…see what they’ve gone and done to the trendy mother from the sitcom, when she said “Penny for ‘em?” to her teenage son, who was staring into space

So following the 3k success as Trafford I ran my usual 10 and a bit miler with Stu Doyle around the Bate Mill loop twice, all sub 7 and even with Stu telling me about his holiday adventures, it felt really easy for a change. I ran a 4 mile tempo at sub 6 pace on Thursday then went out for a longish slow plod with various PLS bods in the evening. I ran a steady 6 on Friday then rested on Saturday in preparation for the Vrynwy Half Sunday.

I travelled down to Lake Vrynwy with Cristina/Eunice and Charlie which was a hoot, and we arrived with plenty of time to spare. The course was sheltered from the wind but I found it hard to find a good stretch of road to warm up on and when I did I felt really poor, no idea why but I just could catch my breath. This was because the start line was a narrow road the race had some 12000 runners! I decided to get tot the start and run a few drills there. Unfortunately there was still no room to move, I could jog on the spot but that was about it.

The race started downhill then a gradual climb up hill until you reached the perimeter of the lake. Again, I was really feeling tight which early on was very concerning. I tried to keep at 6 m/mile but after 5k I wanted to pack in. I sucked it up and did bother looking at the watch, just kept my legs moving and made sure not too many people were overtaking me.

I still had an outside chance of getting under 80 mins and I knew there was a downhill section near the end. I was trying to keep Liverpool Harrier Lee Midghall in my sights, he passed me around the halfway mark but didn’t get more than a minute away. I pushed on in the downhill section and was about 20 seconds form the group with Lee in when another short incline pretty much killed me. I finished just outside 81 mins (Lee was 6 seconds ahead) and 49th overall.

This a fast course though and even though I didn’t enjoy it and struggled, I still think it was a great run. A few of the PLS runners got PB’s despite having to wait 30 seconds to cross the line so it’s defo one to return too.

I’ve felt similar in a few races where you know form the off things aren’t going to be smooth. I’ve got the NW relays this weekend so hopefully this doesn’t happen then, or more importantly the marathon.