There was a feeling of Déjà vu about today’s Dublin cross country in Raheny. Two years ago I ran a new 5K PB in Rathfarnham and then just wasn’t at the races in the Novice.Today ended the same way.
Doing a cross country race is like a soccer player being handed a rugby ball, gone is the controlled passing and along comes a thump to the head. Whilst road and track running allows you to control your breathing and pace a cross country race just hits you hard from the start and never lets up.
I was confident of a good run going into this afternoon’s race but yet again cross country running got the better of me. I ran a couple of OK but slow Kilometers , 3.28,3.33, 3.35 but then lost the head and well over 10 positions. Despite some great support on the course i just couldn’t pick up the pace.
I’ve yet to figure out how to run a cross country race. If you take it too slow you get left behind and never catch up, but if you take it out too fast it ends in much physical pain. On the road you have the lactic and hard breathing but cross country makes every most of me ache, back, knees,shoulders. It always takes a few days to get over and sets my training back.
I recently started doing Pilates classes twice a week. The improvement to my running, motivation and stability has been huge over the past 5-6 weeks. Out the window that goes during a cross country race. Races like this leave me asking why am I wasting my time doing something so unenjoyable? It sucks the enjoyment out of running and it will take a few more time to get back on track.
