Mairead xoxox