League running: The Lordshill 10

I had a new perspective on racing today. I did the Lordshill 10 in a time of 1:19:55 (unofficial), a PB by over 7 minutes (told you I would!). I was pleased with the time, but the best bit is I was 33rd lady, my best position ever, and along with my 2 team mates Ruth and Gina ahead of me, we finished 2nd ladies team. Gina was 3rd lady - brilliant! Given the foul, wet and windy, weather and the hilly course, I was very pleased with my performance.

The race for me was characterised by my tussle with a runner from another club. I spent the first 7 miles about 50m behind her. As the race went on I was passing other lady runners, but it was still Viv (I found out her name afterwards) whom I was trying to reel in. At 7 miles came the big hill and I finally caught her. I also overtook one of my male team-mates walking up the hill - poor Mark had some bad stomach problems and had to later visit a bush!

Viv and I were clearly well matched. It was interesting to compare us. On the steep bits, both uphill and downhill, I seemed to have the edge. On the flat, we seemed fairly matched. As soon as we turned into the wind though, Viv had the edge: maybe it was simply that she was shorter and had less windage? With each hill I would overtake her, but on the intermediate bits she would get me back as the wind held me in check. I was behind with only a few hundred metres to go, but in the run-in I was stronger and outsprinted her.

My only race used to be with myself, but increasingly I can engage in these little battles with other runners. Being a road-race league event makes these little tussles important. Each place gained is an extra point for the team. I now regularly score points for the team (first 3 to count for the A team) and it really adds to the experience. It's good to be racing for the team not just yourself.

I realised the significance of my battle after the race. Apparently, we were only a point ahead of the 3rd place team. Without my battle for the extra placing, we wouldn't have finished 2nd!

What a great race!