Loughborough Intenational 3k

am: Very easy 25 mins shakeout
pm: Loughborough International 300m - 8.43
7mi
WEEK: 60mi - A bit of a lower-mileage week which I think I perhaps needed as I've been struggling for quality of late. Good session on Tuesday and then a steady week should set me up for a good 5k debut as I think all my fitness is still trapped in aerobic conditioning - NOTE: must go off slower next race!

I had a good night's sleep in Singhy's bed last night surrounded by Burnley FC memorabilia. I went downstairs to discover Peersy and Lewis watching some retro Gladiators. Rhino was particularly impressive and the travelator looked much easier than I remember. We the went for an easy easy morning shakeout and it was stiflingly hot, quite ridiculous. I didn’t feel too great this morning and was a little out of breath at points but I think a lot of that was to do with how hot and humid it was. We did very little all day, conserving as much energy as possible and staying out of the baking sun. We watched The Hangover, a lot of SSN and had a nice chat with Lew's parents and grandparents who arrived early afternoon. Bowser popped in a couple of times to say hello; I think he was just driving around Loughborough all day to waste time. We walked down to the track about 4pm and I was sweating almost straight away. I was given an informal 'history of Loughborough' by Adam Peers and was suitably impressed. I got my number and went to meet my Mum & Dad who were sat with the Brum mob. I caught up with a few of the guys, watched the 1500 and went to get ready. It was so hot that all I did was a very slow 10 mins jog and a couple of drills before dousing myself in water to keep cool - it was pushing 30°c track side. I was pretty nervous today but I didn’t let it get the better of me. My mind was doing its best to try and talk me out of it, even on the start line a little voice in my head was saying ‘it’s not too late to pull out now, what are you doing in this race – they’re all too good for you.’ I fought it off by telling myself I wanted to be in this race, this is what we train for. The gun went and I was fine. If anything, I may have been a little too pepped up as I ended up going out too fast although I had done everything to remain chilled out pre-race. I went through 1k in roughly 2.43/2.44 which was too fast, but the main mistake was the way I ran this first kilometre. I felt fantastic on the first lap with a lot of bounce but by 600 the race was starting to split up into its relevant groups. I found myself naturally picking it up to close the gap and heard Phil shout ‘it’s too fast, stop moving through.’ I tried to ease back a bit but as soon as I did I felt much worse. By about 1250m I was on my own in a big gap and it was an uphill struggle from there. Up until that point I’d been sheltered from the wind and now I was taking all of it. I managed to stay relaxed and try and get into a rhythm to slowly close the gap to Craig Hopkins up in front. I slowly reeled him in but he re-overtook me with about 60m left. I went to pieces in the final 600 and dread to think what I ran the last lap in. I didn’t kick really in the last 200, I just ran to the finish which isn’t ever acceptable as when you’ve run 90 odd % of the race it is a crime not to finish it off regardless of how it has gone (22nd out of 23 is obviously not the aim). I was sick a few times afterwards and had a bad head but managed to squeeze in a very slow 10 minute mile to warm down. I did another 1mi jog when we got home as I stiffened up in the car; especially my right groin and my calves. I felt much better for jogging. I had some dinner and watched 2 episodes of 24 before going to bed. I had a huge blood blister that I had to clean up in the shower as I didn't want to stain my sheets (with blood from my toe before anyone tries to twist my words) overnight. I got into bed a lot more dissatisfied with today than I had been earlier. It certainly didn’t go entirely to plan but I have to be richer for the experience and although in hindsight I probably could have run much quicker had I gone off a couple of seconds slower per lap early on, I don’t necessarily regret having a bit of a go for the opening 3 laps; doing it in 30°c with a bit of wind probably wasn’t the best tactic though.