Thursday 27 April 2017

Clachnaben, JK and into 10Mila, Gothenburg

My first proper hill race of the year seriously quenched any worries about diminishing hill strength, with a really nicely paced solo race being the end product; only 45s off the record and some good PR in the Press and Journal as a result.



JK was always going to be a hit or miss, with no real taper planned, nor much focus or geeking going into this year's campaign. Thankfully, in the end it was a hit.

The sprint was going to be the tricky one this year with limited practice. I felt some hayfever as soon as we crossed the border going south on Thursday, but thankfully I had some antihistamines on me and everything was fine once the race began. A few dodgy misses but happy to see some brute force speed-wise meant a good result. A clean run would have been tantalisingly close to the seniors, so it's definitely something to consider come post-exam, pre-JWOC build up.



The middle and long were different stories, two big WUs, even after two morning runs, set me up well for two very nice races. Sure, the start of the long wasn't all that easy, and had it been longer than 65 I may have crashed, but given the situation with an 80mile week being rounded off post-long, I am very satisfied. Even more so to be ahead of some quick international competition in the M18s, if I can crack a good taper routine before the summer then good things are ahead.

The relay was the cherry on the cake, with two solid runs from Ali and Jonny putting me out in a safe silver. I held it easily, and the legs were reborn, finishing with my quickest climb adjusted forest orienteering I've done at sub 3:50s. Finally EUOC were on the JK Trophy podium, and a brilliant clean sweep JK was over (individually speaking).



The following week was odd. A crash didn't hit until a fartlek session on Friday, and even then it wasn't too extreme. I woke up on Tuesday and Wednesday with a pair of race-read legs, and even used them for a long, steady run with strides on Wednesday, one of the nicest this year. Some night training at Fairy Knowe - with GG, Alex and Shminty - on Saturday night last week proved valuable, although losing my Garmin was frustrating (as well as a good excuse to get a shiny new one).

Come Tuesday I was recovered, and ran my best session yet. 20min [5min] 10min at 3:14s and 3:10s respectively on a nice, sunny meadows afternoon - a huge step up performance-wise from my previous quickest, just in time for the weekend.

Now after a few days of revision, I am likely screwing up several exam results for the sake of 10Mila, nothing new here! Long Night Round 2 awaits me, although this time for a larger stake - TuMe 1st team. The terrain is beautiful, the legs are in good shape, just hoping (praying) the preparation and semi-taper go well, while the hayfever holds back, so I can have a slightly more enjoyable race this year....

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