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Loughborough: 1 Imogen: 0 Yesterday was the UK inter-county British Cross Challenge in Loughborough. I had been looking forward to this race all season until I became injured. A few days ago I put a poll on my story about whether you would be more interested reading a race recap or a week in training leading up to the race. I am going to do a brief week in training (starting mid-week) with a race recap after. Wednesday: 30minute spin class followed by 30minutes of strength training and stretching. I did this with Alice and if you have never done one I would highly recommend; it was my first time and I loved it!
Thursday: 5mile cycle to school Free period--> 1.8mile cycle to grass mounds, 2.8 miles of hill reps and fast(ish) circuit laps, 1.8mile cycle back to school. (The physio said that if I wanted to run at Loughborough I had to try a fast run on grass.) 5mile cycle home after school Friday: 1.7km swim + 10minutes of aqua jogging Saturday: Race day Sunday: 20km ride on the Wattbike, 2km row, 2km swim + 10minute aqua jogging --> trying to make up for SLR which I haven't been able to do for 7 weeks. Race recap! My mum and I drove up to Loughborough on Friday evening and stayed in a hotel overnight as it is a 3.5hour journey which actually took us 4hours and if we were to leave in the morning it would have been a rush to get to my race with enough time to warm up etc. We booked the hotel very last minute so it was pretty cheap. Saturday morning... I woke up quite early and we headed down for breakfast. One of the best parts of staying in a hotel is the breakfast buffets ahha. After breakfast I stretched and iced my leg before we left to watch the first races. I like getting to races early so I am not panicking and can actually do a course walk. My golly it was muddy, after a course walk my mum and I were covered in mud; it was by far the muddiest XC I have ever done but unfortunately it was the worst. The race... I was beyond nervous for this race and didn't have the most positive mindset, I had no idea if I would have to drop out or not. The gun went and I managed to get a good start with a good pace (normal XC pace) which I kept up for the first mile. Then something happened and my pace dramatically decreased, I got pins and needles in my hands and feet and just felt extremely weird. I kept running but my feet and legs were in a lot of pain. 1) because of the new insoles in my spikes which were pushing my arches up so much 2) I haven't run for a while so my muscles weren't used to climbing hills (even after my mini training session on Thursday where the hills really weren't that steep) 0.7miles until the finish line, I really thought I was going to have to drop out, I had nothing in me to go any more, I was not enjoying myself and I am ashamed to say that I was crying most of the race; this is extremely rare for me because usually I love XC. After 3.4 miles of awful running I finally finished, I felt so shaky at the finish line and found it super hard to stand. I assumed it was because I was dehydrated because I definitely didn't have low blood sugar after my huge breakfast. At the end of the race, the Sussex team manager gave me a hug and said that I did really well and it is excellent I had got to this level. He also said "so what if you had a bad race, you did the best you could after injury and there is lots ahead for you". Some of the parents from the Sussex squad also congratulated/comforted me which made me feel better. We watched the start of the U13 girls race and U17 boys race before we left to go home. Fun fact: as we were walking back to the car, I tripped on the electric fence of the sheep field and gave myself a minor electric shock, both my mum and I just laughed as I wasn't exactly looking where I was going. The race didn't boost my self-confidence and I found it hard to accept this bad race but I am feeling better now after really thinking over it. I still came 90th out of 278 which I know is not bad but I feel I could have placed higher if I had had a better lead up to the race. As Ellie (@energisedellie) said to me I have just come off the back of an injury so I did the best I could considering. Although this was a bad race, it did motivate me! I am going to try my best to be in the best shape possible for English Schools, I know I only have one week but there is no harm in trying. There are some race photos of me but I really hate them- I look a mess and don't particularly want everyone seeing them. I can't wait to get back to running and back in shape.
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RACE RECAPS TRAINING BESIDES RUNNING SELF CARE BACK TO SCHOOL OVERTRAINING THINGS I AM LOVING LATELY TRIATHLON NEW YEAR Month/year
August 2023
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