It was not a good race for me for a variety of reasons, all of my own making (of course, who else's fault would it be?).
At first I felt OK and was really comfortable with my pace but after the small loop and the beginning of the first large loop, I really started to feel ill. I had had a bad stomach all morning, as had Duncan, which we put down to the curry we had last night, but I thought that I had got over it and was feeling OK until I started running. My stomach was churning and I felt really weak.
I was aware of just being overtaken and overtaken and overtaken and I felt like I was running right at the back of the field. I started to contemplate pulling out, which would be my first DNF. This thought stayed with me for the entire lap and at one point I very nearly stopped but I had to sort my head out, even if it meant running slower I couldn't drop out without good reason. I knew that if I dropped out of this race, it might be the start of dropping out of other races which isn't a route I want to go down.
I climbed the hill for the second time and then started the final loop, around two more miles to go. I started to pick up a bit now, knowing the next time I went up the hill would be seconds before the finish line. I overtook a girl who I had been behind for the past mile or so and I kept going. I got nearer and nearer to the pack in front of me but unfortunately I didn't manage to catch them before the finish line.
I finished 36 seconds slower than last year which is pretty disappointing, however I felt like I had been a lot slower than I actually had.
One of the things I was thinking about on my way round is how bad my training has been lately. Last year I really improved in my running, which I put down to the fact that I was getting out much more since having Ruby because I had to walk her every night so why not run. This got me to a better level but, unfortunately, I've now reached a plateau because, even though I'm still going out a lot more than I was, I'm not doing much in the way of speed work and am just plodding out slow miles with Ruby. I really need to get some structure into my training if I want to improve and stop being disappointed with my race times.
On a good note, Horwich came first and second (Tom Carson and Nick Leigh) and Gordon had a storming race, beating me by something like 4 minutes! Well done Gordon, you have come on in leaps and bounds in the past six months. I still have Bull Hill though and I'm hanging on to that one.
Excuses/Action Points:
1. Never eat curry the night before a race.
2. Get in MUCH more speed work and stop just plodding along with Ruby every night.
3. Man up and run with a faster group who I have to chase, even though it scares me.
4. Stop setting off to fast at the start of races - this is a problem I'm always aware of but still seem to end up doing.
5. Get some strength training in.
Total distance - 4.9 miles + 0.6 miles warm up
http://www.strava.com/activities/206453612
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