6th July 2007

Oakwood-Morley 10 Mile

Date: 6th July 2007

Conditions: Wet / Cloudy

Run Type: Easy

Notes: How the times have changed. From the age of 18-24 my entire Friday mindset would be on going out and getting hammered. Today however was all about the 10 mile run I would be doing after work. Lately I have been getting in the odd four mile run on a Friday but with New York just around the corner, my old Friday antics are no more.
I set out from home and made the one mile warm up through Smalley, towards Derby, before stopping at the one mile marker (as discussed in previous logs) to stretch.
Having completed a thorough warm up I set off towards Derby on a route I have only run in the opposite direction on my Syntax 10k’s. The course this was far easier. Once the hill up towards Morley Hayes at mile two is out the way the course is a steady decline down towards Broomfield College. This part of the run at mile three was a blessing and I really enjoyed my time on this route, as I recalled the tough climbs up it in previous runs.
Once passed Broomfield the course leads up towards Oakwood at mile four, however I turned off just before Oakwood into unchartered territory, in terms of running.
As the course leads up Lime Lane towards Spondon the first shock I got was the long steady climb of around half a mile, which was quite challenging. My ankles were aching and the only thing that soothed the pain was the splashing of water from the puddles. As I reached the top of the hill I was pleased to see the crossroads at mile 5 where I would be turning left towards Morley, and the return leg of my run.
Mile six was probably the hardest mile (mentally) as Lime Lane just seemed to go for an eternity, but I pushed through it and reminded myself that this was just the low point of this run, and it would soon pass. It did soon pass and as I ran past the mile six marker I was relieved to see the dip down through Donkey’s Hollow. However, as always, what goes down must come up so I was not looking forward to the climb back up to the A608.
The climb in fact was actually far easier than I had imagined, and I was soon back on the main road before the turn off to the second loop of this figure eight course. This leg of the course was relatively flat as I ran with ease along Brick Kiln Lane and only a steady incline up Quarry Road made this an enjoyable part of the run.
Just into mile eight came a sharp decline down Cloves Hill which I thought I would enjoy, but did not. The hill was too steep, and although it was infinitely easier than running up the course back in January, I did not enjoy the run down it at all. It felt like my knees were taking a serious hammering, so I slowed to an almost walk, so not to risk injury. Once at the bottom of the hill I was far happier and it was at this point that I began to mentally prepare myself for the final push up towards Smalley.
The climb up into Smalley must have been easy as I do not even remember it, and I always remember this hill, as it is mostly always at the end of my runs when I am tired. To not even remember it means I must have run it well.
The final mile through Smalley was a formality and I crossed the finish line both jubilant and proud of where my life has come, in terms of priorities. As far as the run is concerned, the time was pretty slow, but this is what I had wanted. This was a planned easy run, so I kept it that way.

Run time: 1:29:49 *CR

Pace: 8:59 / mile

Days to New York Marathon: 120



“The man who can drive himself further once the effort gets painful is the man who will win.”