Run > Race

Got to Race HQ with only 5 minutes to change, register, wee and get to the start. No chance of a warm up, and I was thirsty as hell after driving over from Manchester. As far as race prep goes, this was my worse yet. I got off to a good start and was running about 6th up the hill to Hallington. Struggled up the big climb and lost a place, struggled even more on the downhill section, losing another 3 places. Then had a wobble - struggled to breathe properly and felt a bit faint for a few mins. Backed off and lost another place, considered stopping. Recovered OK, got a second wind and won back a position. Caught another chap on the downhill into Hubbards, passed some older chap who had given up, passed the other chap just before the bridge but he had a sprint finish in him so lost it again. Finished about 8/9th and over a minute outside my usual 27min time, but was happy with that given my current form and the poor race prep. A nice evening, sunny but cool and apart from the mid-race wobble, I enjoyed it.