Highclere 10k 2017

The lovely Mrs S and I drove up to Highclere Castle on a misty Sunday morning. We parked in a field having passed through glorious mature parkland.  This is going to be fun, we thought.

There will be mud, the pre-race email had advised. So we turned up at the start line wearing fell shoes.  Just before the start, we were briefed that the course had been altered... no more mud. Cue cheers from the crowd but groans from the two of us.  Mud is good. And wearing the wrong shoes is not so good.

We set off on a circuit around a field with a fair old slope which got the heart moving.  It was then a fairly constant undulation along roads and tracks.  The landscape was terrific.  I overtook a few people but felt I was working hard... I didn't feel quite as well in control as I had the previous week at Hursley.  

I was a bit suspicious about the km markers along the course.  By the time we got to 8km I was highly sceptical.  At about 9k on my watch a sign said 400m to go.  It was a vey long 400m but I heaved my way home and managed to get 7th place and 1st M50, which I was very happy with. I chatted with a 50-something guy whom I'd overtaken early on. 'I was hoping', he told me 'that you were 60-something or possibly a very old-looking 49'. Thanks, mate.

The finish was hard work

But I got a nice bottle of wine from the lady of the manor

It's now Thursday evening and I'm well into the tapering phase prior to Clarendon on Sunday.  I never enjoy this. I feel lethargic, sluggish and unhealthy. It feels impossible right now that I can run 26 miles... the training has gone well, but it's an effort to remember this.  I'm really looking forward to Sunday in many ways.