This is the day when people start to compare cumulative times and eye up their nearest rivals. 15th on day 1 and 14th after day 2 (somebody must have dropped out). The two above me were a guy and a girl (first lady) from Garscube Harriers but as they were on home ground I wasn't holding out for much.
A slightly different course from previous years meant the start and finish was in the same place. The course involves a brutal hill climb on each lap, this year made worse by fallen trees which you had to hurdle 2 in a row while going uphill. The torrential rain during the day had made the course very muddy in parts and I regretted only having racing flats rather than trail shoes. Nothing like always being prepared ... and I was nothing like it.
The 4m/km pace strategy went out the window as this was about personal victory ! A long downhill straight to start with which set a frantic pace. This slowed slightly on the first climb but I passed both my nearest rivals from Garscube. Some of the downhill section into the forest were very muddy, slippery steps and another fallen tree to hurdle. The second lap has the toughest of the climbs. However with all our training in the Glen and the log jam this race is made for the Harriers. The 3rd lap was tough but the last 200m is a downhill section which seen me edge out a victory from a 3 way group.
This race sees a completely different set of results from the flat races. Don't have the official results but I know I beat a few who had been in the top ten at the start of the week and a good gap ahead of the garscube pair. It might not be enough to close the cumulative gap and I hope I have enough left for the 10k tomorrow.
Time 20:54 (about 20s faster than previous course best)
Pace 4:19 m/km (but who cares its the position that counts !)
Ave HR 90% max 96% (on the hill).
Phimi
1 comment:
Awesome performance on this leg Stephen - good luck with the 10k and the final results.
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