After the horror show that was my performance at SS6, I needed this to go well, to wipe away the memories & the pain, allowing my season to finish on a high with me in a good mood. And you know what???? It did!!!!
When I signed up for this, it was with the intention of finishing the season on a massive effort, crushing my last PB into the dirt, leaving me striding along the landscape like a giant. Considering the last few weeks, I worked out that there was no way that was going to happen, and had even got myself to agree internally that if I wasn't feeling fit for a sub 50, I wasn't going to do it. While I have been feeling tired all week, physically I felt up to it and the excitement of the season ending (and having next week off work) brought an end to the internal debate and an early night last night.
Waking up to sunshine, I could tell it was the right choice, though turning up an hour before the start time suggests I may be too used to racking a bike in transition before a race...
Ran a gentle warm up with Stephen Macintyre and I knew for sure that while I'd be able to run a good race, it wasn't going to be a PB crusher, so the most important thing was to remember to enjoy myself, and see how I coped on my longest run to date in my Inov8s.
It was a mass start from up at the top of the hill in the middle of the park, so a fast downhill run, made a little slower by having to weave in and out of assorted people. After that, it flattened out and I settled into a steady pace for the next few kms, with the first appearance of the ever cheering Jo Hewitt not far after the first km marker.
Out of the park I caught up with Andrea & we paced each other for the next 3km until she dropped off my shoulder only to reappear a km and a half later & shoot past.
Around the 7.5km mark I started to feel the twinges of my right ITB, a tightness round the knee and a jabby pain in the hip, and my pace, which had dropped off a little after the first 4km, suffered. The pain at this point though was manageable, and with a little over 2km to go, I quickly quashed any thoughts of stopping. What it did make me do though was think more about my stride, upping my cadence and maintaining better posture.
After a sluggish 5min km to reach the 9km mark, I knew a sub 45 was out the window, but no way I was going to allow myself finish over the 46 mark, so I stood taller, engaged the core properly, upped the cadence, stretching those legs, relieving some of the ITB discomfort, pushing forward, the end in sight. One final push at the end, and I crossed at 45:24 (according to Garmin).
Very pleased all in all!
I would like to point out that my time is based on my Garmin, started as I crossed the start line and stopped (or lapped, since I hit the wrong button & left in running) at the finish line and not the gun time, which will be the official race time. This race wasn't chip timed & it took me a good few seconds to cross the start line with the pack in front of me. So I'm sticking to this time!
So what does this mean in real terms? It means I get to go and have a beer tonight :)
This afternoon's blog is brought to you by VNV Nation's Resolution
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