Saturday 7th June: Track Race

Race Report:

A first race back after injury is always a cagey affair. You've had a few good quality weeks of training and you feel reasonably fit but you know in the back of your mind that it's probably not enough to hit that new P.B. time we always want to achieve. Racing, on the track especially, is a different kettle of fish to most of the training I've done so far. It's faster and more intense than most of these sessions. I've also stayed away from using my watch as a gauge of my pace as much as possible but on the track there's no escape from it. Every 400 metres a little man calls out your time as you run past and every runner knows what they should and could be doing, as well as what they'd like to be doing, which are often quite different.

I set myself a realistic target. I resisted the temptation to go for a new P.B. or to aim for a time I know that I'm more than capable of, given the right training build up. The race was more about testing the 'race waters' for the first time in three months. I knew my splits and I was determined to stubbornly stick to the challenging yet realistic target pace.
I got quite lucky in the race in that two of my competitors seemed to have the same pace goal as myself, which meant I could sit on their shoulder and let them do the work, whilst I concentrated on keeping relaxed and focused. I felt good for nearly ten laps. I'd resisted my racing instincts to wind up the pace when I was still feeling really strong at half way. With less than four laps to go I began to suffer. My fitness levels started to show and I began to fall a little off my schedule and my competitors began to move away. To make me feel even worse there was a break in the cloud cover and the sun beat down on my back. Psychologically I was already wilting from the pace and the additional hurdle of the heat made me feel even more drained. However I kept the legs ticking over at a reasonable pace and was pleased to finish only 10 seconds off my target pace, after I'd slightly blown. A good bench mark has been laid for me to work on over the rest of the summer, and although, yes I would have liked to stick to my planned time schedule, all I can take from that race are positives.