Gloucester League Cross-country, Blackbridge

I've decided to run a few cross-country races this winter, at least up until January.  I'm not targeting them as important races but just using them for training, although I have to say that as they only tend to be around 6000m they're a tad short for me!  I need to make sure I do a decent warm up and cool down to make it a worthwhile session.  My first race was the Gloucester League race held at Blackbridge on Saturday.  I haven't run cross-country for 2 years, so it was a bit of a shock to the system!  I can't make my mind up these days whether I actually enjoy cross-country or not!!  I definitely used to enjoy it, and had my first England vests for cross-country - in the days when I concentrated on track in the summer and cross-country in the winter.  Since I moved more into road racing I find I now sometimes struggle  with running on the country - I'm more of a rhythm runner and prefer the smooth tarmac to uneven ground where I seem to get thrown all over the place, with twists and turns to negotiate, and mud that these days just seems to bog me down!  Having said that, I do really enjoy getting off the roads and running in a more natural environment and good cross-country courses can be a lot more interesting than road races.  I think once I've got a couple of races under my belt, and I get more used to the different style of running, I'll start enjoying it again.  I also find there's more of a team spirit and camaraderie than at road races.

So, back to Saturday's race.  I was wearing my brand new Mizuno Wave Kaze spikes which served me very well indeed (and at least it wasn't too muddy so they didn't get too dirty!!!!)  I started quite fast  and felt really good for the first 100m or so.  Then, as we ran around the edge of the first playing field, people started coming past me and by the time we'd run about 400m I was back in around 6^th place!  I was struggling already and felt really heavy-legged for the rest of the race.  I felt a bit better on the flatter parts of the course but was rubbish on the proper cross-country bits, especially up and down some steep banks.  I did, however, manage to pull back some places on the second lap and ended up 3^rd of the 101 finishers - not too bad considering my lack of recent cross-country races or race-specific training.  I just about managed to hold off my team-mate Monica, who had a great run to finish 4th.  The race seemed to be over before I'd started to get going!  I sometimes wish women's cross-country races would be at least 8km, if not further, but I'm probably in the minority!  Anyway, here's to the next one (all being well this Saturday in the first Midland Women's League, on home territory for me).

Happy cross-country running!