Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Cross country season and Stevenage HM

It's a quiet time of year for me in terms of target races, but I seem to be racing virtually every weekend due to the cross country fixtures!

The first was the Chiltern League race at Oxford on 20 October. I'd never done this one, and it was pretty hilly with a long section that was just a huge mudpit. For some reason I'm just rubbish at running in mud (probably too tall?) and people were just flying past me in that section, whereas I was catching/maintaining position on the rest of the course. I ended up in 15th (excluding guests), 3rd for the club behind James and Tom, and the club easily won the 2nd division in most categories. I managed to persuade Alex to run (her first XC since school), but felt a bit bad when I realised it was probably the hardest XC course I'd ever done - she made it round though and even agreed to do the next one, so she must have enjoyed it slightly!

The following weekend was the first Sunday League fixture - a much lower standard and easier course at Broxbourne. On the long drag on the 2nd lap of 3 Tom got a gap on the rest of the lead group, I managed to bridge the gap, and then we pulled away, with Tom finishing 1st and me 3s behind. I think I could have gone a bit quicker, but I knew Tom was pretty comfortable too! Striders won again as well.

The following weekend there was no XC, but loads of Striders were doing the Stevenage Half Marathon, so I thought I'd give that a go (it was also the County Champs). The weather was horrendous on the way there, but the rain eased off as the race started and had stopped by the finish, although it was still a bit windy. I planned to stay in a group for a while to shelter from the wind, but found myself in the lead in the first mile. A gap opened up, so I thought I'd go with it and managed to win by just over a minute from Simon (also a Strider!), with a bit left in the tank. Quite pleased with 72:48 as essentially a solo time trial in those conditions. Bernie was there and took some photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/berniebarnaby/sets/72157631925579901/

Then another Chiltern League XC last weekend at Shuttleworth - ran much better at this one (no mud!), coming in 10th. I managed to hold off a few guys in the last 400m, but was really on the limit and I reckon my heart rate must have been pretty much at max! Striders did even better this time, winning Div 2 easily again, but also beating all the Div 1 teams other than Bedford.

Other than that, been doing the usual weekend 3 hour rides with the gang and some running/cycling midweek. I can't motivate myself to swim at the moment - Nice seems too far away! Nothing else major planned for the rest of the year other than some more XC and needing to get more long runs in before the ultra in January. Plus a long weekend in Prague which should be good fun!

But probably the most exciting bit of news from the last month is that I've ordered a Felt AR4 from Mike at Triathlon Zone on Hatfield Road. Felt's 2013 bikes haven't arrived in the UK yet, so I might not get it for another month or two, but I probably wouldn't ride it in the winter anyway. I decided I wouldn't be riding a TT bike at Nice, and my road bike is old and not particularly good, so wanted an "aero road" bike - will add some clip on aerobars for the race. Can't wait to get it!