Race 4: Crowborough 10k
Race: The Crowborough Runners 10k
Distance: 6 miles
Time: 54 mins
Race 4 kind of snuck up on me. It was in amongst a busy social weekend (complete with plenty of overindulgence with food and drink- I think the dedication to my athletic life style is really shining through on this blog) but also full of lovely friends and overdue catch ups. So when Sunday morning came and the alarm went off at 7:30am - I think for the first time during this process I really did NOT want to run that morning. It was a grumbly car journey to a very busy starting venue at a school in Crowborough packed full of ‘serious’ runners and local running clubs.
I went through my pre-race ritual (queuing too long for a wee) and lovingly folding up my race number so I could pin it to the front of my leggings (rather than on my top as I ALWAYS de-layer which means there is never a right place to pin my race number on my top half).
Alex and I headed to the start line where I was rather rudely and painfully grabbed on the arm by a race marshall and barked at to not fold my number as it is a disqualifiable offence. - WOAH there. I’t really shook me up and threw me even further off my already wobbly pre-race game. Thanks Marshall!
We were soon off and on our way and as always I soon cheered the bleep up and got on with the job at hand… one foot in front of the other. It was another music free event and I did my best to calm my racing mind and actually focus on the race enough to be able to remember it (see my last post about the 3 molehills race- man, I really couldn’t focus!).
I ended up LOVING this race. It was two laps of 5 K around the town of Crowborough. The first half of the 5K lap was pretty much all down hill crossing a few busy junctions but but thankfully the marshal's (scary arm grab man aside) were absolute legends. They kept us all safe and had good control over the traffic and eyes on us runners at all times.
The second half of the route was somewhat unexpected. We turned up a country road which involved an optional stream crossing and then embarked on a pretty consistent and steep 2 mile climb. I went with my personal favourite and fail-safe method of running up long hills- 30 paces of walking and 30 paces of running. My lugs were burning as were my legs but I stuck to it and made sure I didn’t just end up walking it. For me- It’s the best technique of getting up hills mid race - try it next time :)
Soon we were on the second loop- and I was ready to attempt it again- but a bit faster this time. My previous hatred of lap races seems to be evaporating- instead now I actually really like the idea of using the first lap as a scope out and then knowing how much harder you can push yourself (and where) on the 2nd lap. The transition into the second lap starts on a much appreciated flat along the road. I became aware of a few strangled sobs from a runner behind me (now not wearing headphones makes sense) so I stopped to make sure she was ok. She said she was struggling to catch her breath so I offered to stay with her for a bit until she felt ok to start running again. She pushed me on and I shouted back some words of advice “Allow yourself to walk until you get to a certain landmark and then slowly get yourself running again”
Within 5 minutes she was running on my heels and shouting thank you to me. I was so relieved that she was ok-as soon as I ran off and left her, I realised I should of stayed with her until she was definitely ok. What sort of runner was I becoming!?
Anyway- she stayed behind me at a good pace and I soon realised she was ok so I could get on with focusing on the MEGA HILL. Optional stream dip loomed ahead and I opted to go for it. As soon as my feet were in the water I realised why the St John’s ambulance was parked right there. Woah there- those rocks beneath the water were slippery!
Hill climb take 2- and again due to no headphones runners were able to grumble their disapproval / apprehension of the climb ahead to one another. I shared a few “here we go again” moments with them before striding up that hill with my 30/30 technique (Trademark Steph Turley that one). A lady runner actually shouted out “You look so fresh” at me as I strode past her. I remarked back “It must have been that rejuvenating dip in the stream”) Once the horrible climb is out of the way it was a short stretch of country road left before a short uphill back to the grounds of the school to finish. I finished feeling really strong and happy. No idea what my time was though… damn… maybe I should start wearing a GPS watch again?
The walk back to the race HQ was almost a mile I think- and I caught Alex running back towards the finish line to try and catch me. Too late- for once I finished quite soon after him. My finish time was 54 minutes. I was pretty happy with that.
Double whammy next weekend ( 10 K and 10 Miles).
26 to go…..
