David Currie

The clocks change this coming weekend which signals the end of the Tuesday night runs in the New Forest. As has become traditional in recent years, the last run from Fritham was due to be run by the light of head torches. Unfortunately, unlike the previous week, the skies were clear and the moon bright. When we were out on the plain there was little need for torches at all. Still, the excellent pork pies supplied by the Royal Oak afterwards more than made up for it. Back to pounding the streets of Southampton next week.

446Over breakfast yesterday, Christine finally decided that she would run in the Hursley 10K later that day. This is a new event being held in aid of the local school, with the course taking in part of the Hursley Estate along with Ampfield Woods. There was a good atmosphere on arrival and the race had nearly hit its maximum of 400 competitors. I was originally a bit concerned about how the narrow woodland paths would cope with these numbers but there was a rather convoluted route around the field and then an estate track before the course narrowed down. This also gave Emma and myself a couple of chances to spectate before the runners disappeared in to the woods.

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434It’s that time of year again for the Test Way Relay. In the past we’ve always run legs towards the end of the Way but, for a change, Christine was running the first leg from Inkpen Hill to Linkenholt and I was taking the second leg from Linkenholt to Stoke.
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Yesterday evening we headed over to the University playing fields at Eastleigh for the running club’s time trial event. The two and a half lap course was near enough 5km (give or take 50 metres) and the time of 17:51 I clocked was pretty much what I would have expected. With a little better preparation (arriving more than five minutes before the start having not spent the afternoon sat in meetings and no long runs in the New Forest on the proceeding two days) it would be interesting to see how much faster I could go. Christine, I suspect, was just happy to make it round, with Emma staying very well behaved for the period whilst we were both out.

Wednesday saw what was probably my last RR10 of the year (we’re likely to be away for Stoke Park Woods and IBM hosts the last race of the year). It was a new course for me, out at Janesmoor Pond in the New Forest. I was warned that it was undulating and wasn’t disappointed (my watch measured over 300m of ascent in 6.8km which is positively mountainous for round here!). The course also now leaves the gravel tracks to cut through the middle of the first loop meaning there was also be some mud to be had.
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My steady rise through the results of the RR10s came to a screeching halt at Manor Farm Country Park this evening with a 14th place. By rights it should have been just my sort of race with lots of mud and a couple of good steady inclines. I could put my result down to the fact that the supporters club decided to stay at home this evening however, as I postulated previously that it was actually less training that was leading to my improvement, conversely, going to the gym yesterday morning and then running around before, during and after the orienteering yesterday, probably wasn’t ideal preparation for tonight. Now have to save myself for the rest of the week in preparation for the Dorset Coast Path Relay on Saturday.