Falésia 5k 2016

Once again, the event we all have a love/hate relationship with midway through the Algarve training camp took place this morning; the Falésia 5k Road Race. We were all specifically instructed not to ease back training in preparation and to treat it as a hard session, which we all duly did (in fact those preparing for the London Marathon did the race flat out, had a 10 minute break and then did the whole 5k again but at marathon pace!).

A large field consisting mainly of the hundred or so on our training camp plus a smattering of internationalists also out here training (mainly Latvians) lined up at the top of the hill at 10am. This was the first cloudy day since arriving making conditions perfect and virtually windless too. The downhill start of the 3 lap course was fast as usual and I found myself dropped, holding back a bit to protect a tight hamstring. I was still going at 3:10/km though which was plenty fast enough. All too soon the downhill was over and the long, relentless climb starts. By the climb I was picking people off and was up to about 13th. As the climb steepened, I passed a few more and the first lap was done.

Caution on the descent allowed one to re-pass me but by the top of the climb at the end of lap 2 I passed him again and was up to 7th place. The third lap finishes with the relentless "Stella" climb and I just could not close the gap on 5th and 6th in that final 500m uphill. However, I was very pleased with the time (17:35), some 29 seconds faster than last year and first M50. The race at the front was hotly contested by all accounts, a pair of young Latvians battling to the line to finish in an amazing 15:15 and 15:18. As always there was considerable vocal support around the course which adds to the atmosphere and helps keep the pace up.

Nutrition is key when piling in the volume and quality of training we do here, so I made a special effort to find an appropriate source of fuel, as shown in the photo!

Alan