I’d had a strange week leading up to this race
* Thursday training – split-times OK, but felt like really hard work
* Friday recovery run - felt really ropey.
* Saturday - 12M long run ended up as only 9M and had to keep stopping
* Saturday (later) – partying in Nottingham – kebab and chips @ 3:30am!
* Sunday – recovery day in more ways than one
* Monday – easy run – not great, but feeling better than Fri/Sat at least
* Tue – easy off-road run with NHRR – still heavy-legged - bad hayfever attack
* Wed – no running - total rest day
* Thu (race day) – had to take a mid afternoon nap!
A nice relaxed start (photo by Martyn Annetts)I really had no idea how I was going to perform. I was hoping the rest would finally kick in, my legs would stop feeling like jelly, and I’d have a reasonable race. The only encouraging indicator was that my resting heart rate was 39 on Wed night having been in the mid to high 40s for few days. One thing I did know for sure however was that I would be making a conservative start and be running to a target HR range.
The start was very crowded and, even quite near the front, it was very congested for the first km on the narrow, twisty pavements. This may have helped reign in my speed. At the 5k mark I was on target for around 36m and still feeling strong (in stark contrast to the Stevenage MWL 10k). In the second half of the race I think I made up about 10 places.
At about 8k - one of many NHRR vs FVS encounters (photo by Martyn Annetts) >>I have mentioned before that the average pace on the Garmin can be 2-3s out either way. This was one of those occasions when the read-out was flattering, as it indicated a mile pace of 5:46, but was actually 5:49. This meant that my time was
36:08 rather than sub-36m, but still a
PB. After the way I’d been feeling the previous week, I have to be pretty happy with that. This course is also harder than where previous PB (36:10) was set a month ago.
Another great team effort from NHRR (runners and supporters) and we came a very creditable 3rd overall and consolidated our 3rd position overall in the race-series to-date. Importantly, we increased our lead over nearest rivals FVS and have a 7 point cushion over relegation!
| Place | Team | place-pnts | match-pnts |
|---|
|
| 1 | Garden City Runners | 600 | 22.5 |
| 2 | St Albans Striders | 665 | 20.5 |
| 3 | North Herts Road Runners | 1,281 | 16 |
| 4 | Fairlands Valley Spartans | 1,516 | 11 |
| 5 | Barnet & District | 1,843 | 9 |
| 6 | Orion Harriers | 2,375 | 5 |
Things learnt/reminded of this week
* Rest and proper sleep are VERY important!!
* Racing (as well as training) within target HR ranges works very well for me.
* Run your own race and do not be distracted by what other runners are up to.
This run follows the 7.3M route of a tough winter XC race organised by NHRR some years ago. All race-finishers were awarded a tin of Mulligatwany soup, hence the name! There are several steep inclines, but these are offset by some lovely views from the Chiltern ridge above Pegsdon. There are also a couple of pleasant wooded sections.
