Hampshire Cross Country Championships
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On Saturday I ran in the 2017 Hampshire Cross Country Championships, held at the YMCA centre at Fairthorne Manor in Botley.
About half-way round I came to the conclusion that I’m not that good at cross country running. I enjoy it a lot, and think it is an important part of every long-distance runner’s winter programme, but I seem unable to run as fast as I probably could.
I don’t know if it is because I don’t do it very often (this was only my second — and possibly last — cross country race this season), or whether it has something to do with my running style? It may be because I haven’t done much cross country specific training, or maybe I’m not trying enough.
The thing is; I don’t mind too much. If I was training with the aim of doing well in these races then I would be annoyed, but I’m not: I’m training for the London Marathon. The cross country races I’ve done — c.10k on difficult terrain — are part of my preparation for running a long way on flat road.
Cross country races are great for long distance runners as they involve almost all the muscles you have, to an extent that you would be unlikely to get in most flat runs. By the end of a marathon you’ll need all those muscles, as you tire, so training them, and learning how to recruit them, becomes important.
By racing hard and dealing with the sharp drops and inclines that you get on a typical cross country course, you also train the cardiovascular system. On Saturday I ran hard, so even though the result wasn’t great, the effort made it a worthwhile marathon training session.
As for the race; I started too quick. This is easy to do as the mass start and scramble for positions often results in me starting off too fast. After a short ‘arena lap’, the race then covered three ‘big laps’ that included grass, a wooded section, golf-course bunkers, wooden bridges, and a short gravel section. The support was good, and the enthusiasm of the marshalls was appreciated.
By the second lap, I was struggling to maintain my pace, and was overtaken by another Southampton runner, Jim Bennett. Jim’s normally quicker than me, so I was surprised to see him come past me fairly late in the race. Afterwards I learned that he had stopped on the first lap to tie his laces, so that’s why he was a bit down.
I tried to hang on to Jim, but lost contact as he chased down the runners ahead. At the start of the third and final lap I became aware of a runner closing in behind me. By this point the field had become a little strung out and there weren’t many changes in position (unlike the bunched up jostling of the first lap), so I was determined to hold off my chaser.
Halfway round the last lap I thought he might get the better of me, but pushed on and found that he wasn’t getting any closer. Towards the finish, as a result of trying to stay ahead of my chaser, I started closing in a bit on Jim and the Portsmouth runner just ahead of me.
By the time we reached the finishing straight I knew I wouldn’t catch them, but chasing them had stretched the gap slightly between me and the runner behind. I kicked hard for the finish, but could tell he was the doing the same!
I crossed the line ahead of him and tried to get as much air in my lungs as possible. He shook my hand and thanked me for the ‘tow’, as I thanked him for the ‘push’.
It always seems a little bit daft trying so hard to maintain positions and muster sprint finishes when there is no chance at all of getting even remotely near winning a race, but racing is about so much more than just the guys in the front. It is also about the personal challenge of pushing yourself, and of the competition between you and others of similar ability. It’s one of the great things about running — that there is almost always someone else to race against, even if your’re not the quickest.
Plus, with cross country races, there is the added interest of competing for team points. Running for a strong club like Southampton AC means my position is unlikely to be of significance to the overall team standings, but I was pleased to be the 18th Southampton finisher, and therefore the 6th counter for the C team. We finished 11th out of 15 full teams, ahead of some A teams, which says a lot about the strength in depth at the club.
The Southampton AC A team ran almost perfectly, packing their 6 scorers into the top 8 positions. The women’s and junior teams also did well, getting medals all over the board.
The 11,750m race was won by Southampton AC’s new recruit, Alex Teuten, in 37'34. I finished 103rd in 50'19.
My mile splits, which are a little bit iffy as GPS watches struggle on twisty cross country courses, were:
0–1: 6'47
1–2: 7'01
2–3: 7'24
3–4: 7'13
4–5: 7'29
5–6: 7'21
6–7: 6'49
7–7.2*: 3'51
- The course was actually 7.3 miles, but my watch measured it a bit short, so the above splits are more a guide than a precise indication. My watch thinks I ran the race at an average pace of 7'10/mile, whereas it was really 6'54/mile. This isn’t a massive amount, but it would make a lot of difference over a marathon!
Also, my (approximate) times over the three big laps (about 1.9 miles) were 14'24, 14'51, and 14'49. You can clearly see that I struggled on the second lap — probably because I started too quick — but even though the third lap was the second fastest, it was easily the hardest as I was knackered by that point.
In all, though the result was a bit rubbish, I’m pleased I ran this. My knee (injured when I fell in the Abominable Snowman race) was mostly cooperative, and it was good to get a hard run in.
I’ve now moved on to the next phase of the training plan, focused on improving my aerobic and lactate threshold. I’ll write more on this soon, but for now I’ll just say that I’m splitting this into two parts (roughly speaking: 10k focused for the first half, then onto half marathon focused).
My next race is the Chichester Priory 10k at Goodwood. I’m intending to run this as fast as I can, rather than incorporate it into a marathon training session. The reasons being that a) a full-effort 10k is possibly the best threshold session you can get, and b) I want to test my fitness to give an idea of what I might be capable of in London.
Until next time, thanks for reading.
