A little over a week ago now, I was on a 100km long ride, finding out near the end that I had got a start for the Friday Night Under the Lights (FNUL) 5K in Battersea after being on the waiting list for a month. This race was just the following day, but with my last 5k 4 years prior I took the spot and headed up to London for the race.
With some heavy days training in my legs from a double efforts day with V02 work on the Wednesday followed by 95k on the bike on Thursday, it definitely tested by ability to adapt both physically and mentally, but doing that well in preparation.
After a good warm up and scouting out a lap of the loop, and drills and strides finished I lined up in the B race, with elite men/A race starting a minute and a half ahead. I got away well and found a rhythm for the first lap of 2, then started to feel it come 3k, with the next km being the hardest, as well as my slowest, but still a 2.58 kilometre, so not bad. I picked it up for my fastest km saving the best for last to take a new PB in 14.48 – a long overdue effort at this distance.
With some big days before and a great run nonetheless I’m really happy with the shape heading into my season. Unfortunately I missed the UK Inter Counties XC as I had no vehicle to get me up there and had difficulties affording a hotel anyway, and won’t be racing English Schools either, so gutted to have ran no National XCs this season, and get the chance to show my form, but I’m geared towards my first triathlon of the season, racing the European Junior Cup in Quarteira at the end of this month, so I’m looking forward to that and am getting ready well.
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