So for this race I travelled down south to Surrey for this race. I felt like a change to the normal Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire scenery and fancied a visit to the family so in true slightly obsessed runners style I thought I'd squeeze in a race whilst I was there.
So after 2 races where the temperatures were soaring I was slightly lacking in confidence for this race. I have really put in the training but I still prayed for a cool day. And so the morning was overcast and crisp and perfect running conditions but I still felt anxious about this race. I didn't know if I could handle another disappointing race!
So the target was sub 53 and on a perfect day 50 mins (optimistic) and I was determined to get at least a PB! So the we set out, as usual I took the first mile easier and despite it being a little congested at the start myself and my Brother in law weaved our way past the slower runners and settled for 5 minutes or so. At this point I subconsciously took it up a gear and realised 2 minutes later I had lost my running buddy (I am useless running with others, sorry Dean..lol). So what next? I wanted to get at least a 9 min first mile which I did.
At this point I had found my groove, I had the bounce in my knees and I was raring to go. I started to overtake people, one at a time. As I worked my way through the field, my anxiousness returned, was I doing too much? On reflection I was running well and comfortably but at the time I eased of a bit. Even then I was still overtaking people and not being overtaken, this has never happened to me in a race, usually finishing in the bottom half of the field.
By the time i reached mile 3 I was brimming with confidence, I had overtaken loads of people, this is when they usually over take back!! So we hit the canal path which was fairly traily, muddy and rocky... thank god for training I put into running trails in barefoot shoes. I noticed that people had started to slow down at this point and once I had a feel for the ground I was manoeuvring over the stones and whilst people were slipping on the wet stones I was gripping the stones with my feet and bouncing all over the place, barefoot+trails= good fun! By mile 4 I had overtaken another chunk of people as I ran straight through the mud and right across the stones instead of dodging them!
By now I was so glad I was running 'barefoot', this is what it was designed for, OK it was a clear path but a slightly unlevel one and it suited me just fine. I saw my sisters and niece at about 4 miles and as they cheered me on (asking the whereabouts of my brother in law...oops) I got a new lease of life just when my legs were starting to tire. I started to enjoy the scenery and pin point the next person to overtake. By 4.5 I seemed to have settled behind similar paced runners so I decided to stay there until the final mile when I would speed up a little and then really kick in the final km. I overtook (with greater difficulty, these people were far more competitive...damn!) a few more people and spotted my target for the final KM.
At the final KM, as I promised myself, I overtook this woman who seemed to take it as a personal insult that I dared do such a think when I wasn't even wearing running shoes! 30 seconds later she shoved me out her way (complete with her nail digging into the back of my arm) and overtook me, BITCH! I was furious, there is just no need to be like that amongst our running comrades. I let her through and stayed at her ankles until the final 200m.
This is my forte, my sprint finish so I sprinted past her but no she was sprinting back past me, did I have anything left.... just when this scuffle was looking to end in her favour in the final 75 I found another gear, family cheering I raced past the woman who I will only refer to as 'the bitch that tried to mess with Gemma' I beat her by about 5 metres, how the hell did I sprint that fast? I guess I should thank her for making me angry.... although she may of regretted it!
I got a PB of 52.28 and came 77th out of 300! No wonder I felt like I was overtaking loads of people, I was!!!
Overall it was such a positive race that has made me realised I am a serious competitor. No I will never be running it in 35 minutes BUT I can certainly try and be amongst the best of the 'quite good' runners in the future!
I will update again tomorrow with some big running decisions I have been making! All very exciting!
