Two days after an 18 mile marathon training run it was time to represent my club at cross country. A very wet winter so far meant that the ground was always going to be soft and it certainly did not disappoint - soft and muddy to begin with and after the juniors' and ladies' races it was a complete mud bath.
I managed to get my vest on the right way round this time and so lined up with my club mates ready to attack the course. I let the faster club mates zoom off as I prefer to build from the back.
After a few hundred metres my legs were already caked in mud and any thoughts of a fast time soon disappeared. I managed to overtake one club mate after half a mile as he was fading already and then after another half mile I overtook a second club mate who had beaten me in my last cross country.
After two miles I was already feeling the pain and it was a bit of a slog after that. I kept going, overtaking the odd runner here and there. In the last mile I started approaching two more club mates but the race ended earlier than expected - at 5.25 miles rather than 6 - so I didn't manage to get past them.
In the end I finished 7th out of my club - one place out of the A team places. Once again I was in the top half of the race but in the bottom half of my age category.
At least I have plenty to aim for - top 6 for my club and top half of my age category would be a good start.
It is a bit frustrating to keep getting beaten by people doing less than half your training mileage but the training is a long term game and some people just have amazing genetics. My genetics seem to prefer long or very long races so 5 miles is a bit short for me.
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