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| Four of course :) |
Stage 4 - Hale Village 5 mile road race Thursday 10th July 2014.
So tonight's run was to be over at Hale Village near Halewood and Liverpool John Lennon Airport, and thankfully tonight's run was the shortest one of the Tour with it being only 5 miles compared to the rest.
Normally the thought of the shortest run would fill most people with joy but I think I was not alone in thinking that this would be one of the hardest as we knew almost everyone would go out as fast as they could with it being shorter and it would have to be run at our highest pace available for 5 miles.
It was also a hot day and night and hydration prior and during the event and race would be vital so I took on plenty of water during the day and pre race.
As ever my main concern for the evening was my fellow competitor and female running nemesis Sarah who was gunning for a win tonight, and to be honest I was a little worried as I knew she had done a fair few 4 mile training runs and I knew her pace was admirable. I also knew she was going for it tonight pace wise so would be pushing me and not allowing me to run a more comfortable pace to the last half mile and then sprint like I had done on other occasions.
Transport for the night was provided by the ever reliable Mr M and a comfortable and efficient trip got us there easily on time and straight into the car park at the pub next to the start/finish area.
The usual hello's and welcome's were given as we were all happy to see good friends again and the chance to take a few pictures as per usual and also a chance to see what the game plan was for other runners.
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| Catherine and Sarah. |
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| Sarah, Stan the Man and Catherine :) |
My main concern as said before was Sarah as she had been psyching me out throughout the day and it continued with the butter wouldn't melt smiles and questions of whether I was nervous or not lol.
It was now becoming apparent that it really was warm and it was time to put a hat on to keep the sun off my head, some chose the shade of the Btr tent. Sarah and Catherine went for this option and Sarah jokingly suggested I stayed out in the sun :)
Toilets for the evening were in the pub so it was a quick visit up some steep steps to the loo's and we were all good to go and feeling comfortable, apart from a niggle in my left calf which felt like I had been jabbed with a blunt instrument so I was wearing calf sleeves to help alleviate any issue.
It was now time to line up for the start and the usual notification of the race leaders positions, which tonight were the same as the prior stage result.We also had the honor of the Mayor of Hale to make a quick speech and then to count us down for the off at the usual 7pm.....
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| Official starter the Mayor of Hale :) |
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| The legend that is Danny aka Mr Fist Pump :) |
So off we went through some of the residential roads of Hale Village and avoiding speed bumps etc as we went and tried to settle into a decent pace.As expected most of the plans went out the window and most seemed to go hare arsing of down the road, and the foolish amongst us followed ( me ).
I spotted Sarah prior to the mile 1 marker and managed to at least subtly pass and ran a little ahead as the pace at the time was quicker than we really should of been running.
I then caught up with Mike and ran with him for a little and his first question was "where is your competition?" as I indicated that Sarah was infact right behind me.
It's good that me and Sarah have been able to have this little battle between us as it has driven us on and improved both our performances as it has not let either of us sit back and run comfortably through the Tour itself, and It's been great with all the friendly banter between us all about the battle and being able to write about it in the blog. Also being asked who won after races is great in itself as usually after races I tend to struggle to stay involved in after run banter and the little groups of friends that gather, especially with me not being in a running club, so I am truly thankful to people who make an effort to include me.
Anyway back to the run....I was still running with Mike, and Sarah was just behind as we passed mile 1 and Mike exclaimed that "this is suicide pace!" and he was right we had just hit a 7:10 min mile and mostly I'd planned 7:30 avg so I was trying to slow a little but with Sarah right behind it was hard.
Next I saw David Marsh ( Mr M) and again first question was "where is Sarah?" and again I answered "right behind me" with a smile and possibly a slight hint of panic and nervousness as I was truly feeling the pace at such an early stage.
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| The Determinator. |
I pushed on and pretty much followed the pace of the person infront of me as you do and if they slowed I went past, but mainly they maintained pace.At one point I'd been running alongside one guy (Tom Forshaw) at mile 2-3 and he asked whether I was running at his pace or was he running at mine? he was right, it is hard to work out whose racing or running with who especially if you are pretty much running at your limit or threshold at least.
I was by now having all kind of issues with stitches appearing due to the increased pace I suspect and I had to change breathing patterns several times and also try belly breathing and indeed deep breaths in and quick outs, it seemed to help but I was also undecided to drink sips of my drink or not because sometimes that can effect my stitches.
