Today was another Peco cross country race organised by STAC near Seacroft in Leeds. Conditions were very different to the previous race 2 weeks ago. This time there was no mud as the ground was frozen solid after the overnight frost.
After a good 20 minutes warm up, I thought that I was well prepared for the start of the race. However, I seemed to be almost left standing at the start as the pack set off at great speed across the first field. As we got on to a narrower section, I must've been back in about 70th position. I don't know if my legs just rebelled at setting off quickly after last week's race.
I spent the first half of the race gradually working my way through the field, then the second half running at a fairly steady pace. Given the firm underfoot conditions, the speed was quite high, I averaged only just over 4 minutes per kilometre, which would have been close to my 10k pace this time last year. My finishing position was 36th, compared to 35th, 30th & 42nd in the earlier races in the series this season & 78th in the same race last year. I believe that we finished 2nd in the team race, with Ilkley Harrier Tom A winning the race in convincing style.
I felt fine overall today, despite the slow start, so no real after effects from a solid week of training & last week's half marathon. I need to ease off now over the next few days in preparation for the Dewsbury 10k next Sunday.
The main thing that I'm noticing with my racing & training now is that I'm racing & doing speedwork much faster than I was at the beginning of last year, but the speed of my average runs is getting progressively slower. Apart from my weekly track sessions, and races (plus occasional other effort sessions), I rarely run faster than 5 minutes per km & often quite a bit slower than that. Compared to January last year I've increased from about 32k per week to about 85k per week, although last year I was being a bit cautious after a series of injuries at the back end of 2008. I seem to have got into a training rhythm which suits me, although I doubt that I'd find it in any coaching manuals.
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