Running for your country is like a child being told they’re going to Disney Land. The excitement of the unknown fills you with nerves but you know all that hard-work in training has paid off and you are ready to take ride on the biggest roller coaster of your life to date.
The World Cross is the biggest event in the cross-country calendar. Nations from across the globe arrive in search for their peak performance. Every single athlete approaching these championships will have been training and racing with an aim to race at their best against the best in the world.
I have been lucky enough to have competed in these championships twice before, once as a junior in Mombassa, Kenya and last year as a Senior in Bydgoscz, Poland. But I was determined to have my best run yet at these championships on the fast, dry course in Punta Umbria.
I was selected to run for GB for my ‘track’ orientations. I prefer to run on a track where there is no MUD and shorter in distance! There was talk amongst all the team managers out there that they thought the course was going to suit me. I tried to convert this pressure into a positive and told myself that if they believe in me then I should believe in them and take confidence from their words. That I did. I finished 37th overall, 7th European and 3rd British athlete home. Considering I had pressure from back home as well as from the team managers to prove my selection, I think I did very well! I was so happy with the way I ran and even wanted the race to go on for longer than 8k! Something that you very rarely hear after the ‘toughest race on earth’.
My race pretty much went to plan, although I did start off very slowly due to a sore gluteus muscles that I had been having problems with. The race was 4 x 2km laps and for the first two laps, my right bum cheek was cramping up big time! I then realised I was last for GB which gave me a huge kick up the back side. Once I got moving I felt like a completely different athlete-and that is why I wanted the race to be longer. I was feeling great and looking back, would have loved to have made the top 30!
Next time maybe.
That is it for the cross-country season for 2010-2011. The following weeks consist of lots of training, transitioning into the track work-outs. They are tough but the feeling you get when you wake up the next morning after a great session the day before is what we runners thrive off. We know that pain is only a temporary feeling and that the feeling of success lasts so much longer.
“Everyone is an athlete. The only difference is that some of us are in training, and some are not.” - Dr George Sheehan.
I am an athlete in training.
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