The last Cross country of the season: Delapre abbey

And it came at the end of a ‘recovery’ week, a day after the first bike / run brick of the season. Some rest, eh? Sharp frost, -2 and sunny skies meant I really wasn’t looking forward to the chill factor. I prefer cross country to be warm, wet and muddy!

This was never a race as such for me, it was a training run, and it took much concentration to get my head in the right place. I started off rather non plussed, and it all seemed too much effort, too cold, too slippy.... bla bla bla. Then I discovered that on the first hill (around half a mile long) I was actually catching people. This was a first.

Hills are not normally my strength, but I have been working hard in the gym and have noticed my trousers getting tight on my thighs lately. I had to ask coach was this normal, or was I eating too many pies! He assures me that once me knock down the reps and jack up the weight, all will return to normal (the thighs that is!)

In fact, this race all happened the opposite to my expectations. I caught and passed and put distance into people on the uphill and lost some in the downhill (the latter I attribute to tentative steps on very slippy ground to ensure I stayed on my feet!)

I finished the race with tired ham strings, tired calves (damn you coach, for making me do this new springy running style!) and really feeling yesterdays brick in the legs, but the bonus? Hills may JUST be turning into my friend! Oh and I almost forgot to mention... 49 place improvement!