NDXCL - Forres

I had a good warm up, a couple of miles at a decent pace, nothing too severe and enough to cycle my heart rate up to the mid 160s and back down to 130. Also gave me a chance to check out the surface and make sure I had the right shoes on. 

I started the race sensibly, but at a decent race pace for the first mile. The group I was in were passing some of the top-10 (9th through to 5th) runners from the womens race but girls that I know I can beat, so it wasnt that we were going too fast. I was sitting just behind a group of 40-min 10k runners which is about where I should be. At the end of the first mile I was moving well. GAP (Grade Adjusted Pace) just under 7 min/mile, Heart Rate in the 130s.

About halfway round the first lap I started to struggle. My kidney problems came back as an annoyance and I had to back off the pace. I tried slowing through the downhill sections and that didn't really make any difference. The annoying ache progressed to a virtual stabbing feeling that generally means one of the small stones is on the move.

By the end of lap 1 I had dropped back behind half of the women we had passed, and was even behind the places I expect to be racing for on an average day and whole groups were still cruising past me. My heart rate was down to 117 and continuing to drop. I was round in 14 minutes. Same time as I was doing in 2013 in the snow and on bad form. I decided from there just to jog round a second lap to get in my half hour training run for the day. 

That became an increasingly lonely experience as I was now so far behind the racing groups there wasn't anyone left to overtake me. Even the guy with no socks and a pair of huarache racing sandals on (think, strappy summer flip-flops) cruised past me on the way through a muddy section where he can't have had any traction. 

I was struggling with my depression from this point. The pain in my side was easing but the frustration at not being able to run properly since mile 1 was much more of a problem now.

As I reached a narrow point on the course at about 3 miles, I passed the group I had started lap 1 with, only they were now nearly half a mile loop further ahead. I had a quick check of my garmin and it had me as outside 12 min/mile pace. And while it was uphill that was still ridiculous. I gave in completely at that point and slowed to a jog just to get me back to the finish.

I was struggling against the pain in my side but was getting really annoyed with every marshal and spectator clapping and saying well done. I know they are just trying to be positive and encouraging, but when you are obviously having that shit a day and someone shouts "well done" or tells you that "you are going well" it is really hard not to swear at them.

As I passed the end of the lap I went to tell the officials I was stopping but had to wait for them to get the time for the winner who had come round almost to lap me.