Update/Race report Chiltern league

Hi all hope you are all well.

Well at long last the snow has melted away and gone for now!!!!!!!!!!!!! Which is a great relief and hopefully are training can back to some normality for a while, I no I said last week about training on the treadmill but I finally gave in last Tuesday had a chat to coach and we decided to just bite the bullet and do a session there was 2 reasons for this, 1, racing Sat so wanted to get my legs moving quicker again as there was still too much snow around and secondly had a bit of tendonitis in my toe just trying to grip the shoe to run.

Anyway Me and Owain did 5x5min with 1min rec on the treadmill I don’t know if it is just me but I always feel like I am running quicker than it feels we were doing 4.48 mile  pace but it felt like I was doing a sprint .

We got the session done but I still hate them bloody treadmills but it got done with the warm up and down it was about 12 miles done were you think about we didn’t go any were great. So since the 17 Th of December we have only got 6 sessions in which is not great but running in the snow should help me some point during the season I just hope that from now on we can get back on track for the Nationals and for the Barcelona half were I would like to run 64 low.

Race Report Chiltern League Shuttle worth

I wasn’t going to do this race but after the race Champs got called off I needed a race before the Southern because I haven’t raced since my really shocking trails race were I cant believe how bad I run it really got to me I don’t normally worry about it but for some reason it put doubts into my mind which is some ways has helped me re focus and give me a little kick up the ass.

I was expecting the course to be full of snow/or water because of the rain that was falling the night before but when I got there it was pretty good still wet under foot and muddy place generally very good.

Had a look round the course it was 3 laps of the park with 1 major climb that was about 200 metres long and the decent down across the road on to the other side there was a little climb of about 60 metres and than heading back to the start area it was pretty undulating as well so it was my kind of course, the only thing I find about doing these races that they are a bit short it only took me 25min to complete the course which is a bit short but there you go cant have everything in life.

At the start I noticed that there wasn’t any one there to cause me problems but you still have to respect the other runners, and you always get some one who will go off fast for the first mile.

And when the gun went one runner went off very quick so I went with him Tony my Team Manager who marked the course out knew were the first mile was just after the climb by the time I got there I had 20 metres lead went though in under 5min for the first mile which is not bad considering the mud and the climb but you take a pinch of salt that it is a mile.

Any way just kept working the 1 st lap by trying to get a lead and into a rhythm which I did by the time I was going on to the 2^nd lap I was already had a 30 sec lead so just kept pushing and trying a few things out on the muddy section it doesn’t matter if I have been doing this running for 22 yrs I still like to try things out like lifting my legs higher over the mud etc just seeing what works best because it is not often you get a chance to try them out in a race don’t get me wrong I was still working.

I continued to get a bigger lead by the time I was going on to the last lap I had a lead over 1min, now for some Athletes they would maybe take the foot of the gas, but I was still working hard just trying to see what kind of shape I am in by working the hills hard and working off the top, by the time I was heading into the finish I knew I had a good workout, 2^nd place come home about 1min 20sec.

So what do I take out of this race?

1: I am think I am in pretty could shape it is always hard to tell when you run by you’re self  but out of a percentage I would say 90% so still bit of work to do which come by I get to the Nationals and World Trails.

2: It was good to try a few things out in the race e.g. running over mud with higher lift /lower so learned a few things.

3: Confidence after the Liverpool I was pretty pissed off the way I ran, so winning any race all ways gives you a lift , but even winning I was still not fully happy because I think I could have done this better or that better but that is not a bad thing   

4: And it was nice to get back and race after all the bloody snow and run with out slipping and sliding all over the place.

So looking ahead got the southerns coming up then got the Barcelona half which I am looking forward to looking for a could time and then head towards the Nationals and the World trails so all races sorted out so in between putting in the hard work of the sessions and the miles cant wait.

Thanks for reading hope all you’re training and racing is gong to plan and stay positive even when things don’t go to plan they will come good eventually.