Polaroid Vale of Leven 10K, 3.9 miles recovery

I felt quite lethargic before the race, and got off to quite a poor start, being a few seconds down on the planned 3:30 even at the first kilometre marker. On the hill through Balloch Country Park I made up a few places but lost them all again on the downhill stretch. For the next few kilometres I was in second place for Garscube and dropping back very slightly. It also looked certain that I was going to be outside 36 minutes. Between 7K and 8K I suddenly felt not too bad and managed to put in a bit of a kick, moving into first for Garscube and picking up a few more places. Most of the people around me had been there in previous races, so it looked like everybody else was affected by the humid conditions. I finished in a chip time of 36:03 which would have seemed unreasonably optimistic at the halfway stage. This was by far my poorest performance in the series but was nonetheless good enough for an individual prize for 13th senior man (22nd overall). No team prize for Garscube, as faster runners from other clubs had turned up on account of the race being the Scottish championship, but we should get third place in the series overall. It looks like I will also receive an individual series prize, as not many people ran all four races. I also pick up one point in the Grand Prix.

In the afternoon I was able to go out for a few recovery miles, wearing my heaviest shoes to give the calves a bit of a workout. The route was via Cleveden Drive and Napiershall Street, measured this time at 3.86 miles which might be slightly long. Weekly total: 28 miles.