National Cross Country Championships - Leeds

Ive ran the National Championships every year for the last 6 years, so this year shouldn't of been any different. However unlike previous years when ive gone into the Nationals fit and with no problems, this year was different in that I missed a whole month of running (even longer with build up) and I also managed to nearly write off the rest of the cross country season with a calf injury that I didn't look after at first.

It was only about two weeks before the race that in the car on the way to a session Liz said "How about running the National Champs in Leeds?" (Crazy suggestion I know... Not really the same as "How about running the local league race?"). To be honest I didnt really think about my answer when I said "Yeah ok, id be up for that". It was only when I rang my parents and told them I was thinking of running that a few doubts started to creep in because I didnt actually know how fit I was as my sessions and runs had been up and down, some good some bad and I certainly wasn't 'flying' in training. My parents are very straight with me and asked if what I was doing was sensible and was I putting my head on the block too soon after injury and at the risk of giving my competitors nothing to worry about if I ran awful. I voiced these concerns to Liz and she reassured me that she wouldn't put me out there if she didn't think I could hold my own against the other girls. I'd asked Liz to coach me and therefore I had to trust her judgement and anyway I wanted to race, because its what I enjoy and its the reason my alarm goes off at 7.30 in the morning (sometimes! A few times i've accidently on purposely forgot to set it).

So race day comes and as with every race day I wake up buzzing. So I went downstairs and made a hot chocolate and read abit of 'Mohammed Ali's' Book (The only one I could find, its not some strange ritual) before going back upstairs and arranging all my clothes into little piles and repacking my bag to go to Scotland after the race. I laid back on the bed with my ipod just running the race through my head and what I was planning to do, and thinking how I will feel at different points during the race. My race was at 11.20 so at 8.30am I went back downstairs and made a big bowl of porridge and a glass of water, then back upstairs to get ready and changed into my race kit and tracksuit and head off to the course at about 9.30.

I had spoken about the race with my dad, who has always been there when it comes to race tactics but also to Liz as she has seen me training and knows whats been going well and whats not being going so well. Both agreed when they said "Do not hit the front at the start!" But what has happened since I was about 11 years old, when the gun goes instinct takes over and im pretty much on the front or just off it, and I cant help it, I just end up there without realising it! So the same thing happened on Saturday, the gun went and I managed to hold back a little bit and was sitting in about 4th...(I cant help it). The junior girls only had to run 6k, which is a distance we are used to so no extra planning had to go into it unlike the junior lads. We had to go up 'Hill 60' twice which everyone was hyping up to be some monster of a hill that was going to kill everyone off, however I quite like hills and when I saw this one, I wasn't too worried about it. On the first lap just before we went up the hill I was feeling really good but was a little nervous because I didn't know how much further my fitness was going to take me and there was a massive group of us which was making feel a little uneasy, so I went up the hill really hard to try and get rid of a few people and Kate told me after that she had the same idea as she ran hard once we came off the top, so that was the massive group taken care of.

I went through a bad patch and the wheels came off a little over the back on the second lap and I couldn't hold onto 4 of the girls and they got a gap which I couldn't close for the rest of the race, However I managed to open a little gap on the girls behind me and found myself on my own which didn't bother me because I was trying hard to close the gap infront as much as possible but also concentrating on not being caught and was determined that if I couldn't catch the girls infront, I wasn't going to be caught by the girls behind and crossed the line 5th. Which I am very pleased with as I had prepared myself for worse and actually felt alot fitter and stronger than I initially thought I was. Which means I am looking forward to the World Trials/Intercounties in two weeks time (13th March) where hopefully I can improve again and make the team... Fingers crossed!

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