Sponsored Team member Matt Hamer v Percy Pud 10k
Dec 05, 2022
Race Report - Matt Hamer
I entered this race for two reasons; 1) I’ve never managed to grab a space for Percy Pud before and 2) I’ve always found it useful to have fun runs/turkey trots booked around the holiday period to keep the motivation ticking over.
And that was my mentality going in, I wanted to have a solid effort and push hard to tick off a good session for the week.
I’m also about 3 weeks removed from NYC so tapered my expectations.
My biggest concern, was actual the parking situation! Although in reality there are plenty of places to park, as long as you don’t mind incorporating getting to the start line in your warm up.
The weather was cold, and forecast for rain, so staying warm was key. I did about 15-20 mins of light jogging and dynamic warmups that did the trick - in hindsight I wish I’d done a slightly longer warm up as setting off at the gun was fast!
I started with Steve, Rebecca, Ade and Gav - but not for long, they were soon a small blob in the distance. I stuck with Rebecca for about 2-3 KM but I was breathing rather heavy and she looked like she wasn’t breaking a sweat - so I knew it was only time before I got dropped.
The last half I tried to pick up the pace knowing that there were more downhill sections, and still had enough in the tank to go up a gear towards the end.
One of the first races that I didn’t look at my watch for HR or distance and just tried to run to feel.
Overall I was very happy with the workout. It was a great atmosphere and it’s always a treat to see the team Blizard gang. The body felt good, and everything was ticking.
I ran 42:19 my PB is 41:37 and this year I’ve also ran 42:41 and 41:39. So I’m taking this as a positive that fitness is in a good place to start marathon training again.
However, I am going to look to join that sub40 club in 2023!
