Running the Altrincham 10K? Five tips for a better race

The Altrincham 10K is being run this weekend (6 September) at 11/30am, with thousands of runners preparing to take to the streets of the town centre.

For some runners it will be a first 10K, whilst others will be chasing a personal best. Either way, the good news is that running is something our bodies are generally very good at adapting to.

Jack Chew, local physiotherapist and founder of Chews Health, has partnered with MediMo, the online marketplace for physiotherapy appointments, to share five tips for getting the most out of your preparation and race day.

1. Give your body a chance to adapt

There is no perfect training programme, and you do not need to be frightened of increasing your running. Our bodies adapt to the demands we place upon them. The trick is simply giving yourself enough exposure to running before race day that 10 kilometres is not a completely unfamiliar challenge.

Build up your distance and pace over time, keep plenty of your running comfortable and avoid trying to compensate for missed training by suddenly cramming lots of work into the final few days.

If your preparation has not gone perfectly, don’t panic. Plenty of people arrive at a start line having done less training than they intended, simply adjust your expectations and pace accordingly.

2.         Get strong, but don’t overcomplicate it

Strength training can be a useful addition to running, both for general physical capacity and performance.

You don’t need an elaborate runner specific programme. Calf raises, squats, split squats and deadlift variations are all perfectly sensible options.

However, don’t suddenly introduce a huge new strength programme in race week because somebody has told you that you should. At this stage, the running you have already done matters considerably more.

3.         Warm up if it helps you feel ready

There is nothing magical about a warm up and you are not going to immediately injure yourself because you haven’t completed the perfect routine.

Having said that, most runners will benefit from spending a few minutes getting moving before attempting their fastest running of the day. A short jog, some movement and a couple of gradually quicker efforts can help you feel ready for the start.

The bigger race day trap is excitement.

Crowds, adrenaline and hundreds of people disappearing up the road can make your planned pace suddenly feel rather conservative. If you have a target time, know roughly what pace that requires and resist the temptation to run the first kilometre as though it is the last.

4.         Expect it to get uncomfortable

A 10K raced hard is supposed to be difficult. Heavy legs, burning muscles, breathlessness and general discomfort are not necessarily signs that something is wrong. Part of training is learning what hard running feels like for you.

Pain also does not automatically mean that you have damaged something. Bodies are considerably more robust than that.

However, if something feels markedly different from your usual running experience, is severe, is getting rapidly worse, or you simply feel that continuing is unwise, there is no prize for ignoring it. Slow down, stop if necessary, and use the medical support available at the event if you need it.

5.         If something is stopping you running, get some useful advice

A few aches after increasing your running are common and many settle without any particular treatment. If a problem is persisting, repeatedly stopping you from training, or you are unsure what you should and shouldn’t be doing, that is where a good physiotherapist can be useful.

The aim should not simply be to give an injury a label or tell you to stop exercising. A useful assessment should help you understand the problem, work out what you can continue doing, and build a plan for getting back to the running you want to do. Services such as MediMo can help runners find local physiotherapy appointments quickly when they do need some help.

As an official sponsor of the Altrincham 10K, MediMo is also offering runners £10 off their first physiotherapy appointment, helping participants access local support if a persistent ache, injury or niggle is affecting their running.

Most importantly, enjoy the day. The Altrincham 10K is a brilliant local event and, whether you are chasing a time or just trying to get around, getting yourself to the start line is already something worth celebrating.