January 2015.. New Year, fresh start

Nothing better to kick off a new year than with a tough and cold 10km in Wymondham. The race was one I’ve done before and really enjoyed so I couldn’t wait to do it again. The course was just one big loop, which I find much more interesting and enjoyable, and it was quite flat, although some parts were on the road between open fields and the wind was immense. My brother was just coming back from injury and still wasn’t 100% so he took it “easy” and ran with me whilst I was giving it my all, although he was kind enough to be my wind block for some of it. I had been ill the previous week and thought I had recovered, but my body was still not fully ready to race and I could feel this after the 3^rd mile. I was struggling but the aim was just to finish and get a solid training run in. I was just over a minute off my time from last year, which was slightly disappointing, but you can’t have a good run every time and it’s something that’s going to happen, so you just have to move on and look to the next race.

On January the 17^th I was happily invited along to the Norwich v Cardiff game by my sponsors, Copy IT. We had a lovely 3 course meal before hand and had comfy seats inside to watch the game, away from the cold. It was such a lovely experience and it was topped off by a Norwich win!! C’mon you Yellows!

Me running at Brighton

The following weekend I had the South of England intercounties cross country. I was really excited the previous week as I had been to Brighton before and really enjoyed the course. The journey to Brighton was long and boring, especially not having my brother there in the back of the car with me now he’s at university. I didn’t have the best of races, but it did make me realise a change was needed. I talked to another coach from CONAC and they have a group which specialise in 5km road running, which sounded perfect for me. My new coach Jane Clarke is really great and really committed to her running as well as mine; this could be because she has represented GBR before. I’m really looking forward to what to future has to hold.

The following Wednesday I had Norfolk schools cross country championships. I was quite nervous for this as I really didn’t know what to expect. After a few minutes into the race I felt quite relaxed and comfortable. There was a group of 3 of us running together and I made sure I took advantage of this when running into the wind. After 2 laps of the 3, only 2 of us were left at the front. It came down to the last 300m but I managed to just push that little bit more and get the win. I was really pleased with this result after being a bit put down the past weekend.

After this race it was really great to go and see Carl Goose for a great massage to get rid of all the aches and pains from the hard week just been. Thanks Carl.