The weather was a bit of a let down today compared to the lovely sunshine of yesterday but in running terms the temperature was perfect, everything body wise was in good working order and I was looking forward to the race so it was just a case of waiting patiently for the race to get started. Things must be starting to return to normal due to the fact that I was unable to stick with my race plan of a steady start because just like many times before the little devil on my shoulder forced me to go really hard for the first three quarters of a mile before leaving me in the lurch when the steam had run out. Around the 2 mile mark Marc Scott of Richmond Zetalnd Harriers started to ease away quite comfortably whilst I was quickly surrounded by a pack of runners catching me up luckily it wasn't long before I decided to dig deep and jump across the gap to race leader Scott and for some reason or another my competition let me go which gave me a bit of a moral boost. Onwards we went to the first long climb and Scott seemed to continue with the pace we were running at whilst I had to slow down to take in the extra oxygen needed. Instead of fading at the half way point like last week I felt much stronger and attacked the hilly sections, nowhere near as fast as I have been but it was good to be getting stuck in and not having to switch to auto pilot mode. All the way to the five mile point I had the race leader in my sights which was a big improvement compared to last week and making a quick guesstimation I would of said he was about a minute ahead at that point. It wasn't until the last quarter of mile when the course does a u-turn up and down a cul-de-sac that I had any idea of how far in front I was of the third placed runner seeing as I never look behind but I was far enough ahead with hardly any distance left so second it was in a time of 34 minutes 10 seconds the same time almost as last week but on a much tougher course. I checked the times of a couple of runners finishing not far behind me so I could compare their results to mine against last weeks but it appears I haven't improved much on last week at the moment but I'm looking forward to seeing the full results so I can get a better idea.
Next race for me is the Redcar Half Marathon which I must be very strict with myself and stick with my race plan, a too fast start in a half marathon can only lead to disaster even more so as the years tick by. I was planning on loosing some weight but thanks to my prize at Kirkby Malzeard I now have a selection of sausages to add onto on my barbecue menu maybe tomorrow I will start that diet.
No comments:
Post a Comment