Frostbite - Race 2 - Bushfields

I awoke in the night to the sound of wind howling outside but luckily by the time I got up it had calmed down. In fact, the sun was out although there were one or two dark clouds hovering.

I made my way up to the club and reported for car-parking duties. I could see there was going to be trouble when I spotted the sign for the Christmas Festival alongside our directions for car-parking! Luckily not everyone was fooled and we didn't have to re-direct too many shoppers!

On to the race itself. We had 415 runners turn up which was brilliant. Suzanne and I stood together and the plan was that we would run together but each of us would go on if we felt the other fall back. Our aim was sub-42 mins. We set off at a pace just a little bit faster than I would have liked. It's so hard not to get caught up with the pack and I decided to pull back ever so slightly until I got into my rhythm. After a half mile or so, I felt a bit more comfortable and pushed forward a little bit. I could feel Suzanne dropping back but thought she might catch me later.

As the route was all around where I lived, my husband was out and about on his bike, popping up all over the place ready to take photos. Unfortunately, none are fit to print - I look like a great big blob blobbing along!

By Mile 4 I was starting to fade and felt sure Suzanne would suddenly be on my back. It was enough for me to dig in and amidst the encouragement of our supporters I crossed the finishing line in 41:22 beating my previous PB by 37 seconds - thank goodness!

Mile 1 - 8:07
Mile 2 - 8:06
Mile 3 - 8:15
Mile 4 - 8:13
Mile 5 - 8:26

Distance: 5.03 miles

Time: 41:22

Ave Pace: 8.12