Southern Vets League Basingstoke: 3000m

What a contrast to Alton last week! I was standing watching the pole-vaulting in the middle of the field wearing multiple layers and gloves, freezing my gluteus maximus off.

Yes, watching the pole-vault. After last year's debacle there's no way I was pole-vaulting only 6 days before a marathon. I would like to have a go later in the season though, being better prepared through weight training and the willingness to let my muscles recover before any intense marathon training. Last night though I had to watch poor Havant team-mate Amanda make some abortive attempts to get over the bar, having never done it before. Amanda could have high jumped the height, but the pole floored her so to speak. I left Lynne to win it for Portsmouth (presumably - I didn't check the result).

So to the 3000m, and after a lengthy warm up to make sure my tired hamstrings behaved I was standing in crop-top, shorts and compression socks (more on those in a later post) at the start, freezing my gluteus maximus, medius, minimus, gemellus, obturator and piriformis off! Fortunately we didn't have too long to wait.

As ever I went off too fast - more like mile pace than 3k pace - not helped by having unfamiliar faces around me, as my team mate Bev went off with 2 Winchester women and a Woking woman. It took me half a lap to realise I wasn't going to be able to keep up with them, and another half lap to get into my own rhythm. Unfortunately this left me in no-mans-land back from the lead group, running on my own.

It took me another lap to realise that my anticipated pace of 93s per lap was a tad ambitious as Bev disappeared off chasing close behind the lead Winchester woman. There then followed the usual 5 laps of mind games:
"It's starting to hurt..." "Don't you dare slow down..." "Keep pushing through the pain..." "You can do this..." "Just 4 more laps - less than a mile"

It helped in the closing stages that I had a tail-ender to chase down and lap. It's so much easier when you aren't running on your own! I then had a Winchester woman ahead of me. Had I caught the A-string runner? Surely not. I'm fairly sure I was lapping her, but she didn't seem like an over-50. The single letter on her back seemed to imply she was A-string. Maybe I was lapping a guest runner. Until I see the full results I won't know the answer to that one.

Whatever her status, she helped me keep my pace going over the last 200m and push hard for the line, before collapsing on my back on the track gasping for air, as seems to be my habit.

12:05.3

I'm a bit disappointed with that time as it's 20s slower than last year. I was hoping for a confidence boost before Edinburgh. My pace wasn't for lack of trying though - my throat was raw afterwards, and my heart rate was where I'd expect it to be at the end. Looking back at last year's stats I was generally a beat or 2 down though, which might account for 1 or 2 seconds per lap.

My stats:
90s 134bpm
95s 151bpm
97s 152bpm
97s 154bpm
99s 156bpm
101s 156bpm
98s 156bpm
47s 158bpm

Bev had a great race, finishing a minute ahead of me. Apparently it was a close run race with the Winchester runner just pipping her to the win. Both Bev and I finished 2nd in our respective A and B races.

It was a good night for the club. I haven't seen the full results yet, but with the javelin still going on when we left, we were leading the match by a healthy margin. I think the men were 2nd, but don't quote me.

I was hoping for better - my fear being that I've lost a little fitness since London, but I've done all the preparation I can for Edinburgh so must now try to look forward. Can I now get myself in the mental frame of mind for another 26.2 miles of maximum effort? How much of me did I leave on the streets of London? 5 days to find the answer.