Sunday 7 October 2012

Sunday:The day of rest

I've burned some calories today. An 11 miler this morning with the crew, followed by an hours cyclo-cross (CX) at Druridge Bay Country Park in glorious autumn weather... makes the pain somehow bearable.
The training has been going quite well of late and I realise standards at 'runner wanderings' have slipped to a slothful level. However, I am probably playing the 'long game'. That's the line I've adopted when asked. People are courteous enough to nod at this strategy even though I've no idea what it means in athletics terms. Am I waiting until I hit 50 before committing or what?...  Did that last parkrun jaundice my appetite for racing.... Is Howard's End doing me in just as Mr Wilcox is doing my head in. No,its simply taking that bit longer to get into any sort of shape.     
 Arriving at the CX at lunchtime,  I signed up and asked if I should put 'v' for 'vet' down in the category box. 'No' came the reply from the organiser lady, adding 'if you are a vet you should have been in the vets race'....'that was at 11am this morning, so just put down senior'. After losing my garmin at the start (thankfully later recovered) I ground out an hours handful of laps over the heavy ground. I took solace in the fact that I wasn't lapped until halfway through the 3rd lap. Maybe next time I might hold out for the full three.  At times I was barely moving. I was trying so hard on one stretch to make the wheels go round my shades began to steam up. The spectators sat patiently, perched on the haystacks peppered throughout the course. At least they wereenjoying the sun. Someone was listening to the radio and another feeding the ducks. Not the most exciting spectator sport. Certainly not enough crashes or unseatings. To makes matters worse, there were no running segments, so I had to ride the whole way. Still, I can only get muddier later in the season.  

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