Pain & Pleasure by Plodding_Along

The usual preperations this morning but something didn't feel quite right.  Got to the race with plenty of time for a warm up and relax but didn't seem to get it right and I started feeling not 100%.  I did manage to push to the front for the start so it only took a few seconds to cross the line.  The first 3 miles are steady with a couple of ups and downs, mile 4 is downhill and by mile 5 I was considering slowing up to wait for a clubmate to assist him round in trying to get a PB.

I stuck with it however and a gel in mile 6 seemed to help.  I picked the pace up and started to catch a few people who had got past me and there were still a few people at mile 4 as we passed through mile 8 and 9.  Mile 10 was a long drag up (the downhill bit in mile 4) and this was the slowest of the race at 7mins.  I felt I was on for a good time here as I was about a minute faster than last year and with a gently undulating last 3 miles I managed to get past a few more people with only 1 passing me.  The run in is on grass and I was hurting but managed to beat my PB by over a minute and cross the line in 1.27.08 (watch time).  I may even have finished in the top 100, will have to wait for the official results.

Didn't feel great in the first third but it shows that things can improve as the race goes on.  Hope you all had successful runs/races this weekend