Raced in the Stretton Skyline Fell Race last sunday... a 19mile loop of the Skyline surrounding Church Stretton in the Long Mynd in Shropshire.. one of my main target races for the year.... the target being to go sub 3-hrs for the first time ever...
Despite coming 8th overall and 1st v40, i missed out on the 3hrs by a mere 45 seconds.... coming off the last summit i had 16mins to get down, along the valley, and into the park where the race finished... on fresh legs this would be very comfortable.... but after nearly 3hrs running i just couldn't push any harder, and the 3hrs ticked by as i was running down the alley into the park.
But no time to dwell.... back into Godiva training this week, with a 4 mile cross-country effort on thursday night, at around 6:30/mile pace.
The main struggle this year is when you target the fell champs, the races come thick and fast, and such a great variation... the races have varied between less than 5 miles, up to 23 miles, with just about everything in between.
Next year i may look to target a smaller number of races and try to put in big performances in them... perhaps Yorkshire 3 Peaks April, Snowdon International July, and perhaps an autumn road marathon (Frankfurt?)