When the horn went I started in around 15th place, more or less, and the initial pace felt very easy. Almost without trying I moved past the nearby runners and placed myself in a decently sized group - which then seemed to ease up, forcing me to move on ahead. If this is what it feels like to race after a week of no running, with a solid sports massage in the middle, then I should take a break more often! As this first lap unfolded I still felt smooth and strong; even more so when the marshals shouted out that I was in 7th place (and right behind 5th and 6th). Unfortunately the guy behind was strong and breathing down my neck....
It all got a bit hard towards the end! |
As we struck out on the second lap he drew level and so when we turned into the wind I made a tactical decision to drop back and draft; he was a big guy and provided plenty of shelter! At first this worked superbly and he slowly dragged me towards the athletes in front - one of whom decided to blow-up and effectively vanish from sight! However I could very much identify with his pain! The pace being set was just slightly outside of my comfort zone and I used every mental trick I know just to stay in contact with my pacer. Sadly as the second lap drew to a close, on the downhill past the finish, I just couldn't stay with him; my breathing slipped into the red zone and my legs gained twenty pounds. This was not good.
So whether I liked it or not the race became an opportunity to show my mettle, to suffer and not give in. Right now though I knew that I'd pushed just a bit too hard and needed to ease back; at the same time I didn't want to get caught from behind but equally I knew that I'd be hard to spot amongst all the back-markers. With 3km to go I counted the hills and the metres, dosing my effort and aiming to conserve energy; really the 8th and 9th kilometres were the worst with my times falling behind 4 min/km pace. Only in the final thousand metres did my body perk up a bit and I strove for the finish in a bid to cement an amazing 7th place! And it worked! Just 2 seconds back came my personal chaser but it was all too late for him!
What a race though; while nowhere near a PB I worked properly hard today for my 38:46 and it really paid off. A top-ten finish, first V40 by exactly a minute and my position at the top of my age-category cemented (with 3 out of 6 races completed). I'm very happy.
Distance: 8.8 miles
Time: 1h 01m 00s
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