It was a lovely, friendly, low key event to raise money for a local primary school. I had signed up to go in the first wave as I knew I would be one of the slowest.
The course set off from the school and out round some vineyards! π· unfortunately only water was on offer π
Not having done a proper warm up I jogged out the start until we were out of sight then walked until 1/2km. (Oh the self imposed pressures to conform) Set Nike headspace guided run going and off i went, plodding along. With all this rain it's been a couple of weeks since I did proper trail running and I'd forgotten how much harder it is π
The forecast all week said it would be overcast. No. Clear blue skies, no breeze. HOT HOT HOT. Now I overheat really quickly so running in the midday sun is not the most comfortable. Luckily 2 water stops allowed me to tip some on my head - bliss.
After 22 minutes of running I had to walk. My split times had been too fast but I couldn't seem to go slow. Have my recent short runs reprogrammed my basic leg speed? If so my lungs need to catch up quickly π
I walked and jogged for the next 1.5km and ran the final 1/2 km to the finish. Where to my surprise my gazelle friend and her Ironman hubby had come along to cheer me home πππ
My aim was sub 45. Not speedy by most people's stds but knowing it was unlikely I would run the whole 5k this would be a good result for me.
44.48 πππππ so pleased with this esp with the hot weather meaning I walked more than planned. So that's my PB π my target is to improve this my running more of it πππ
Back to my question, what is better than bling? We didn't get a medal and category prizes where limited, but we got something better. As I crossed the finish line I'm handed a pot of jelly. Yum bloody yum! (Seriously good stuff for refuelling) and a slip of paper with a thank you note from one of the school children. How cute is that? π
Driving home I was feeling a bit emotional. Is this normal? I'd been feeling really nervous all morning, worse than when I'm competing the horse. Ridiculous really as I was only running against myself π€·ββοΈ
I'm feeling a little leg weary this morning having poo picked and ridden a friend's horse as well as my own yesterday. But it's happy weary, and I was sat in bed this morning looking for my next event. π€¦ββοΈ What has happened to me?
I hope everyone else has been having an enjoyable weekend.
Happy running folks xxx