October 2021

October consisted of mainly getting back to structured training, with a few weeks of no races, building back fitness and getting into the rhythm of training again. My only race this month was my first cross country race. This was fairly late for my first xc race, and it was the Northern XC Relays. The race was set in teams of three. My team was strong, and we felt confident coming into the race. I was set the task of setting off first, which meant that I had to set off in the mass start. As the race started, I had a good start being at the front of the race after 100m. The first kilometre of the race was downhill, and some other runners with more speed overtook me down the hill. Coming to the lowest point in the course, I was placed around 6th, and fast approaching the two big hills in the course. I felt strong up the first hill, and made up a couple of places. On the second, longer hill I started to fall behind slightly, and was in about 8th place rounding the top of the hill. I managed to finish strong, and pass over to the second runner in 8th place. Our team eventually finished in 4th place, with a close finish, just being beaten for 3rd. Overall, it was a positive first race back, after no cross countries in nearly 2 years due to COVID.