When I planned my autumn, the schedule was flexible to allow for London Marathon 2014 training. Being a ballot loser means I can stick to my current 10k, speed focus for the season. The Saffron Walden 10k was one of the events I'd selected to compete in. It ticked all the boxes; local (ten minute drive), right distance, cheap, run bling included (tech t-shirt). The only concern was the promise - 90% off road.
What did this mean? Farm lanes, bridleways, country lanes closed to traffic? In reality it was a course devoid of tarmac. 2km max on roads or country lanes, the last km on a lush but pot holed school field, the rest on tractor trails & narrow paths, except for a devilish hill on a farm concrete track.
After the Wimpole hill the day before what I needed was a nice, flat, bouncy, brand new tarmaced course. What I got was my idea of running hell: hills, headwinds & solid tractor runs baked by the sun. To add to my misery, no music on the grounds of elf safety!
The Run
I lined up on the start line without a plan, or a time to aim for. I'd seen a course profile & knew this wasn't a place to gun for a PB. Anything under 55:00 would be a decent mark. My last off road 10k was in Stansted last summer, a mud affected mid 56. The field was small, approximately 200 runners, no chips, just a megaphone & klaxon. This was very much a club race, lots of turn out from the clubs in the locality. I started reasonably well, making sure to pass the beginners that always seem to want to start at the front before the course narrowed. I was barely a kilometre in & still struggling for rhythm when we hit the double header of a hill & tractor path. By two km my Achilles was smarting, possibly due to the parkrun the day before combined with the underfoot conditions. I was considering adding another dnf to my collection.
The course continued to undulate and I found myself well above the 55:00 pace and rapidly losing interest. These are the moments that test you as a runner, when the challenge becomes mental rather than physical. I realised that the course was going to be horrific and to dig in. Once you chat with some fellow runners you recognise that everyone is facing the same conditions, even the leader didn't look like he was enjoying himself. Having a section that doubled back actually helped as I started to focus on running in a group around me, noticing I was in a good position.
My pace continued to be less than expected, but I started to find some drive after 5km, counting myself back to the finish line, 25 minutes left, 20, 15. The 7th km brought a 25m climb, not as severe as Wimpole the day previously, but a longer climb. I got 80% up & had to revert to walking alongside another runner. My glutes were killing me the moment I started running again!
By this stage I was back under the 55:00 pace and had time for a chat with a Clapham Chaser as the course found some tarmac again with 2km to go. We were coming back to the school where the finish was based, single file though as the course narrowed to a footpath. With 800m left we entered the school field, still running in a decent pack, all around what I thought would be a mid 54 time.
In between the rabbit holes & mole hills I tried to up my pace on the lush school field. 500m out and I was still at the rear of my pack when I managed to find some parkrun pace.
I crossed the line in 53:29, overhauling all but two that were ahead of me, even getting a head duck on the line in to grab a place. Maybe I'm overly competitive but having so many people to race at the end made me faster, almost made the hills and tractor trails worth it.
The Eat
The beauty of local runs is that they offer access to the eat straight away. The cake stand is a staple of small events. I scoffed on a 50p slice of carrot cake that was, for that moment in time the best slice of cake ever.
Homemade pizzas followed up in the evening as we're clearing out the fridge ahead of holiday.
The Conclusion
Having been so negative during the race, I'm happy with the time returned. My parkrun exploits the day before probably put a minute on my time, but I'm not sure I'd have made it up the hill fully even if I was fresh.
September has been a good month. Another 100 kilometre month, two sub 2:00:00 half marathons, with a PB thrown in for good measure.
The added highlight was getting so close to a 5k PB. I feel that my running is the best it has ever been & now the results are starting to prove this.
September might have been the month that I found out I wouldn't be running the London Marathon, but it was also the month I found form at every distance.
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