I Tried To Win The FASTEST 10K in The UK

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Today I am racing and trying to win the Telford 10K which is The Fastest 10K Road Race in the UK. Last year, 57 people broke 30minutes so it won’t be easy and I’ll likely have to run under 29 minutes to do so but I’m always willing to try!
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I’m here in Telford to race in the fastest 10k [music] in the UK. Last year, 57 people broke 30 minutes. I haven’t raced in 3 months, but I’m not just here to make up the numbers. I’m here to compete at the front and get [music] a new road PB in the process. Let’s go. So, we arrived here yesterday about a 5-hour drive down from Glasgow. I went out for half an hour jog around the course. I actually raced here 3 years ago, but only managed to do 5k of the 10k because I was injured. So, it was nice to refresh on what the course is like. And then after the run, we went for dinner, got cowzone, went to the bar, which my dad loved. [music] >> Got a good sleep, and then had breakfast. Brought my own breakfast because you never know what you’re going to get in these hotels. Had t of rice pudding and nomio three hours before by carb two hours before and now fully caffeinated up. Going to go and get my number and then we’ll talk through race plan while we warm up. Before we get into race plan, I wanted to tell you about one other thing that I took down to Telford and used for a good chunk of time in the morning before the race and that is the Bob and Brad Q2 Pro mini massage gun. I conducted a very important and very scientific study. And the weight of this massage gun when four of the five heads are attached to it is pretty much identical to a tin of rice pudding. And when you attach this head, which is the one that I almost exclusively use because it has a hot and cold setting. You’re only adding an extra 70 g on top of your ambrosia. This is the first time that I’ve had the opportunity to use this massage gun before a race, and it’s the first ever race where I’ve described a 250 km as feeling easy. I also spent a good 20 minutes using the cold setting on the night after the race and woke up the next morning with no muscle pain whatsoever. It comes with this carry case, charges with a USBC cable, and is powerful enough to go deep into the legs. I’ll leave a link to the massage gun in the description along with a 10% off code just for you. Thanks to Bob and Brad for sponsoring this video. Let’s get back to Tailford. >> Just getting the warm up done now. It’ll be same warm up as always, two mile jog followed by 3 minute threshold and two by 30 second strides about race pace. And then when it comes to the actual race, for anyone who doesn’t know, this race is like 1k downhill and then 9k flat. So I really want to use that first K downhill to get out hard. The paths are quite narrow. So I don’t want to be too far back when we hit those paths. So, if I can really kind of just let the legs go down this first K, which I’m actually running down right now, and really in an ideal world, be in the lead group because I think with my sub 29 10k, I should be good enough to be in a lead group at least until about halfway. And I want to just give myself the best chance of having a great day by being in the group where things are going to happen and not too far back, having to pass people or just not quite engaged in the race up the front. And then once we’re down that hill and onto the flat section, I wish I could say there was a great big race strategy, but it’s just going to be stay in that group for as long as possible. And if that ends up being like 9K, then really just kind of try to race whoever I’m around at that point and not worrying too much about the time. As much as it sounds great to want to run fast and want to run a road PV, that’s going to come if I just compete and race. And the further up this field I can finish, the better the race is going to be. Just over 25 minutes to the start. Time for the race shoe reveal. What have I went for? >> Something I’ve run outside in for six total minutes in my whole life. It’s the on cloud booms that my dad wore in his uh one mile park run a few weeks ago. If you know, you know. But going to try these out, see how they feel. If they feel bad, I’ll just need to get on with it cuz it’s a race. But warm up felt good. Go just stick these on and get my threshold of my strides done. >> Feeling good and ready to go. >> Where did you go? >> Tail >> toilet again. Are you all right? >> Huh? >> Just touch you. Hey, just remember sometimes races go 30 seconds early. >> Are coming done 2 minutes today. >> So the race starts and after one little knock I get into my rhythm. Coming from the marathon I expected this to feel really really fast. And after about 100 m I remember thinking to myself, is this it? Okay, great. Because it just didn’t feel that fast at all. There were bodies everywhere though. and I seen a couple of people get clicked. So, I ran with my arms a little outstretched [music] so nobody could come near me until we got down the hill. I don’t look at my watch at all when I’m racing. So, although I’m going to put the K splats on the screen, I don’t actually know them in the moment. At around 3K, I seen Holly and stuck out my [music] tongue. I’m not sure why I did this. Really, what I wanted to do is ask her how everyone else looked in the group because I felt so easy and I couldn’t tell if it’s because we were running really slow or because I just felt great. My dad had some technical difficulties [music] with the camera cutting out at exactly the wrong time, but I wanted to keep this shot in because it really shows how narrow these paths were and how big the group was. We approached the 5K mark and unlucky for me, there was a big clock that you couldn’t avoid. We went through in 1430, which is about 20 seconds faster than I would have expected. If you watched my last video, you’ll know that I predicted I’d run around 2930. So, although I tried not to freak out, it took me about 100 m to relax after that splat and I lost a few positions in the group. We go around this corner into lap two and I get clawed in the back. Road racing at Telford is definitely a contact sport. As we move towards 6K, I need to be better positioned because at this point, I’m