Like any major championship race, I prepared meticulously for this event to ensure that when I got to the start line my legs would be primed for the 10k run consisting of 4 pretty muddy laps - at some points resulting in feet being completely submerged in the goo. To get myself ready for this, I set out at 8 in the morning for a 4 hour bike ride round the Surrey country lanes taking in a number of the big hills down that way. Although the ride was not too bad, I road the hills quite hard to get some climbing in the legs. After I left the bunch of people that I ride with, I had to push it a fair bit to get back home to have enough time to change the spikes on my XC shoes and to also get to the race.
I finally made it to the start line with about ten minutes to spare and subsequently set out on what can only be described as one of the hardest 10k races I have ever done. As with all XC events, I went out really hard and then paid the price for what seemed an eternity. Still, I managed to get round in 42 minutes which, come to think about it, was about the sort of times I was doing for 10k's about one year ago and here I was with 110k's in the legs and having run on a course which seemed to be a constant uphill with one short sharp fast descent. We all hit the pub after the run and the 6 pints definitely helped ease the pain. Thankfully I also met a chap who lives in Bristol so I am trying to get him to do the Bristol Half Marathon route with me over the Christmas holiday...I have a score to settle with that course. He's a bit faster than me, so we should be able to pace it round in a 1:23-24 I think.
Anyway, the XC was obviously not going to be the end of the weekend. A couple of mates had arranged to do a long run along the Thames in the morning and the more I thought about it on Saturday night, the more I was leaning towards having a run with them as well. A cold Sunday morning came round and there I was, ready for the long run. In the end I somehow managed to run a 1:28 half marathon along the Thames and then, still not satisfied I had done enough, I did the swim session with Wandsworth - albeit the cramp started to set in towards the end and I had to get out.
At the end of all that, I think it was quite simply the hardest weekend that I have ever had in terms of training. Still, I can feel that my endurance levels are going up all the time which should stand me in god stead for next season where it was definitely a factor which let me down towards the end of races. Then again, I think my total count for long rides before last year's race season was about 2.
