Resolution.
At 6.30 this morning, it was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, there was light breeze on the air, and only a few wisps of cloud marred the perfect blue wash of the sky.
By race time, it was overcast and spitting with rain.
You can’t have everything, I guess.
Race organisation was alright – they could have started, should have started, way way earlier in the day. Also the set-up for the start was cramped into one little street, with ten yards between the five-minute time divisions. For about a thousand or so runners, it was way tighter than it needed to be.
The run itself was…painful. Around mile 2, on the first decent bit of hill, the right side of my stomach started cramping up. By mile 4 it was solid, and I had to walk for a couple of minutes to stretch it out to make sure I’d be okay to continue. I’d promised myself a sub-55 minute time for the race, and when I started running again I was very conscious of the fact that I’d have to make some effort to pick up my feet if I was going to make it.
I bimbled up to mile 5, then once I was sure I wasn’t going to cripple myself, I started upping the pace a bit. It was maybe a little early for it, and the real kickers all surged past me in the last kilometre, but I made it under my intended time at the end. 53:19.
Next race is the Run For All on the 23rd, in Hull. Will I be able to break 50 minutes? We’ll see.
