"Sandbach Striders 10K"

After an illness affected and therefore low key World Wide Festival of Races where I ran my own six miler along Riverside Park in the spirit of the event it was good to get another competitive race under my belt.

After a further week of coughs and sneezes I was happy just to make the start of Sandbach Striders low key but fabulously organised multi terrain 10k on the heart of the Cheshire Plain. Sandbach, famous for its Saxon Crosses presented us with a perfect early Autumn morning with clear skies and a gentle breeze making for ideal running conditions. A full pre entry meant many macc harriers couldn't score points in the club champs but was great for me to pick up some easy points!.

With a steady off road first 2k I gradually picked up the pace and was running 4.16 for each kilometre until the lack of training and chest cold finally caught up with me at around 7K. I did finish strongly (which included climbing the steps of a railway bridge at 9k!) however, with a 44.17 (for 35th position out of 180 finishers) which I was more than happy with given the circumstances.

Weekly mileage 27. Annual mileage 1044.

"Back over the Country"

After a week with a sore throat and chesty cough I was unsure whether to compete in the first cross country of the season last Saturday. Despite my better judgement I went for the "kill or cure" approach and joined the rest of the team.

Having made my excuses on the start line, for once I didn't take the usual approach recommended by my coach, that of off hard then relaxing into the race, as instead I relaxed from the start! Immediately I dropped off the pace of my key rivals but over the firm ground of Knight's Grange for once this really paid off ( a four lap 10k). I slowly started to pick off runners and with a strong last lap ended up over a minute ahead of a couple of my team mates at the finish (49.12). Maybe this is the best way to race cross country but it just isn't in my nature to hold back at the start!

The course whilst being predominantly flat had a couple of sharp climbs and luckily the photographer chose to capture us on the way downhill! I will let you guess which laps they were taken on!!

Weekly mileage 25. Annual mileage 992



































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