Glasgow University 5 mile

I have rarely felt worse before a race - I wasn't unfit or ill, but my legs were still very stiff and sore since Thursday night's hard run. I thought there would be a good chance of sustaining an injury. Stretched a bit in the morning and decided late on that I would give it a go, as it didn't really matter, as races go, and I could take it easy if necessary. My main goal was to set a time I could try beat next year, preferably inside 30 minutes (all things considered).

Leg tiredness turned out not to be as much of a factor as I had thought, finished 31st in a reasonable 28:50, according to the results which had already appeared on the web by the time I thought of looking for them. For a long time I was fourth-placed Garscube Harrier with fifth seeming the most likely outcome, but I made some inroads in the last mile or so and moved into third with about 800 metres to go, shortly after I had smacked into the wait box on a pelican crossing. Didn't really notice the pain in my shoulder until I was in the car after the race - I expect to have a large bruise there very soon. Legs don't feel any worse than they did in the morning.