Not quite sure why I chose a national championship event in Cardiff for my first ever track race. I was well out of my comfort zone before the start of the race - there were 3 pages of rules & regulations: you needed to register before you signed the declaration sheet (whatever that is), these had to be done at least 2 hours before the race otherwise you were disqualified, you needed to be in a 'call room' at least 20 minutes before the race, 2 race numbers had to be worn & 2 lane numbers (all in the correct position). Asking the very efficient officials basic questions brought looks of incredulity (especially when I told them that I'd never done a track race before).
The weather was wet & very windy, quite a change from the recent dry, still, sunny conditions. I was at the track 3 hours before my race to give me sufficient time to ensure that I didn't fall foul of the various cut off times. Warming up was a bit difficult to ensure that I would be in the 'call room' at the required hour.
My race was the 5000m for M50 & M55s, so it was actually two races in one, with separate results for each. 14 runners had entered the M55 race & 9 the M50 one, but I think that there were only about 15 or so actually started in total. Four of the M50 runners set off at a very fast pace, so I decided to let them go, settling into a group of 3 M55s and a couple of M50s.
My plan before the race had been to try to run at an even pace around 84 seconds per lap, but this plan soon went out of the window mainly because of the conditions. It was clear that there wasn't much difference between the 3 of us leading the M55 race & which ever of us was setting the pace was making it much easier for the other 2, as they could just follow on the tough 'home straight' into the wind. In effect it became a very tactical race with each of us trying to break away, getting pulled back, then trying to avoid leading......... not a good recipe for running a fast even pace.
I made a tactical mistake of trying a final attack with just over 2 laps to go, which resulted in my opponents being able to follow me for the closing stages of the race. I did all the hard work until I was overtaken on the home straight & beaten into second place by 1 second.
I suppose that I should be pleased about winning a silver medal in a national championship in my first ever track race, but I know that I could have done better if I'd timed the finish differently. Having said that the guy who beat me, David Oxland of Notts AC, is a very experienced track runner & he may well have beaten me whatever tactics I'd adopted (he'd won this event the previous year by 17 seconds & was silver medalist in the European Masters Indoor track championships - only missing gold by 0.17 seconds).
Having had my first attempt at racing on the track, I'm tempted to give it another go - I'll certainly have a better idea what to expect next time around.
The weather was wet & very windy, quite a change from the recent dry, still, sunny conditions. I was at the track 3 hours before my race to give me sufficient time to ensure that I didn't fall foul of the various cut off times. Warming up was a bit difficult to ensure that I would be in the 'call room' at the required hour.
My race was the 5000m for M50 & M55s, so it was actually two races in one, with separate results for each. 14 runners had entered the M55 race & 9 the M50 one, but I think that there were only about 15 or so actually started in total. Four of the M50 runners set off at a very fast pace, so I decided to let them go, settling into a group of 3 M55s and a couple of M50s.
My plan before the race had been to try to run at an even pace around 84 seconds per lap, but this plan soon went out of the window mainly because of the conditions. It was clear that there wasn't much difference between the 3 of us leading the M55 race & which ever of us was setting the pace was making it much easier for the other 2, as they could just follow on the tough 'home straight' into the wind. In effect it became a very tactical race with each of us trying to break away, getting pulled back, then trying to avoid leading......... not a good recipe for running a fast even pace.
I made a tactical mistake of trying a final attack with just over 2 laps to go, which resulted in my opponents being able to follow me for the closing stages of the race. I did all the hard work until I was overtaken on the home straight & beaten into second place by 1 second.
I suppose that I should be pleased about winning a silver medal in a national championship in my first ever track race, but I know that I could have done better if I'd timed the finish differently. Having said that the guy who beat me, David Oxland of Notts AC, is a very experienced track runner & he may well have beaten me whatever tactics I'd adopted (he'd won this event the previous year by 17 seconds & was silver medalist in the European Masters Indoor track championships - only missing gold by 0.17 seconds).
Having had my first attempt at racing on the track, I'm tempted to give it another go - I'll certainly have a better idea what to expect next time around.
Well done on your first experience of track running.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't call them enjoyable; painful, but wanting to do another one soon after. I do find them useful at practising even paced running, learning about the tactics of racing and giving a great speed workout.