Time/Position: 30.23 (48th from 68)
My aim on turning 50 was always to be picked on merit for Wales (as opposed to 'substitute') and to give a decent performance in the international cross-country championships. That was completely stymied by Covid, which meant 2020 and 2021 were cancelled, and then I got glandular fever which put me out of contention for last year's race in Dublin. So this was my first opportunity, and I was pleased and honoured to be selected albeit at the effective end of my current age category before the 'fallow year'. I still have nightmares about the 35-50 race at Aintree four years ago, where I was moving at interval pace but looked behind me after 500m to see an empty field as I battled to stay in touch with the group. Belfast in 2012 was pretty tough too, and I was probably at my best then. This year I wanted to at least vaguely compete in the 'older race' and not get completely blown away. Inevitably, there's a temptation to go off too fast as the field is so competitive and so small - there really is no hiding place. It was a beautiful autumn day in Glasgow, cold and crystal clear, and the course was conducive to fast running despite two hills and around 300ft of climbing. Conditions underfoot were better than I'd expected too. This all meant that I ran the first 2k lap in 6.53, far too fast for me at present (3.24k pace) although trying to keep pace with Jez, who I was ahead of last week. I struggled through the second lap snd then knocked back the pace a tad, a bit of race management! The long drag on the third lap was probably the toughest part of the race, after which I perked up for a better last lap. I felt I should have been half a minute quicker than this and was totally eclipsed within the age category, but that said I was at least vaguely competing, as I'd intended, and I did score for the team. I haven't actually done a proper cross-country race for quite a while due to the reasons above - two more to come in the next 14 days.
No comments:
Post a Comment