I have issues with this race. I did this event three years ago and in the aftermath of if, I then spent the best part of eighteen months injured and I attribute it to my race that day. It's a particularly hilly affair with a long one mile drag up Ebbisham Lane on a muddy horse track, but harder than that it has a short, fast descent through Tadworth which puts a lot of stress on weak lower legs and hamstrings. I blame the race, but of course it's my legs and my lack of care of them in the past that led to that 18 month spell with an injury cloud over my head. Actually, I only have myself to blame. But this year, I want to race more, because I know that I will push myself much harder in a race than I ever would in a training session and racing is fun. I have always enjoyed ten miles as a distance; it combines the need for speed (quoting Top Gun) with real endurance and therefore in my mind, it's a perfect race / fast tempo session for an up-coming marathon. This is no pb course with its hilly route and sections of off road track, but it's local and friendly and a good way to kick off the year.
Ideally I was looking to aim to beat my previous time in this race (69:xx) and while my training had been unfocussed over December I had been getting three to four runs in per week so I felt confident that I could beat that time. It was a big field and once again I was too far back. The klaxon went and I immediately ran into the back of a girl who didn't hear it at all because of her ipod. Grrr..... As we dropped down and then back up Ebbisham Lane, trying to hop over enormous puddles from the previous day's downpours that I found myself overtaking a steady stream of runners and it was a good 2 miles into the first lap before I was where I should have been. Most of the first lap was run at an extended but comfortable pace and towards the end of the lap I found myself running on my own, with a small group containing the lead female some 50 metres up on me. I resolved to try to keep them in sight and then if possible work my way to them over lap two. As I hit the descent in Tadworth I felt the first twinges in my left foot, signalling my plantar fascia was working harder than it would have liked but soon enough we were on the next hill over the back of the downs to start lap two.
Lap two!! Again, another small hill to run over as we followed to road around Tattenham Corner but this time it was the wind that slowed me up but I gathered myself for the next long climb up Ebbisham. I got about a third of the way up and just imploded. My form disintegrated and I began shuffling. The group in front didn't seem to be pulling away but as I reached the steepest part of the climb I was overtaken by three runners who looked strong. The rest of the climb was damage limitation and while I felt pretty rugged at the top I was able to regain my composure as we hit the flat section out the back of the loop and tried to keep the three runners in my sights. Again, the fast descent had my foot aching but I was determined to use the hill to keep me in touch. During the rest of the loop as I climbed back over Tattenham Corner I felt I was gainimg on two of them but I just coundn't reel them in before the line. It was annoying to find out that all three were in my age group, which dropped me from 6th to 9th in the MV40 (39th/554 overall) with 68.22mins. A good run, but it highlighted my lack of strength when running up hills.
Since the race I have had two day's rest. My foot is extremely sore but I know that it'll get better soon enough, with plenty of ice, stretching and rest. It is vexing because I have been looking forward to the #Jantastic Marathon Talk challenge. When I posted on TriTalk to see if we could put a team together I thought that we would get maybe 10 or 20 people sign up, but to have over 50 members, all encouraging and bantering with each other, and helping each other to achieve their run goals has been really nice to be a part of. I even managed to rope Adam into it, so he's comitted to three runs per week. (currently ahead of me, the swine).
Only 92 days to the DW; where did that time go!!?
Onwards and upwards.
No comments:
Post a Comment