"Reaseheath & The County Cross Country Championships"

It's been a real mixed last seven days. After a great road race at Alsager last week I ran a couple of great speed sessions early in the week and my reward was a head cold! I don't do colds normally so I was really dischuffed. After a couple of days off, Friday was my coaching session with colleagues from work, and whilst getting them and me through it ok I knew that I wasn't fully up to racing. But this was the Cheshire County Cross Country Championships postponed from five weeks ago because of the snow and I wasn't going to miss it.

Based for the first time in many years at Reaseheath agricultural college in Nantwich, in Cheshire's deep farming south, this was going to be a seven miler of gently rolling hills and ploughed fields, and so it turned out. I set off at a good pace but the lingering cold soon found me out and over a three lapper I gradually started to drop off the pace finishing in the lower third of the field in 50.30. It's good to see the young person behind me in the picture looking as if he is trying to hang on! All in all it was as good as could be expected and a fast finishing burst over the last 200m to the finish certainly got my team mates cheering!

It's now a fortnight to my next race, the last cross country of the season and the Saucony English Cross Country Championships at Roundhey Park in Leeds where I will be running with a strong Macclesfield team, and as it's half term this week I am going to make the most of some early morning long runs to try and add some endurance to the speed that I am obviously starting to build again from the track sessions.

Weekly mileage 31 (week 6). Annual mileage 176.