2012 has kicked off with a busy January, racing every weekend. Racing so frequently is not some I generally plan to do, but due to the nature of the races and the shape I’m currently in, I’ve been happy with the busy schedule.
The Hampshire County Champs returned to the New Forest after a 2 year absence and, with former champions John Beattie and Lee Merrien lining up, it was going to be strong at the front. The course was 3 laps, measuring 12k in total, and took on all sorts of different terrains and undulations: a good cross-country course. Feeling good at the start, I settled into about 10th before working my way through the pack in to 3rd place by the time we reached the end of the 1st lap.
Throughout the 2nd lap, I was isolated with 1&2 a fair distance ahead. I did my best not to loose any ground on John and Lee, and continued to push the pace, convinced that 4th was still chasing close behind.
I lost my focus slightly towards the end of the race and the gap between myself and 1&2 widened significantly. Maintaining my focus during competition is still something I need to work on, and is another component of racing altogether. Bronze in the Hampshire Championships is my best ever position, and being beaten by two Commonwealth Games athletes I feel is no disgrace! WADAC took 2nd in the team competition missing out to Team Southampton by just 1 point.
No comments:
Post a Comment