Morning all, so, race report from yesterday.
Race was a trail HM, through rough terrain mainly through fields and over farm tracks, with two laps of the course. ?Undulating? (um, I think hilly would have been a better description!) and pretty exposed with only about a mile on each lap through woodland and the rest with only the occasional tree for shade, so about 11 miles were in full sun. The race started at 10.30am so temperature-wise, it was okay when it started but it got hot very fast and by the time I finished, it was about 29/ 30 degrees in the sun. So, all in all, probably the toughest race I?ve had.
Finished in 1.55 (average 8.46 mins per mile), with split times of 54 mins for the first lap and 1.01 for the second, showing how much hotter it was and just how knackered I was on Lap 2! The race itself was fine for about the first 4 miles and I was moving fairly easily and sensibly at 11.5kph average. From mile 4 though, the course started to get more difficult with a long, exposed climb through really rough terrain from about mile 4.5 to 6. The first time round it was hard work, the second time it was just brutal and I could feel myself weaving by the top ? you could feel the sun just beating you down with every step and I managed scarcely an average 11.0kph first time and 10.0kph second time over this section .
By the start of the second lap overall, the temptation to stop and walk got really overwhelming, especially when you?re seeing people drop out after the first lap or stopped and sat in the shade around the water stations. Even at the 13 mile marker, with the finish in sight and everyone waiting I still came incredibly close to giving up which sounds ridiculous now but very reasonable at the time! One thing that did help me was falling back a bit on training from about mile 8 onwards and counting through each mile in seconds in my head - just trying to focus on that to drown out the little voice shouting ?Stop! Stop! Stop!?
So, obviously really gutted that I finished 10 mins outside my original target for the race at 6 mins off my PB ? all that training and effort to get to 1.45 and didn?t get anywhere even close. On the other hand, I don?t think I could have run any harder at all ? when I came through the finish, even a usually unflappable DW looked somewhat concerned. Also I don?t think anyone else out there would have been setting PB?s ? girl I was talking to afterwards finished in 1.53 and had a PB of 1.39 on the same course which maybe gives it some context. And, perhaps most importantly, DS and DD were very enthusiastic about it all with DD insisting that I?d won (which is nice, if wholly untrue!)