The weather was glorious - bright winter sunshine and little wind on a crisp afternoon of long shadows. I set off quite conservatively, mentally gearing up for lots of repetition - not just one short and three long circuits, but zig-zags up and down the sloping fields.
I felt that the pacing as just about right. I overtook plenty of runners, but in the later stages I had to work hard to keep my breathing under control and prevent myself blowing up. This is the best spectator's race of the series and it was great to have family support in three places on each lap.
The final leg is a straight downhill blast which is great fun. I could hear pounding behind me and I could see the shadows catching up on me which really spurred me on in the final seconds.
I finished in 78th place which was good - 22 places up on last year. Even more pleasing was the time: 36:55 against last year's 39:01. Conditions were better this year but this is really encouraging.
Here are a couple of photos courtesy of Paul Hammond.
What's different? I'm now doing structured evening training sessions with Romsey Road Runners every week. It's just possible that this is putting a spring in my step. Watch this space.
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