Its a stinking hot day!!! The race starts at 3.30pm so I had time to full in the morning. So I helped Shane paint the side of the house and made sure I wore long pants and long sleeves to protect my self from the hot sun. I spent all day drinking carefully and making sure I ate correctly. My hip had been achy on and off but nothing to bad.
I drove out to Wakefield, picking Raylene up along the way. It was her first time on this course and she was a little nervous about the heat. It didn't take long for everyone to start arriving and even Neroli made it out. We all chatted and caught up with each other. It has been a few months since I have done any club events and lots of people were asking what I had been up too etc. I was not too worried about this one today. I had planned to just take it easy going up and then depending on how I felt then I would pick it up to push for the return 5km. I also decided to race in just a crop top and shorts.....something I NEVER do and I am very pleased I did.
We lined up and we are away. Wendy did exactly as I expected her to do and she punched out pretty quick and hot pursuit was Neroli and I just sat in behind them and was happy with the pace as I knew there was a short climbing coming and so no point in wasting all my energy in the first km. There was a small breeze (a first in all the times I have raced this) but it was still very hot and you could feel the tarmac just sapping you. It is a relatively flat course. A few undulations so you get a small down hill and then a small up hill. I carried water with me this time (1 bottle was fiz water and one just water) I drank from the station on the way out and back and sipped my fiz drink....but still only a small amount. I just cant get the hang of drinking when breathing hard. It slows me down too much.
I hit the 5km turn in 28:45 and was happy with that. My hip had been achy and was feeling weak. I picked up the pace and by 6km my hip didn't seem to aching as much (perhaps as it was now more downhill it was easier on my hip?) I kept slowly increasing my pace and carefully testing my hip. I slowed a little between 7 & 8 km as I slowed up for the drink station and there was a few more rises. I then decided I was feeling ok and decided to start pushing it from 8km. I pushed the pace up and then when I hit the 9km marker I tried to push more. I am really pleased to look at my lap splits and see that it showed my increase in speed.
Now that I am home and its been 3 hours since the race. My hip is very achy and so I am making friends with my ice pack. A rest day tomorrow and then Bex on Monday.
total time 56:43 (on my watch)
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