Derwentwater 10

Runners start in the shade.

Along with 585 other runners I lined up on the main street in Keswick for the Derwentwter 10 road race.

The race set off at a fair old pace, well for me it did anyway, I never can tell how to pace a race and as a result ended up doing the first mile in 5.30, which is OK if your capable of running sub 60, im not.

At the five mile mark I was bang on 30 minutes and I was feeling it.

The next mile was up hill and I should of been a lot stronger on it, but I felt like I was really having to work hard.

On the top I started getting caught by the odd runner and over the last 3 miles I got passed about 7 times,
I crossed the finish line in 61 minutes 40 seconds and in 38th position.

During the race I never felt relaxed at all, maybe I was trying too hard, but I never felt like I was running comfortably and the runners who passed me all looked relaxed and easy.

As you can tell I wore my watch.

There's another local 10 mile road race coming up in a couple of week s and I will carry on trying to get my speed up over the winter months, but also get out on the fells for a few long days.

James Douglas won in 51.56 followed by the Borrowdale pair of Morgan Donnelly and Chris Steele a minute behind.

As always a good turn out by Eden runners.

On Saturday I did a few miles on my bike and I think I'm beginning to enjoy it.

You can just make out my house between the trees. Not.