My first post for a while, Sunday I took part in my first cross country run since I was 17 so only about 40 years š, I was representing my club Celtic Tri, along with about 30 other club members we had a very strong turn out, The event was the first run of this years West Glamorgan Cross Country League, so we have another 4 races to complete and it all ends in March next year, no race in December. Sundays run was put on by the Port Talbot Harriers, and I think there was around 200 runners, the race took place along Aberavon Beach, it was 8 k mostly on quite firm sand with an interesting 2k through the sand dunes which to be fair weren't that bad š„µ, as you left the dunes and returned to the beach after a few hundred metres you could see a flag which a lot of runners assumed was the finish, oh the disappointment of getting closer to the flag and realising there was still a long way to go š. Anyway, the weather was fantastic, not quite sun cream weather but not far off, definitely needed a hat to keep the sun out of your eyes and stop the sweat also getting in your eyes, the atmosphere was brilliant, lots of smiley happy faces and great support from the marshals and supporters, there was a wide age range and everyone was so welcoming,
My plan was to start at the back and take it easy and just go with how I was feeling, the theory being, if I'm overtaking runners and not being overtaken then I must be doing okš¤¦āāļø, so that's what I did, slowly picking off the runner in front of me working my way gradually up the field. The dunes were hard work with much softer sand in places and narrow tracks so not easy to get past other runners, and obviously a few climbs but not very steep thankfully, we were soon back on the flat firm beach and heading home, but it was hard work but I was still getting past people, you could really feel the heat now and breathing was hard. Then I was overtaken, I could hear a runner coming up behind and after a few metres he was level with me we paced each other for a few more metres but I had to ease off, not sure how far was left by this time but I seriously felt like walking, not so much my legs but my lungs were really burningš„µ I did manage to keep up with the runner who had past me and followed him into the finishers funnel where a large number of runners and supporters were all cheering us in, after getting my breath back and the usual finish line banter we made our way back to the car park where the club supporters had arranged tons of cake and drinks so we all mingled around drinking tea and eating cake for almost an hourš It's really good because it means you get a chance to meet other club members and you have something in common now, you have just suffered togetherš my un official numbers are 7.82Km in 45 minutes, I'm very pleased with this as my usual 8k time is around 50+ minutes. Next month we're off to Pembrey on the 24th and of course the old hands are already telling how steep and hard the course is, we shall seeš¤£š¤£
Happy new year, happy new year....
70 min / 8 km
