I caught the 6:24 train out of Euston with the Focus Izalco Chrono equipped with a bag of food that I munched through for the 2 hour journey. I am an expert when it comes to cycling from train stations to events, but it proved to be a bit more of a challenge riding the Focus as it isn't really a bike to be ridden with a back pack along an A road :) It was only a 20 min ride so I got to the race site with plenty of time to spare.
Registration was easy and I went next door to say Hi to Jason, Rob and Ben from Wiggle who were manning the Focus tent with the collection of demo mountain bikes as well as taking part in the night time trial scheduled for Saturday night. After a quick warm up in the pouring rain, I headed out to the start chute for the final countdown. Lucky for us the rain stopped just before the race started which I thought was a nice touch from the organisers ;)
The race started and we went out across the timing maps straight into the fields. It took a while for me to get into my stride as I was wearing my cross country runners which feel a lot different to my normal running shoes. I was having a bit of a laugh with some of the guys I was running with as it was all a bit fox and hound. There was a 'runner with dog' category in the race and the 7 or so dogs at the back of the pack were all excited and making a lot of noise when everyone started running. I think it was why I went through the first km in 3.50 and realised I had better slow it down if I wanted to finish :)
The course was lovely and had a great mix of wooded sections and some open undulating sections, made all the more challenging by the uneven ground. I wasn't sure what place I was in, but was content to stick to my 4.30min km's which was tough but wasn't killing me. The field spread out within the first 3km and I found that I ran most of the run on my own as I was too slow to stay with the front pack and just a touch faster than the guys behind me. I had seen the lead lady go past me as we crossed the start line and I was beginning to wonder if I had imagined it as there was no sign of her at all.
I thought that the race was well thought out with the little things that can sometimes make or break a race. Every KM was clearly marked, there was a water station just after the 5km mark and the course wound back towards the start line so there was some support halfway through the race which was great because it was also going up hill! Best part is you get a great medal for finishing! I was very pleased to cross the finish line in 2nd place in 44:50. Given it is only April, I am really happy with the way my running is coming along. I am doing a weekly track session in Hampstead every Thursday which is certainly paying off along with 2 other runs throughout the week.
There was a lovely ceremony at the end where the top 3 men and women and the winner of the runner and dog category were presented with medals with some Wiggle vouchers on the way. I wore my 2XU calf guards and also my 2XU compression tights for the run and I cannot recommend them highly enough. I really notice the difference if I don't wear them in that I get sore calves whilst running and it takes me longer to recover. If you don't have them, get them! I used to spend 15 mins in a cold bath after hard training sessions and I now find that wearing compression tights gives me the same results and it is a lot more pleasant than the cold water torture!
As you can see from the pictures I was in my Wiggle Jersey for the race. I use my commute between Marylebone and Hammersmith on my Kiron as extra speed training and as I have a few Wiggle jerseys I often wear those. I have had a few people chat to me when stopped at lights which is really cool, so if you do see me out and about do say hi!
Happy training!Cx
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