This is slightly later than planned but here is my recap of race 3 of the Blast Running Sundowner race and the final race of the 3 race series.
I'd been away on holiday with Mandy the week before the race, a week in the sunshine and just chilling at the beach. Perfect for me mind and body. I got 1 run in while I over over there. A nice trail run over volcanic rocks and around the coast of North Ibiza. A really enjoyable 4 mile run.
I got back on the Saturday afternoon before the race, which was on the Wednesday. I went to the gym on Tuesday evening and totally forgot I was racing on the Wednesday.
The session at the gym was a big session. Lots of leg work, lots of sprint reps on the treadmill. A great session but not so great for racing 5k the following day.
I woke up and my legs felt fine but as the day went on, DOMS started to kick in and by the time 5pm came along, I knew the race was going to be interesting.
I ran to the start line, which is about 2 miles away and my legs were like lead. I did a warm up, picked up my race number and got ready to run.
I got to the start line and stood just back from the start line, where I have the previous two races. A short wait and we were off, or at least, everyone else was! It felt like I was standing still and the entire race was passing me.
Me legs had nothing in them. All I could do was laugh to myself and try and ease the muscles in to moving.
After about 4 or 5 minutes, I was starting to catch people and pass them but the front of the race was no where to be seen. All I could do was keep on running as hard as I felt my legs would allow.
The first mile pinged up on my watch 6:52min/mi (4:16min/km) - not too bad, I thought to myself. I was now having a wee race with a couple of other runners. They would pass me, I would pass them. It was great fun and I thought my pace must be going pretty well. Mile 2 pinged up but I didn't look, I felt like there was no point, just focus on the racing.
Final mile and I just pushed everything I had in to my legs and tried to catch a couple more places, which I did but my legs were burning but my breathing actually felt ok.
I'm tempted to run this course once a month over the rest of the year, just to use it as a gauge of fitness. I've ran the course in windy conditions, wet conditions and bone dry and it's a tough course but a great event.
I ran hard and was happy with how it went. It was the slowest I've ran the course but I wasn't expecting much more with heavy legs.
Race 1 : 20:42
Race 2 : 20:17
Race 3 : 21:48
Over a minute slower from Race 1, but I reckon, with rest and some more prep, I could get sub 20 on this course and it's something to aim for. To think I've ran 18:33 on this course! Some way off that but who knows!
Hopefully this race series returns next year, it's a great event. A nice change from road racing and for me, it's nice an local.