00:06:12

There were better pictures taken today, but sadly not be me so all we have to mark this Blipday is a shot of the tv!

Today was all about Nike's 'Prove Your Pace' track session down at the Mile End Stadium.

Some 160 people signed up for this free event in order to see how fast they could run 4 and a bit times around an athletics track.

There were 8 races, graded by estimated finishing times. I had, optimistically maybe, put down an estimated finishing time of 6 minutes when registering. When I received my race pack upon arrival I found out I had been placed in the group running to a 5 minute mile pace *gulp*

Although apprehensive I tried (and mostly failed) to not let it affect my outward expression of calm.

Races 1-4 were excellent with many of my friends taking part. Lots of encouragement was shouted from the sidelines as each runner came down the straight to complete a lap.

Before I knew, it was my turn. My friend Regina was also in my race and was equally nervous but we both agreed we would run our own races and not worry about what the 5 minute mile runners were doing.

The starting gun fired and I was off, from the back I began making my way past a few fellow runners. In front of me one of them went down with an injury that looked like a hammy, requiring evasive action to avoid a collision.

Coming round to complete lap 1 I could hear my run club friends cheering me on which was amazing and as I passed over the start line I could see I did 01:20 for the first 400 meters which I knew was a little ambitious. I don't have split times for laps 2-4 but think they were in the ballpark of 01:40's

Coming around the last bend I thought I was done but somehow found a sprint finish and crossed the line shattered but jubilant. Not long after my friend Regina crossed having run an excellent race.

Nike had laid on free food and refreshments; I partook of a tasty chicken burger (protein, good) and a cheeky bottle of Peroni (carbs, bad).

I forgot to mention that my day started with an afternoon viewing of Blade Runner: The Final Cut at the Prince Charles Cinema in Leicester Sq followed by dumplings and roast pork w/ rice in Chinatown (my pre race fuel).

So all in all, despite not having captured any inspiring images today, it was in fact one of the best days of 2015!