World Cross Country Champs Jordan

Ive always been a believer of the saying "you never stop learning" and trust me.. I learnt a lot from this race. The time we spent out in Jordan was good, and although a few things didnt suit me, the trip has had a massive affect on me.

Working full time im always on the go. Most days for me are non stop, and if im not running or working then im normally whizzing about somewhere or doing something, so as you can imagine, ive kinda programmed my body to deal with this weekly "frenzy". When you go away for a championship race like this one, you have to be able to relax, which for me is rare, but has never normally been a problem. In Jordan we spent everyday in the hotel. From the moment we got there to the day we flew home we were confined to either our rooms or the lobby area. The reason behind this is fully understandable, and it was no ones fault- Security was a major concern. The only problem for me was that when you go from a lifestyle of being "on the go" to one where you sit around all day- the body is confused. As with most people on the team, i found myself very lethargic (especially the night before the race-- so I walked up to and around all eight floors of the hotel just to stretch my legs out and pass the time- oh and did another 8 floors when skinner joined in! i might market it as the nicholls hotel plan!!)

Anyways enough of the moaning. When we inspected the course, it was nothing like we had imagined. For me it was heaven- as i hate mud, but looking back- we did literally race 12km in spikes on a canal towpath. The course was a tough one. You were either running up hill into the wind, or downhill. Imagine putting a scalextric (spelling?) track onto a hill and that was your course. Going into the race i was positive- training had gone great, legs were okay and it was my sort of course....but you always have a worry in the back of your mind when doing a race of this size. When running the course the day before- everyone on the team was complaining about being out of breath- even running 8 min miling. The altitude, although minimal, was affecting everyone. Watching the junior lads race didnt help us either, as we witnessed some class runners- struggling with the conditions and feeling dead legged.

My plan was to start steady and work my way through. What i didnt want to do was go blazing off, and die a slow death... theres nothing worse in a race like this than going off hard and then getting "smashed" by 10-20 runners on the next lap. The race was weird one. I moved through well, and worked off the other GB guys. I felt good and even going into the last lap, had enough to keep pushing through. The hills and the wind made the loop testing. Every lap we passed a row of "huge" speakers that blazed out music- which were strategically placed at the top of the hill (nothing better than Amarillio when your bolloxed on the last lap!!?)

When i crossed the line i felt pleased. I was third brit, had acomplished the plan of not blowing up and wasnt passed by a great deal of people- then reality hit home as to where we had finished. Its always a smack in the nuts when you realise things arent as good as they first appeared. I was gutted with the placing, as were the other lads- and spent 30 minutes in the tent thinking "what the bloody hell happened there?"................Running is a funny sport, sometimes things dont go to plan, and you can spend hours scratching your head and wondering why- bottom line was though- I didnt run hard enough. 

You can spend hours after a bad race beating yourself up- I for one am my own worse critic. Im not someone who hides, or shys away from being told "that was crap"- in fact i would rather be told so. The key though is learning from the mistakes you make. I will openly admit that i did not do myself justice in the race... but simply saying "that was rubbish"- is of no use to me. I have to look at why that was the case, work on my weaknesses and adjust next time... You never stop learning in this sport- thats the beauty of it.....I know for a fact though that i wont make the same mistakes again....not being ballsy enough in a World Champs is a hard pill to swallow...but its given me the kick up the arse i needed to tweak a few things.

Never stop asking why?..............................