Braunton 10

I got the Braunton 10 done on Sunday, but on the Friday a message was sent out from the organisers with the below.....

As I am sure you are all aware, tomorrow is going to be "violently stormy" with winds gusting up to 70mph and torrential rain throughout the day.

Anyway, Sunday came along and I left early to get to the race start in plenty of time as race numbers had to be collected.  It was very wet, and there was a warning that one of the area of the course would be flooded but that the route would not be changed.

A quick reminder of the course profile, and this is a trace from my own Garmin.  The bit that was flooded was at the top of the second hill, and it was knee high.

I took the two hills relatively steady, hoping to crack on after the second hill.  However, on the 6.5mile - 8.75mile stretch it was into a strong headwind and there was no respite whatsoever from the wind - honestly, it was really tough going with sleet driving into your face and a fierce wind.  If the knee height water didn't drench me, that section of road with the rain totally did.  I reckon it conservatively cost 30secs per mile in that section, but in reality probably more.

The race was basically in 3 parts.  Firstly, there was a big hill from mile 3 to 4 and secondly another one from 5 to 6.  Then it was more or less level or down hill to the finish.  The trouble is that those 2 and bit miles into the head wind scuppered any consistency in the section where I was hoping to get a move on, but in the circumstances I'm really pleased.  I'm using this as a benchmark and I think/hope I'm on for a sub-1:40 for a Half, based on clubmates I finished around and their half times.  We'll see!

My splits were 7:54, 7:31, 7:28, 9:42, 7:07, 9:08, 7:34, 8:21, 8:08 and 6:45 so I finished strong, which I'm really pleased about.  Having never down a road 10-miler, it was a PB too.....

This week will be interesting as I have two Championship races.  The first is on Wednesday and is a 5K time trial on a fairly flat road.  I'm hoping for a strong outing on this after all those weeks of off-road parkruns I've been doing and if the weather conditions are good I'm planning on giving it a good crack and I'm hoping to get a PB.  Next Sunday I have a 5 mile race and I've never ran a 5-miler before.  It's supposed to again be flat, but is on the sea front and is prone to strong winds, but again I'm planning on giving it a good go if the conditions are right.

We'll see how those two turn out!