Following a disappointing long run on the Wednesday I’d decided that entering a long race would be good for my training. I’d looked at the Trimpell 20 website on the Thursday, but they weren’t taking on line bookings and there was no entry on the day. I then convinced myself that a long race would be bad for me and that I’d be better off sticking to my schedule and not have the distraction of other runners. Consequently, when Gill offered me her place at Trimpell 20 I was thrown into a momentary panic. By the time I’d thought about it some more I’d changed my mind again and wanted to run. I used to be indecisive but now I’m not so sure.
Everything about the day of the race went well and it was an excellent confidence booster for me. I confirmed what I’d learnt fairly early on when I took up running; I run better when I set off at a good pace and then pick it up in the latter stages. I’ve had a couple of good races recently where I’ve set off quickly (for me) and tried to hang on to Paul H and I’ve finished knackered but fairly high up the field. I’ve also had a couple of awful races recently where I’ve gone off too fast and faded badly towards the end. The idea of a negative split is appealing as long as I don’t get too far behind my target pace.
I went past something like fifty runners in the last eight miles of the race and ran the last eight almost a minute a mile faster than the first eight. Psychologically it’s a lot better going past people than being the one who is overtaken. Not sure I have the discipline to slow myself down at the start though. If Michael hadn’t been running I know I’d have gone too quickly. I’ve got to learn from it and that was what this long run was about. So here I am crossing the line at the Trimpell 20 in the middle of the target range I’d set myself. Job done.
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