As I said in my last post I was a big doubt about running this one. As the week went on I got worse and by Friday I was feeling awful. I came home a shaking wreck. Whatever was wrong with me hadn't wrecked my appetite though and I ate the biggest serving of Fish and Chips that you have ever seen. Straight away it seemed to do the trick and I went to bed feeling that I might just attempt it.
In the morning Debbie was off to recce the Perth Ultra Course. When I got up I opened the curtain hoping there would be six foot of snow and an excuse not to go to the Nationals but there was nothing and so I spent the morning being lazy and getting ready. I arrived in Falkirk in plenty of time but then spent half an hour pushing Cairn and his buggy through a much muddier course than last year before I met Debbie and Sharon. By this time I was bursting for the toilet and on the verge of kidney failure. The toilet queue was far too long so I jogged uncomfortably about until I found a suitable bush. Then with half an hour to go I realised I didn't have my number and so spent the next 20 minutes looking for the Garscube Team Captain. So much for the warm up then.
This is my second National XC Race. It is some race with the creme of Scottish talent running side by side with us normal punters. The start is phenomenal with 450 runners flying off at stupid pace up the first hill. I remembered this from last year and decided to get over to one side and not be crushed in the stampede. Still when the gun went off I could feel people pushing me and trying to get by. But I stood my own and didn't let them dictate my pace. I wanted to test my fitness and make sure I had no lasting effects from whatever I had during the week, oh and also I had to warm up.
After a few hundred meters the course went down hill (which was really boggy this year) and then around the Loch. I spied Mark Johnston and decided to latch on beside him. He is a great pacer and I knew from recent training that I should be okay to stick with him for a couple of laps at least. John Bell joined us and the three of us started to pass people that had certainly started far too fast. Not long after this Mark dropped off the back and John and I went on but I was keen to stay in a tempo effort HR (<166) and didn't want to push the first lap too hard and so I let John go on.
To be honest I didn't feel that I was going too fast and the effort was easy, well for a Cross Country. I was half way around the first lap and starting to pass runners that I recognised. It wasn't slower runners but runners that have beaten me recently and so I started to think that this could be my day and I might have a good race. I passed Russ and Neil from lunchtime training before we crossed a flooded section of the course and then we made our way towards the start again for the next lap. This is very muddy but still I was passing people without too much effort. I knew it would get harder as the race went on so I was keen to not overdo it or get too excited but rather let others fatigue and slow down.
At the end of the lap Debbie, Sharon and Cairn cheered me on and this encouraged me more. Then I spied Paul Thomson and Chris Upson. Paul had beaten me last year in the Nationals and had been someone I was keen to test myself against and Chris who was injured a lot last year had come back and by all accounts was getting very fit.
Into the second lap and I passed Paul. Feeling strong I targeted Chris who I think had a shock when I said hello. I passed him but he wasn't letting go so easily and quickly overtook me again. He was much stronger on the very muddy section and so I let him go first. I have been strong on flat surfaces recently and thought that I would be better waiting until then. I overtook Chris but all the way round the rest of that lap I kept thinking he would be just behind me somewhere.
Midway around the second lap I heard a familiar heavy breathing and spitting behind me. Only looking halfway round I shouted "I know that noise" It was Mark Johnston and he had caught me up. I was hoping to try and stay ahead of Mark in this race but he is stronger than me in this terrain and has a better racing head than me. Back into the flooded section of the course and I ran through it while Mark had to go around it as he had forgotten his running socks and had some hillwalking socks on instead and was trying to keep them dry. I thought that this would buy me some time to get ahead again but Mark pushed by me not long after. I latched onto him but by the third lap there was a bit of distance between us.
On the third lap I was amazed at how much people were slowing and at the Loch section (which really was like the terrain I train on) I was flying and passing a lot of runners. A few would catch up with me on hills but once it evened out I would start to pass them again. With only half a lap to go I noticed I was getting closer to Mark again but it was too late and I didn't catch him before the end.
So I finished in 90th position in a time of 45:36. 19 seconds slower than last year but 13 places better off. It was much muddier this year with most times at least a minute behind what they were last year so I was pleased with that and pleased at my pacing throughout.
It certainly is a boost to my confidence to be ahead with the training compared to last years races.
1 comment:
Well done Marco. That was a great run, and real return to form.
Post a Comment