Heat tempered: Winchester AAIR 10k

As I stood under the tree with a refreshing breeze gently chilling me I thought that just maybe this race might be fairly comfortable.

Wrong!

For the 2nd road race league event in a row this was a scorcher!

I really like running in the heat: gentle runs under clear blue skies, interval sessions where you sweat with the satisfaction of a job well done, your muscles warm and loose and ready for the effort. Racing is another matter entirely. I seem to hit my maximum in terms of heat dissipation way before I hit my racing maximum. Unless I take it reasonably easy there will come a point where my head starts throbbing and my skin tingles, leaving me no choice but to slow down. My tolerance of the heat seems low.

Today was just such a day. Coming at the end of a hard week of training featuring several double training days and being just 3 days before the Hayling Billy 5, my motivation for pushing myself to my thermal limit was not great.

The course description on the Runners World website was rather curious: "Flat/hilly". I guess there was a flattish mile after half way, but with most of the first half being steadily uphill and the second half still somehow managing to have its share of uphill sections I wouldn't really want to use the term 'flat' anywhere in the description. Let's just say it's not a PB course!

I finished just under 46 minutes - not a particularly sparkling performance. My average heart rate was below what I'd run a marathon at and my pace was pretty much marathon pace, but given the heat and hills maybe I should feel encouraged by the good pace at that HR as I haven't felt at my best since London. It felt quite a hard effort - as I've mentioned I'm not a fan of heat. However, I seem to have recovered well from it so maybe my body has dealt with it as just a 6 mile marathon pace run, despite how it felt on the day.

I did my bit for the team though, leading us in to an excellent 2nd place on the day (well done girls!) and securing our position of 4th in the league - our best place ever as far as I'm aware. I really think we punch well above our weight considering the size of the club. A big well done to the ladies of Victory AC.

Our men had a solid finish to ensure they remained a place above relegation in the final league results. While not such dizzy heights as the ladies, it's still a very good performance remaining in the top of 3 divisions.


Tonight is the Hayling Billy 5 where I'm hoping for a PB. Let's find out just how well I have recovered.