Racing again

Been a couple of weeks since I posted and in that time I've done a race, done some good training and had a great Christmas.

In terms of the race, it went OK in terms of getting back racing and I finished 4th. The downhill sections were the steepest that I've raced and due to the torrential rain I was sliding. During the warm up I was feeling nervous about the downhill sections and leaves that had blown on the course causing me to slide in training shoes. My mindset changed from one of 'let's push hard' to 'get round in one piece'. I worked hard and it served some purpose in getting me racing hard again. It would have been nice to have run better but that's something we always say. The perfect race might happen now and then but this certainly wasn't one of my best. The 3 runners in front were much better on the day, in fact, they were much better.

After the race I went to my cousin's café and was spoilt with free food and treats for the family. It was then a matter of enjoying Christmas and we had a great one. Santa had been very busy. My eldest got a bike and has been going out on some runs with me. We are planning on doing 7 miles together tomorrow and she actually looks forward to it, getting her bike out and shouting for me to get a move on. I did a run after Boxing Day with Martin James and have done some decent miles.

Today I did speedwork on the canal track: 8 x 800m, 6 x 400m and was going as well as ever. It's been maybe 2 years since I last did a session so well. Halfway through the session on my rest interval a bloke who was watching started shouting encouragement 'Keep going lad. How many more?', '4 800s then some 400s,' I said between gasps of breath. I was strict with my short intervals and when he asked what I was training for, I just shouted 'London Marathon' and went off again. It gave me some extra motivation and on the way back he was clapping.

I do feel fitter and stronger and my long runs are going well. There's no way I can ease up now with my daughter wanting to become a cyclist! It is in our blood. One family member has won some big races in Spain. http://justrydecycling.wixsite.com/justryde

Comments

  1. SimonJanuary 5, 2019 at 1:28 PM

    Top read mate....., good block of training by the sound of it

    ReplyDelete

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