here to try and win. So, I sneak through any gaps that open and quickly find myself on the shoulder of the leader. I feel very comfortable. So, decide to see how everyone else feels and hit the front, hoping to stretch out the field before the final sprint. It turns out they all feel good, and I’m only given the front for about 30 seconds. We approached the 180° turn at just past 7K, which went surprisingly well for me the first time. And although I make sure to get a good position into it, someone sneaks through my inside and shoves me back by a meter or two. This is exactly around the time where real moves start to be made. And I really need to work to catch back up onto the leaders. My Strava at this point gave me a pace of 223 perk. Is this accurate? Absolutely it is. I do get back into the group around 8K, but this is the point that things suddenly start to feel hard and I’m definitely hanging on to the group for dear life instead of being in it. >> [music] >> and engaged in racing the guys around me. We naturally start to split with around 1 and a halfk to go and at this point I’m not really aware of anyone else in the race. I’m just throwing everything at running as fast as possible. But as we pass the 200 m to go sign, I spot an Edinburgh Uni Vest just ahead of me. [music] So I start to move my arms as fast as possible and at least try to beat my fellow Scotsman. I do manage to get him, but still end up as second Scott and ninth place overall. Also, shout out to this guy who came down and got some of the race footage that you just watched. Thanks to the race organizer for putting together another great event, even when unable to use a standard course. And well done to Jordan, who I’ve been coaching for over a year now. It was great to meet him for the first time and see him run a 2minut 10k PB. Before I give you the full reaction to my result, I’ll leave you with this image, which perfectly sums up how I felt immediately after finishing. I’ll give a proper race DVD in a bit. But >> I still managed to lose the battle of the YouTubers even with Ran to Japan not turning up. Ed Buck. >> Yeah. >> On YouTube beat me by about two seconds. >> Fastest teachers to run a marathon. >> I didn’t even recognize him else. I might have had a better sprint. First little bit on YouTube on the channel. You’ve been on the channel before, mate. >> Yeah, but this that was the first video, wasn’t it? >> Ain’t you want to say to the channel? >> Keep watching people. Keep subscribing. Get some money in the man’s pocket. >> Get [snorts] me a fancy night getting end deal. Look at that. So, finished the warm down. Got some time to gather my thoughts after the race. And I can honestly say that I’m buzzing with that. I’m probably No, that’s not true. I was going to say I’m happier with that than I was my 10,000 where I broke 29. I was definitely happier with the sub 29, but I think that is a much much better sign of things to come than the sub 29 was. For that track 10,000 where I ran 2857, that was like the peak of a training block. I’d done 6 months of training. I’d done 3 months of racing targeting that race. And that felt like I kind of got everything out of that block. Had that race been a month later, I would have not ran that fast cuz I would have been like tipped over the edge. Too much training. But I just ran 2902 on the road, twists and turns, little hills, and I’ve not been doing that much training. I’ve obviously been training, but it feels like I’m still so fresh into this training work. Like when I’m doing sessions still just now, I’m feeling like, oh, it’s fine if I’m slow because I haven’t done that many sessions and I’m still just coming off a marathon. But I’ve just run pretty much a PB equivalent. Like if that was a track race, I would have probably ran around 28 57. Road racing is different. That’s a 34 second road PB, which is at this point in time I I didn’t think I could do that. And it’s very rare for me now after 20 years of running to surprise myself. I thought I was going to go and run 2930. I thought that would have been a good strong day. My coach predicted that I was in like 29 minutes shape. And although he’s not usually one for boosting my ego, I still didn’t really believe him. I was like, what is he seeing that I’m not or does he not know how I’m actually feeling in these sessions? But I guess he was right. And he knows me better than I know myself, which is great. It’s a little bit annoying, but it’s great as well. And I’m buzzing with that. Like I’m delighted. I feel like now we’ve got something to build on where I’m thinking we’re building on 2930 and maybe in another month we could go for that PB. We’re in PB shape just now. Like that puts me 16th on the Scottish alltime list. And I’ve still got a month until the Valencia 10K, which is going to be a better course. It’s going to be a better field. Although this is the fastest 10k in the UK, best field in the UK. Valencia is the best course in the world, the best field in the world. So, I just need to get out there and believe in myself after another really strong four weeks of training and really get locked in. I’ve not even been locked in leaving at bloody weddings and having at gigs and like messing about here, there, and everywhere. Like, if this was a serious PB attempt, I wouldn’t have done any of that. I’d have been sitting in the house, but kind of can’t believe how quickly I got back into this shape. And I think it is just that I’m now better at running than I used to be because I’ve stacked so many training blocks now together. And I’ve still only been with my coach for like a year and a half. And we’ve been doing all the right things for a year and a half. And I’m just getting better and better and better. And in my head I’m still this 30 minute guy who can maybe push on to 2930 at his best. But actually what I am is a 29minute guy who can hopefully push on quicker. Thanks very much to everyone who gave me a cheer on the course, came up to chat, got footage. It really does mean the world. It’s amazing hearing English accents cheer on me cuz I’m not sure I know that many English people. And it’s just people who watch the channel and are enjoying the content. And thanks very much for watching. Subscribe for 3K indoors, Valencia 10K, and we’ll see where we are after that. But cheers.