The race started and 2 sponsored athletes took it out, with 3 others chasing (that includes me), So a nice lead group of 5 as we made our way around the showground. A horrible muddy wet section with ankle deep water in the first mile where I lost about 5m, and then had to work to get back onto the group.
As we exited the showground we passed the first mile marker and the pace was on. I stuck at the back of the group getting some shelter from the wind and was running strongly. I knew the pace was quick but that was okay as long as the HR stayed in my threshold zone. Through the second mile and then a long uphill drag up to mile 3. As we passed a drinks station I checked the HR and it was too high so I had to pull back, If it was a 10km you'd just get on with it but I had to be sensible as there were still 10 miles to go. I watched as the other 4 slowly drift up the road. I had a decent gap on any chasers so it was time-trial mode for which I'm well used to.
Miles 4 and 5 were great. Some lovely long downhills and I was moving well. The course was slightly different this year - in previous years there was a long uphill drag back into the showground. This year it was still the same climb but a much shorter sharper hill - around 500m of lung-busting effort. That pegged me back but I got going again and as I ran into the showground again we had a new section to cover where you were running on long wet grass for what seemed like 400m. Back onto a path and good to get running again but miles 6 and 7 were slow and that wasn't due to lack of effort.
Exiting the showground again for the start of lap 2 and it was tougher now as I had no protection from the elements. I knew 8 and 9 would be tricky but there was the good section to look forward to for miles 10 and 11. I pushed on and felt strong but knew the pace wasn't as quick as the first lap. The splits for 8 and 9 were good and then I made a big effort on the quick part of the course. Through 10 miles in 53:11 (a new PB) and managed to keep it going well until mile 11, Then it got a lot tougher. Lots of backmarkers to lap by this stage (I reckon I passed 200) and the lanes are quite narrow and with either side of the road flanked by water everyone was running in the middle of the road. When people run 2 a breast it blocks the dry line so you either shout to move people out of the way or run in the water. I tried to shout but not easy when you don't have much spare oxygen.
The sharp climb back into the showground and I was really feeling it. I was passing people but not going that much quicker than those 6 miles behind me. Still plenty of shouts of encouragement which was great. Into the showground at mile 12 and it was all about hanging on. Another section of water/mud with around 1km to go and this time I slipped and went down - I grabbed the fence which prevented a full face dunk but I lost a good bit of momentum and somehow managed to keep it going. The last stretch was tough - there was nobody on the course just one volunteer and I had to ask what the route was. Then just get on with it - a couple more turns and I could see the finish and just ran as hard as I could to cross the line in 1:10:31 for a new PB and 5th position overall.
Happy with the run in those conditions - but I know I can do better. Putting the weather aside it's still a tough enough course so I think I need to find something flatter and faster to have another dig on.
Here are the splits. You can see the tough miles 6, 7 and 12, 13 which cost me the sub 70.
Split
Time Pace Avg
HR Max HR
1
05:07.3 03:12
142 152
2
05:05.7 03:11
149 152
3
05:10.6 03:12
160 182
4
05:05.5 03:11
165 186
5
05:18.4 03:16
153 174
6
05:40.5 03:32
147 154
7
05:38.8 03:28
144 157
8
05:26.1 03:23
160 167
9
05:24.9 03:21
148 162
10 05:13.7 03:12
144 146
11 05:20.2 03:19
144 147
12 05:46.8 03:35
146 148
13.1 06:13.8 03:29
146 151
Here's some photos to give you an idea of what it was like:
2 comments:
Great run Matt, especially considering the conditions and those grassy sections.
well done matt, impressive to run a PB in such difficult condition, route, weather, and people to overtake. Sub 70' is in the legs!
Jerome
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