The title for this post basically says it all for this weekend. I ran a 5 mile personal best and ended up with a bad back. I have said that I have felt in good shape and that I am coming back. That seems to be true after smashing my target time at the Mid Kent 5 Mile by over a minute.
We heard about the Mid Kent 5 Mile race when we returned to our car after Harvel 5 and saw leaflet under the car wiper blades. Both the Mid Kent 5 Mile & Weald 10k appealed. As you know I was gutted to have ran badly at Harvel. I was so close to my time from last year I decided 36 minutes would be a good target. This would also be a 2 minute Personal Best.
We had an early start to get to Staplehurst cricket club for the 9am start. We had been told the route is fast and flat so I had my target time in my sights. Because of this I decided to run without my watch and just run to feel. (for the record I did glance at my watch). I was running at a comfortably hard pace and shockingly even saw the lead bike for at least the first minute. As the field spread out I was by my self plodding along the wet road. I always find it harder to run alone my competitive edge needs someone beside me to race. luckily I started catching the group in front.
My Little Running Pack
I gradually passed the group and ended up with a man and a woman who decided to stick with me. In our little group of 3 I could feel our pace becoming quicker as both me and the man kept putting in little bursts to lose each other. I knew I had the advantage as when I put in a bust I lost him until I eased off the pace the woman didn’t want to play our games. The woman quietly stayed right behind up probably using us as a rain shield, as the rain was really chucking it down now. It was nice to know I was running well and not slowing down. I then saw my opportunity. I could see a little hill I know I’m good at keeping my pace going up hills. My aim was to try and go faster up hill and lose the group it worked I was at the top of the hill. I couldn’t hear the sound of wet shoes hitting tarmac. Luckily the up hill was quickly followed by a down hill so I opened my stride and and managed to over take some other runners.
The Final Push
I just kept running and before I knew it I was at the 4 Mile mark. I knew now I had to push it to the finish. As I re-entered the cricket club I had my customary sprint finish over the finish line. When I checked my watch I saw my time. I was over the moon when I saw my watch said 34:53. A new personal best for me. Not only did I break the 36 min barrier I also broke 35 minutes.
I would recommend this race to anyone the route is fast and you can get so much out of the down hills. The race was also well organised and well marshalled.
P.S:
I thought this race symbolized my comeback. Unfortunately after this race I seemed to have pulled my back. This caused me to miss out on running for 3 weeks as the pain came back every time I tried to run.