This past weekend saw the Southern XC Championships take place at Stanmer Park, Brighton. By all accounts the course was going to be firm (good) but very hilly (not so good). I was pretty unsure how I would run going into the race. My best placing is 20th way back in 1999 and 2000 (same year I won the County XC). I was 40th last year at Parliament Hill.
Over the years I've managed to keep my longer road times fairly close to what I was capable of 10 years ago, but my cross country running has declined quite a bit - and I was never brilliant at it anyway.
We got down to Brighton and immediately thought it was a brilliant venue. Bedford had managed to get a decent team together to defend the team title. I scored 6th last year for the team. I was fairly confident I could squeeze into the scoring six again but would have to run well.
Reports were coming back to us that the course featured a huge hill and a second one, just as steep but shorter. I was ready for whatever was to come. We'd be hitting each hill three times over three laps as the Southern Championships is over 15km rather than the normal 12km.
We got ourselves sorted out and the team of Neilson Hall (last year's winner), Darren Deed, Steve Naylor (new signing), Will McKay, Matt Janes (recently injured) and Huw Lobb lined up for the gun. I'd made a promise to go off conservatively and work through the field. It worked a treat last year.
We were sent on our way and the field just closed up around me as it always seems to in the Championship XC races. I don't go off too confidently in the early stages, no idea why that is.
We were getting strung out after the first small loop before heading out and starting a climb towards the woods. I was alongside my mate Richard Scott of Highgate who I ran the entire London Marathon with. Richard would be the first to admit Cross Country isn't the strongest for him either, we acknowledged each other. I was feeling ok here, running sensibly in the 50's. Up ahead I could see some familiar backs and heads as we went into the woods and the hill kicked up ahead. It was massive.
It was one of those hills where you get to the top but feel you're still climbing for 200 yards afterwards as the legs get over the ascent. I'd say the entire climb bottom to top was 800 metres. It was just a long way up.
I'd dropped a lot of places going up here as we swung round and started to head down. The surface was very firm and I maintained my position alongside Richard for a while. The course was a mixture of flat and downhill before we hit the second hill. This was equally as hard but not so long and again I fell back through the field, feeling pretty helpless on the climb and not really pulling back on the downhill and flat sections. If I lost five positions going up, I picked up three going down or on the flat.
The first lap was over but it felt like we'd been running for ages already. The second lap saw me drop back some more places, but I was late 50's here and I'd have taken that as a finishing position - I'm just not running that well right now with a lack of recent background evident.
By the end of lap two Richard was putting some daylight between us and I was trying to figure out how I was going to conquer these climbs one last time. It was brutal when going up and my quads were burning and making me feel totally unprepared and woefully short of fitness. My plan of going through the field later in the race was starting to look like a hugely optimistic one at best.
We hit the bigger hill one last time and I was starting to get passed by groups of blokes, not just one or two. Richard went from 20 yards ahead to 80 yards in very little time.
At the top of the bigger climb I literally stumbled up it and got a cramping sensation across by body at the top that would last to the end of the race. I was trying to run free on the down and flat, but was being passed fairly constantly at this point, Will Cockerell of Belgrave being among them.
I got up the final hill ok and started to rally a bit now these were out of the way, the body cramp wasn't so bad and rather than being passed I was holding my position, but there was hardly any distance left to run. The downhill into the finish was a relief and I crossed the line having dropped at least 10 positions on that last lap.
I was 72nd, which is just bloody disappointing. I'm feeling a bit fed up right now as I haven't had a remotely decent run for months and months. I've stuck a good month of training in the bank and expected better than 72nd in the Southern.
I caught up with the guys afterwards. Richard had been 56th, so on that last lap he'd picked off 16 positions. Whilst I tried to execute my plan with zero success he'd been strong through the final stages.
I did a warm down with the lads. I'd been 7th scorer and we'd ended up second team to Highgate, so I didn't get a silver medal for the effort to put with the gold and bronze team medals from previous years.
I was keen to press on and get the train home. I got back to the station through the throngs of Geordie 'toon fans in town for the FA Cup 4th round against Brighton. I picked up a four pack of lager at Brighton station and kicked back on the train listening to some Northern Soul on the headphones. The lager started to ease the legs and I tried to be positive but wasn't really feeling it. It was a good train ride home though, and the ice cold suds worked a treat.
I did 20 miles this morning to round off an 80 mile week and my quads were like bricks. At least I got out and did a run I suppose, feeling quite fed up.
Cross country running is just nothing like the road, and I am a road runner. In a rhythm on the road I can rattle off consistent miles, but the country is all about broken rhythm and varying terrain and I find it difficult to get into a groove and I just find the entire race shows no mercy or respite at any stage.
I've got three weeks until my next race and I'm going to stick some good training in and see how that goes. If I make some good progress then the Rotterdam Marathon becomes my primary goal again as I'll start to believe I'll get to the start line there in decent shape.
Must keep positive.