Midweek Mediocrity

I completed another midweek hill race last night over Carnethy hill in the Pentlands. I had a week off running and training last week - I just lost the will and decided a rest was in order - so my legs probably weren't up to a hard effort. So, with that in mind, I decided to go hard off the line. Yes, I am that stupid.

Every race I do this year is a new experience for me and there's a definite learning curve involved, both for my mind and my body, neither of which are quite ready for those experiences. I've tried going easy at the start of races and I've tried going hard and holding on - I'm not sure what works. Probably, I should have been more conservative last night but nothing ventured, nothing gained.

The race started whilst we were all getting dowsed by a heavy rain shower. I moved myself towards the front behind the fastest fellas and just in front of the faster fellas. The course takes a couple of short, sharp climbs upwards onto Falla Hill before dropping. I tried to hold a quick pace up the hills, and managed quite well, though I was blowing a bit, I felt like I was managing. Figuring I would catch my breath a bit running off the hill, I had made my big mistake. The downhill was boggy and heathery and my big bambi legs didn't like it one bit. By the bottom, I'd been caught by a few and once on the climb up Carnethy, I think I gave up a bit (though it didn't seem like that at the time). I probably should have pushed on but figured I'd take it steady.

Over the top of the hill, another couple of runners caught me and I struggled to keep on their heels on the fast descent. Then, the Scald Law col and down the trail to the finish and another couple passed me.

I finished in 33:31 and 27th out of 57 runners. I'm fairly certain I would have finished further up had I not gone out too hard. Still, who knows? I quite enjoyed myself and I now know how to run faster, I just need to put in the training to be able to sustain it for longer.