It Can Get Better…

[co]… little by little. So cross country number 2 done and dusted last weekend.

The good news is that if you don’t get stomach cramps then any race seems better.

So off we rocked to the eastern suburbs (Howick/Pakuranga) for the second cross country race of the year. This time it was approximately 6.5 kms of fun on the grass. Not as hilly as race one, so one for the faster runners.

So us ‘masters’ women had 3 laps to count down – a lot better than 4 or 5 for the men (masters and seniors) and it is fair to say that 3 was enough!

Gun goes off, watch buttons pressed and you are off! Heart rate gets right up there pretty quick. So it was an interesting exercise in trying a race plan. Start slow – try to get faster… or perhaps start slow and try not to get slower…

So had some success at this each lap seemed fractionally faster – coming in at 28:49. At least faster than last time and felt ‘ran’ the whole way… have to say it was weird running the course around the soccer (or cricket) pitches at Lloyd Elsmore Park…. Never thought I would be doing that when I played cricket out there!

But the best lesson for me that day (courtesy of an experienced nana runner… and I say that with all respect!) was about learning to use another runner to help push yourself through, when it gets a little tough. So Molly (as I learnt post race) ran up to my shoulder at the start of lap 3… fair to say we were holding up the rear of the field at this stage… maybe 4/5ths through the field. As she came up she whispered “stay with me”. Never so powerful 3 words uttered. And so I did.. any time I looked to flag she gave an encouraging ‘come on’ etc. Now to be fair this helped her… but it really taught me how much you can use other runners and push yourself.

So as I closed in to a fellow triathlete, out for a jog, I uttered the 3 words (“stay with me”) as I went past… and so Liz did. It was interesting how her determination to hang off me pushed me and vice versa.

Fair to say it helped me through a roughish 800m, that I could then push through to get home.

So learnt some lessons. 3 laps are better than 5 and that when racing we should all ‘help’ each other, because really we are only helping ourselves.