Twilight 5k, some history made and a good start to a big weekend!

race results

Humidity wasn't as bad as expected but it was hot! The sun was bouncing off the buildings and the wind was whipping around.

This was the third race in the Grand Prix series. I missed the first race and came 4th at the second race. No Bob or Tim in the race so it was going to be a head to head between me and Chris. I took it out pretty slowly but was still shocked to see 5.20 on the clock at the mile mark- at that point i was wondering whether i would break 17!

As soon as we turned off Tryon out of the wind we picked it up. Chris took over and for the next mile (5.06) I was basically just hanging on to his coat tails trying to conserve some energy for the last section which is brutal! As I hoped I took over again on the long hill but when it flattened out Chris took back over.

It was one of those races where you really couldn't tell how it was going to go. I was hurting bad at this point but knew Chris must have been too so I just hung on in there. With about 400 to go by the Panthers stadium there was another hill and this is where I made my move. I could tell I had gapped him and now it was just a case of holding on. As I turned into the straight I still didn't know whether I was going to hold him off or not. I dared not turn round and couldn't hear a thing as there was a load of construction going on. I'd lost all efficiency now and basically just forced my angry body over the finishing line for the victory.

I was disappointed with the time but consoled myself with the fact that I had ground out the win, the conditions were pretty harsh and I've been in heavy training the last couple of weeks. No race now for a month! Oh and a bit of history as this was my first ever victory in a GP race. Thanks for not racing Tim and Bob!

As I logged my miles in my spreadsheet I realised another bit of history too. I had run 66.7 miles this week (my weeks go from Saturday to Friday) which is my biggest ever mileage week and included a day off too!

Next week will be a cutback week definitely! My heel actually feels a little sore at the moment. I saw my physio after the race which was a tad embarrassing. At our appointment the other day I had neglected to say that I would be racing tonight. So much for nipping the problem in the bud! No, I took a calculated risk racing tonight. I knew this would be it for a while and that next week will be nice and chill. And the heel is nowhere near like it was last year when I was able to cope with it anyway.

So a good start to the weekend. Just need Man U to follow up with the Championship on Sunday now. My nerves will be fraught!