With Dave out with some kind of flu like symptoms I half expected him to come sneezing past at mile one but he had learnt his lesson in Bedford last December, so skipped the run.
Paul and Kenny though both looked like they meant business. Kenny had disappeared off to check out the end of the route and Paul was mocking my lack of warm up. Well he had a point. A few strides confirmed that I was still technically injured.
We decided 1 min was not enough handicap for Paul v Kenny and after much discussion we gave Kenny 1min 50seconds start.
The route was the traditional Weathampstead with the extension at the end to make it just over 5miles (rather than just under). On the lower lea valley walk there was a tree down at the golf course and it had been cleared to the side, but as Paul went over it I did too. Unfortunately, my stature is such that it is not quite so easy for me to squeeze through such small gaps. Once over the tree in a most inelegant manner, I lost my stride and could feel Tibialis Posterier tugging away at the shin and decided not to keep up with Paul. 6:44 for the first mile.
At the top of the hill I caught a glimpse of Kenny and Paul strung out in front of me. Normally, this would inspire me to try and pull them back, but all I could do was watch the gap grow and imagine the battle up front. Having decided there was no hope of catching them I struggled mentally to hold the pace. I dropped off the pace on the hill to around 8min miles. I forced my self to get faster through the town and as I felt the slowness I tried to speed up and make the perceived effort harder. Absolute performance was up to 7:30s and heading in the right direction (ie each mile was a bit faster than the previous one), but never threatened to catch them.
Finished in 37:52 way behind Paul's 36:15 but the big story is Kenny who closed a 38:05 - he'll be giving me a start soon. Ho hum.
Today's excuses involve injury, tiredness (wedding until past midnight and too much champers), so a mild hangover too boot!
Looking forward to some Physio at Batford tomorrow to set me up for Thursday's Assembly League.
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