The stitch eased a little and at mile 3-4 Sarah appeared on my shoulder and not so subtly passed me ( panic face) I now had to stay behind her to ensure she didn't get away but I was already struggling. A water stop approached and either before or during the water stop I must of edged ahead as I don't usually have to slow or stop at water stations as I carry my own handheld bottle.
It was now a case of trying to hang on and stay ahead and luckily for me a female runner was just running ahead of me and a little faster so I tried to maintain her pace so as to stay ahead. Funnily enough it was Sarah chasing this same lady that got her right back up and level with me in the first place.
We came into the turn from the main road and it was mainly a long slow and gradual downhill approaching mile 4 and as this was the road route into the village itself I and pretty much everyone else was familiar with the route and elevation etc from that point to the finish, so this was a bonus but still I was hanging on for dear life and dreading Sarah running past again, I couldn't even bring myself to look over my shoulder at this point.
The village approached and the pace quickened a little as the lady in front was still giving it some pace wise and was slowly overtaking a few others, and then all of a sudden the stitch made an unwelcome return and I felt like I'd just been stabbed in my gut and now panic stations were setting in as I thought I'd slow and might have to actually stop if it got worse and what if Sarah caught up? could I still sprint to the finish to out run her? I miraculously seemed to still be running at the same speed and the people in front didn't seem to be getting any further away and people were not passing me, so I was determined to suck it up and suffer the pain and hope to hang on for the remaining third of a mile or so.
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| A welcome downhill approach to the village. |
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| On the chase... |
Thankfully after a quick glance over my shoulder on first look I couldn't see the florescent yellow top that Sarah was wearing so I managed to push on to the finish, and after another quick look over my shoulder as I could hear people cheering those behind me I could see (panic over) it wasn't Sarah, so I managed to cross the line first but in a hell of a lot of pain.
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| look better than I felt lol. |
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| Closely followed by Sarah, is she texting? lol |
Sarah was infact only two places behind me and came in a mere 17 seconds behind me which was amazing as I had pushed as much as I possibly could within my limits and had run my a**e off to beat her, so massive respect to her.And It was good to see Sarah stayed ahead of her nearest rival on the Tour and has remained a top 10 lady :)
It was customary handshake time and well done time between Sarah and myself as we both tried to recover on the floor for a bit, and then it was stand up and watch the others come in one by one. As ever Catherine came in all smiles and it was time for quick pics with friendly rivals and friends and the usual group shots etc many of them courtesy of our now unofficial tour photographer Sophia who was making the most of being out injured and taking much valued pictures and offering support.( Thank you Sophia x).
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| Catherine finishing :) |
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| Sarah still smiling :) |
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| The usual finish regroup shot :) |
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| A few tired looking finishers. |
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| and more.. |
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| Well done all from the mayor. |
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| True tour hero's. |
Refreshment time as always at the Btr tent with the usual fruit, water, Lucozade and chocolate snacks, a much more sensible choice than the alcohol being served at the bar in the pub, and as recovery needed to be priority it was the sensible choice for me.
More pics and various antics for the camera's including picture with the Mayor for many...
And of course the usual group shots of good friends.......
Obviously the vital stretches are required at the end of our runs and Dolly pip as ever volunteered to show the girls some.
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| Catherine, Dolly Pip and Sarah :) |
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| Obviously while they did that us blokes just watched :) |
Oh and another major turnaround, Adele managed to run pretty much pain free and loved the run :) xx
So it was sadly time to go home and it was hugs all round and the usual see you tomorrow's and it was back in the car courtesy of Mr M again and a comfortable journey home to sunny Southport and the welcome thought of getting a refreshing shower and putting the good old compression tights on for recovery ready for the next days run.
I was also looking forward to logging into Facebook etc and seeing all the pictures and comments about the nights events seeing how good a time we had all had, and making mental notes for the blog writing the next day:)
Oh and of course in the Les v Sarah battle: It's officially 2-0 as we are calling Southport and Walton a draw :)
See you at Stadt Moers Park everyone for stage 5 :)
My results for stage 4 : 37 min 58 secs chip time, 38 mins 05 secs gun time
Stage position : 64 (male), 73 (mixed).
Overall tour position : 45 (male), 54 (mixed).
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