Hotter than a witch's mother ...

... is a slightly bizarre expression that an old boss of mine used to use. That was how hot it was on Saturday morning in Hyde Park - 31 degrees apparently - and that is why I didn't do as well as I would have liked. Simple really.

The facts of the matter are as follows:
I finished it in 1:19 dead (proof: http://www.raceahead.net/SearchResults.aspx and type in 2648), nowhere near the hour I was aiming for. Geoff did it in 1:15:45 and was very supportive in some of my more pedestrian moments and Niccy did it in 1:31:44 which is I think almost exactly what she said she was going to do it in.

So, what have I learnt:
Positives first:
Ran from about 0-4.75km and 7.75km to 10km
Putting my name on my t shirt was a good idea and there were 5 or 6 encouraging shouts as a direct result.
I'm still alive (i.e not lying down by the side of the track like 3 or 4 others, one with eyes rolling)
I got to see Jimmy Nail, Richard Bacon and Floella Benjamin (!)
I have raised over £850 for Help A London Child and expect that total to rise by about £100 when I've finished collecting (http://www.capital10k.co.uk/RunnerPage.aspx?BCID=1025425 is the place to go)
No aches and pains from legs, back, knees etc. either during or after the race
Definitely room for improvement as this was my first run.

Negatives:
Walk/run combo from 4.75km-7.75km. Fair to say that in total I probably ran 8 out of 10km
Silly to carry one of those .75l Volvic 'sports cap' bottles round with me. Next purchase should be one of those water bottles that are designed to be carried whilst running/plodding.
Possibly went off too quickly although difficult to say as I was weaving in and out of VERY slow runners.
When 2 out of 3 people ahead of you are walking it's much more difficult to fight the desire to join them than when you are running on your own.
Did absolutely no training in anything approaching hot weather which showed.

My rough plan to do a half marathon next year and a full one the year after are being put on hold so for the moment I've got a 5.6km run with 3 guys from work at the beginning of July, the 8.2 mile run (help) in October and nothing else planned but I am constantly looking at more 10ks which is where I will stay for the time being.

On the day, Niccy, Geoff and I started together briefly and then Geoff and I went ahead quite quickly. After a few minutes I 'found my pace' (approximately the 6 minute kilometre that I was aiming for) and then lost Geoff. Weaving in and out of some of the slower runners (there were some, believe me) I felt quite good for the first couple of kilometres despite the heat. I did miss the mp3 player though and carrying the water bottle was a pain. Hit a minor wall at about 3.5km I think and was still fighting it at 4.75km when I reached a hill. A bloody hill - can you believe it? That said, if I was to go back and look at the course now it would probably be a minor slope but at the time it felt like Everest. OK maybe not Everest but certainly something fairly nasty!

Before the race Becky, Niccy and my parents had expressed concerns regarding the heat (have I mentioned how hot it was?) and that no risks should be taken with regards to health. This was in my mind along with the sight of most other people walking (I'll blame them shall I?). The other thing about walking, and apologies for my obsession with this, is that it's very, very difficult to start running again after walking so the next 3km both with and without Geoff who by now had caught me up were a walk/plod combo. Thanks to Geoff for his words of encouragement at this time which 'sort of' worked. Geoff went off at about 7.5km and I decided to run solidly from at least 8 til the end. These last 2 and a bit kilometres were fine overall. The highlight of this last stretch were the encouraging shouts of 'Come on John' from at least 5 different sources. The lowlight was seeing the finish in the distance up a slight hill, running for a couple of minutes and realising that the finish looked no closer.

Reaching the finish was a mixture of emotions. Relief at finishing, anger at not being quicker and allowing myself to walk, happiness at seeing Becky, Rosie and Jessica waiting for me just afterwards.

Being a bloke I'm no expert on childbirth (although been present twice so possibly more of an expert than some) but unless it's a truly awful experience I'm led to believe that women quickly forget the sheer pain involved fairly soon afterwards. I'm beginning to think that it's the same with running.

A weeks rest and then onto training for the 5.6km (http://www.jpmorganchasecc.com/events.php?city_id=10) and so far persuaded Rupert T and Alma to join me in Kingston in October as well as Andrea and Neal doing the 16.2 mile course at the same time.

Any more takers?

PS - Halfway through a very interesting book at the moment. Recommended. The Looniness of the Long Distance Runner - very funny