Ah ye of little faith! Know that I will never go over the ten day famine on this blog. I have been resting the legs last week, (shinsplints) and what I did run was of little significance. I’m feeling better though and and I happily ran 56:13 yesterday at a 10km in Leiden.
The run was pretty good, we ran the first 5km fairly strong and fast and then got tired and settled for a slower pace on the second half, but it’s a new PB so I’m happy. I had built up some opinions about the Leiden event even before I got there. I was expecting a badly organised event for the following reasons.
1) The website is rubbish
2) The online registration is the worst I’ve ever used. (sorry I can’t hyperlink to the horror)
3) They sent me emails which was nice, but in really bad English, which was first funny and then worrying.
“This year the city will look even better and prettier then the years before. Sunday you will notice this. This year we also have more competitors to run for the prices. The finish area is changed en that means that there are more people at the side and even in the last meters there is a grandstand.”
Now I know I’m being mean, but for years the Dutch have been lavished with compliments about their English and their wizardry with languages, so let’s just balance the scales shall we?
Now that I’ve been nasty, I’ll be nice now.
The race itself was fairly well organized on the day. We got our numbers without fuss at Pieterskerk was beautiful inside and plus they had lots of toilets for ladies, not a queue in sight!
The start area was packed and it was one of those days where when you getting ready it’s chilly and wet and then when you’re in the starting area, the sun decides to come out and then I started to sweat. So off comes the jacket, unpin my race number and repin it my top and I try to be really clever and roll the jacket this way and that. Then I think, is this comfortable? And I wish I could test jog to see if it flops around everywhere. I really hate flopping of any kind during running.
Finally all tops, jackets and tights were comfy and as we ticked down to 2:30 I put on my foot pod and heart rate monitor on and saw how my rate was going up as we counted down to the start.
The race itself was fine, we passed through an ugly industrial terrain, past a bunch of really dodgy flats, and general Dutch suburbia. As usual a few streets made a massive effort and decorated the whole place, handed out water and played music at full blast in their gardens. My only qualm would be the race organizers did have some of the course just on cycle paths which was a really narrow space to squash so many people through.
We had gone out at a fairly quick pace for us, and by 7km I was feeling it. We had done no real training in the last 2 weeks and maybe then I began to feel it. The Man seemed fine. We passed under the Poort in Leiden, and then the street became really narrow, which I always really like. I wasn’t dying towards the end, which felt nice. We crossed the line in 56:13
Poort in Leiden
However it was after the finish line where the organizers really got their act together. It was a moving crowd, we got a really nice medal, and best of all -free fruit and beer! While it may not be everyone’s thing, but man I had me a nice, pre-peeled no less, banana and a free beer.
We sat by the canal and let the world go by. That was a one good beer.
Finally we got up and collected our stuff and chatted our way back to the station. It got chilly and I wished the train would come earlier.
I can honestly say I didn’t move much for the rest of the day, I ate lasagna off my lap and watched the Da Vinci Code on TV. As I write I can still remnants of yesterday’s exertion in my thighs but all in all I’m back on track.
Running Stats:
Leiden 10km: 56:13
Calories burned:800
Horrible energy drink:1
Tasty free beer: 1
Pre-peeled banana:1
Nice medal to be proud of:1
Well done! Next time we will make the 55 minute mark. Totally agree on the beer, nothing better after a good race.
Thanks for dragging me there, miss, I had fun running this one, learning about the stress of the packed start is a skill I’ll be happy to have in New York come November. The information on the site was indeed very very very poor, but the city was welcoming, for the runner as well as for a late lunch — I actually thought of moving there :-)
Great report. I am curious about running in Leiden. The pic. of the Mosch poort is great!