Man it was hot, but I only had to run 2 miles, so how hot could it be?
We assembled for the 3000m and I laughed at the markswoman as she tried to spell out "puzzle" with our team letters as she lined us up on the start line. I don't think she was amused at my frivolity.
We were off and I held back for the first lap while the youngsters went off way too quick. I soon overtook most of the field, including Pompey's Jane and Helen (yes - we had a 2hr30min coach journey to race against Portsmouth!), and for much of the race was sitting in 2nd. Then the heat took its effect - it was 3:30pm and it was touching 30°C! It felt like my head was going to explode. I kept it going though, but Helen took me at 600m to go, finishing strongly. I finished in 11:56.1 in 3rd place - quite pleased given the heat and my high mileage.
Splits:
46.6 (200)
95.9
97.0
93.8
95.4
96.6
97.4
93.0
During the day I drank 4.5 litres of water! I started the race well hydrated, but my throat dried out by the start and I ran the whole race breathing hard (obviously) with no saliva in my mouth. The result: at the finish my throat was raw and I couldn't stop coughing. I started the 1500m sucking a Fox's Glacier Mint.
Ah yes, the 1500m. Thanks Mike!
I 'volunteered' to race the 1500m 40mins later. It went better than I thought it might. At least my pace was faster than the 3000m. I finished feeling OK - maybe I could have run it a bit faster? Those youngsters had much fresher legs than me, but at least I finished ahead of 2 or 3 of them. I finished 4th B-stream so got us some points. I overtook our A-stream Charlotte with 400m to go, but she had a big kick and took me on the straight (youngsters!)
Time: 5:46.4 (a PB of course, being my first ever 1500m).
Splits:
65.6 (300m)
95.9
94.0
94.3
Oh boy did I feel old! I was our oldest athlete. Dee and myself are vets, with a chasm of an age gap to the rest of the team. I felt rather out of place on a coach full of girls, though technically I suppose at least half of them were 'Senior Women'. It makes a change from Victory AC where most of the club are in their 40s and 50s. I hope the team keep it going past school and university - I wish I'd started my running earlier!
I felt sorry for Dee - she ran the 400m hurdles for the first time in 20 years (a talented schoolgirl). She took 3 hurdles looking like a total pro and then realised she wasn't 15 anymore!
Well done Dee: long jump, 400m hurdles, 400m flat, high jump - that showed the youngsters!
Special mention for manager Mike. A team event like that takes some organising. Well done.
I thoroughly enjoyed my Essex day. Hopefully I demonstrated that you're not past it pushing 45!
The pics, in chronological order, with an awesome shot of Hannah to kick off:
No comments:
Post a Comment