hard day...tired but delighted

that was without a shadow of a doubt one of the hardest races i have run. sutton park is one of the great courses of world road running but it is also one of the most demanding both of your fitness and tactical nous. too hardup the 1st hill, even slightly and you will blow up spectacularly. the hills are quite some thing. luckily my level of fitness this winter meant i was able to keep a harsh pace going until about 2 or 300 yards from the line-just, but the wheels i think came off in the last little bit, but the conditions were slightly windy but apart from that fine. all of the runners in my team ran within about a minute of each other. i surprised my self by how close iwas to jerry hogan (14 secs) and danny randell, 36 secs, who would both normally be at least 20 secs further ahead in a 5k. i forgot how much that turn near the keepers gate hurts though. down a slope to slow down then speed up up the same hill. thats where the wheels come off for a lot of people. it perfectly defines the word evil. and the down hill section is psychologically very tough as you don't see the finish until you are about 100 yards away, you can only sense it. as for the end, well i collapsed in a heap, not a uncommon thing because as mike would say, i really put my back in to it when i train

i now look forward to greater challenges in the near future starting with the bridge inn race on tuesday night at shortwood and to be followed by the swindon half marathon. i have done a few hard longer runs in preparation for this but i have a sense that whilst i will achieve my targets time wise it will be very hard going. well all i can say after today is bring it on, i feel like i can handle anything thats thrown at me (well most things anyway)!

long run plus gym tomorrow so i'm signing off for now. time for a subway sarnie!