Hants XC - Bournemouth

This was my first Hants XC league event for ages.  Romsey has – hooray! – decided to affiliate to this competition.  The inaugural event of the 2017/18 season was King’s Park in Bournemouth, and Becky and I drove down to be part of it.  Poor Becky, with a bad back, was just watching, so it was just me running for Romsey.

It was a warm and humid day – 16 degrees or so.  I met up with Peat, and we ended up close together on the start line in a position which, in retrospect, was way too ambitious.

We shot off at an earnest pace.  I was hoping that, 2 weeks after Clarendon, I’d have plenty of oomph in my legs.  It was a 4-lap course, and for the whole of the first lap we were all packed tightly together on the narrow tracks.

One lap down, and I was feeling the strain.  Three more to go; crikey.  My heart rate was way up in the 170s and I was struggling to keep my breathing under control.

And that’s how it went on.  Becky, together with James and Vicky Clark, shouted encouragement at every opportunity, but I was hanging on with my fingernails, panting, heaving and being frequently overtaken.

I collapsed over the line in a mess.  104^th position, 9.5km in 36:58.  I can’t say that it was terribly enjoyable, but that was entirely my fault for setting off too fast.