Who are you, and what do you do? I’m a counterblast to Agnosticism, how do you do...

Better end to the week for me with a nice 20 mile slog and a Park Run thrown in then, as if that wasn't enough, a really good 10k at Birchwood the following day. With Race the Train taking place on the Saturday and Neil Kelly away on holiday I thought we’d be a thin on the ground numbers wise but luckily for me, Tim Fletcher turned up, fresh from his Indian Odyssey teaching kids how to speak Yorkshire in Delhi. We ran part of the Liverpool Marathon route and threw in a Park Run for good measure, managed to stay out for just over 20 miles in around 2 hours 33 mins, joined by our Kenyan pal Gerald Bossa from the Liverpool Harriers – not bad considering it was hot and Tim coped really well after not running much in India for 2 weeks.

The following day my missus was out in a Bikram Yoga class so I decided to hot foot it over to Warrington for the Birchwood 10k. I felt great after the 20 miler but wasn’t expecting too much from the 10k - I still fancied myself to get under to run under 36:51, which is my PB. 10k’s been a funny distance for me, I’ve never really had a stab at a ‘fast’ course when I’ve been what I consider to be fully fit. The 2nd 10k I ever ran was the Helena Tipping in Wrexham on a very icy day in December 2008. I ran 37:39 which remained a PB seemingly for ever! This wasn't a fast course :O)

Anyway, I got to the race with enough time to register, say hellos to my PLS homeboys and girls then do a quick warm up and got to the start with time to spare. Last few races I’ve worn my adidas Aegis which I have to say are quite excellent, not as light as the lunaracer or adidas adizeros but good enough for any distance. I started off steady, trying not getting sucked into a quick start but still went through the 1st mile in 5:40. I wanted to try to stay around 5:55’s and started passing through the field, hitting the 5k mark in 18:11 feeling fine. I was still trundling along nicely until I hit the first of three hills in the last mile or so. They didn’t slow me too much, the downhill made up for it but my last mile was 6:01. On the Garmin, my 10k set time stopped at 36:33 but that was before the finish line.

I know it sounds daft but I didn’t actually look at the stop watch because I was happy with the run and not too hung up on the time. The official results have me down for 36:57 on the chip, my second fasted 10k and proof that my training is going well. Really glad I opted for the race rather than having a rest. I had a bad week last week and the long run and good 10k more than made up for it.

There are two more races coming up this week – 3k at Trafford tomorrow, which will be the last chance this season for me to have a crack at sub 10, and the Capenhurst 5k the following night. It might be too much to ask for good times in these but what the hell, this time last year I was still shuffling around on my arse to get in and out bed with my bust leg! Really looking forward to Vynwy and the relays now...