Here we are, the last of the series. I can\u2019t say I\u2019ve been waiting long for it as I\u2019ve only done the last three of the year. But this one is different, it\u2019s fancy dress (optional). Of course, I had to partake. The question was, what was I going to wear? My initial plan was to dress up as an Albert Einstein style scientist with grey wig and long white lab coat, a bottle of blue drink in hand labelled super-fast juice. It would\u2019ve been glorious. Unfortunately, the weather beat me to the punch and decided that it was its turn to be glorious. So glorious I didn\u2019t think I would be able to survive in the heavy material. So, what was I to do? A stroke of genius. I would appear to turn up to the wrong race as a cyclist. Donning my Lycra and helmet, my ensemble was complete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The race itself went surprisingly well. I paced the initial stretch well, dropping back as I noticed my pace creep into the low three-minute kilometres. This initial burst is an issue of mine. I know that I need to settle into a run, and despite the number of times my dad says to keep an eye on it I am still catching myself bounding like a hopped-up Labrador. Anyway, the pack began to thin, and I timed the first gate well, sliding through and continuing my descent. The recent bout of good weather had all but dried the path, making it super stable underfoot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I gained a couple of places through the river crossing and beyond, and completely botched the wall drop. I landed hard on both feet instead of continuing my momentum. As I might have mentioned previously, I am trying to better tailor my running to my heart rate. It\u2019s all well and good thinking you can maintain a pace but if your heart rate is creeping beyond 180 you better have a great lactic threshold. I do not. I had set a target of running the next hill, tiny little steps instead of the large walking paces I\u2019d done previously. I felt these were over-extending my muscles and creating unnecessary, large steps which carried too much strain. It worked. I managed to pitter patter my way to the stile, gaining a couple more places as I went.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The second river crossing went as well as the first, the cool water welcome in the heat. The road section, not so much. I seem to be unable to get the legs turning again and I am passed by at least four people. I felt heavy, but kept going, joking with a man watching if I could borrow his bike (remember, I am in full cycling kit, yes, I am hilarious). This heaviness carried on to the final climb where I resorted to power walking, losing another place in the process. Now time to fall down the hill. The dusty path felt unfamiliar, and I found myself missing the presence of puddles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n