Ready or Not

   It was an anxious evening yesterday due to the ankle problem, I couldn't stop thinking if the ankle would   be good enough to race or would I be making a wasted journey to Leeds  ?  I knew the ankle was getting better and I also know from past experience that what is impossible one day is possible the next after a good nights sleep. 
  With it being an early start for the Leeds Abbey Dash 10k I opted to just get to the race location and take it from there rather mess about doing a test run at the crack of dawn in the freezing cold. Having never done this race before I found it straight forward to get to the race start and the parking wasn't too bad either, I went for a cautious warm up and upped the pace slightly after 10 minutes to the same speed as yesterday when I started to feel the pain in the ankle. There was a slight pain that seemed to be fading and as time passed by I was positive that I was able to race and with a few final fast strides I felt I was 100% ready. I managed to get near the start line but after lots of people climbed over the barrier I gradually drifted back and I felt really boxed in and unable to move a muscle, the only upside of this was it felt warmer. As soon as the race started I bolted like a crazy horse and those in front of me wanting a nice steady start were barged ungentlemanly like out of the way, I always start too fast and being boxed in with no where to go left only one option and that was to go straight through them, I really should of been patient and waited for gaps to open up but just like in a fight there's no time to think. After only 5 minutes of running I knew the lack of racing was going to make this 10k seem like hell and in no time I was being passed from all sides, I reached the 5k mark in 15 minutes 55 seconds and I thought to myself if I could get into a good rhythm I should still be able to crack the 32 minute mark. I was gaining ground on runners ahead and at the 7km mark I passed Ste Hepples and locked onto the back of Mike Burrett but unfortunately he was too strong for me today and soon pulled away. By the 8km mark all the fight had deserted me and the auto pilot mode kicked in as far as I was concerned the sooner I see that finishing line the better. I lost a few more places on the finishing straight as I auto piloted over the line in a time of 32 minutes 03 seconds. The ankle was perfect, the legs felt strong but the lungs felt like they had been split open. Exactly the same lung busting experience I had last year at the Masters International Cross Country Championships. A result of  too much time away from racing, I'm positive in my next race next weekend I will make a vast improvement.
   Only gripe I did have about the Leeds Abbey Dash 10k was the parking enforcement officers dishing out parking tickets. Some runners had parked in loading bay areas which obviously wasn't a problem early on a Sunday morning and seeing as they were doing something good for charity you would of thought the parking enforcement officers  might turn a blind eye on this occasion, common sense wouldn't of gone a miss. I don't like to see my fellow runners being mistreated.
  I will be looking forward to the Thirsk 10 next weekend as I now feel I have something to prove to myself.
    Oh ! one last thing  " Let me at em " . Good day or bad day, win or loose it was bloody good to get back racing.