Originally Posted by
Travs
Today finally saw a long-awaited return to racing, and the fury of a 1500mtr track race.
I'd put a predicted time of 4:57 for the seedings, although the last few club sessions had given me some confidence that i might sneak 4:50-4:55 if things went well.
I was comfortably the oldest in my heat, and let the young guns go off quickly down the opening straight, but was up to 3rd or 4th by the end of the first lap, which i thought i'd taken quite easily, only for the timekeeper to shout out "70secs". The middle stages of the race saw myself and a lad from Bromsgrove & Redditch pull clear of the pack, leaving an epic final lap in which we swapped the lead 3 or 4 times, and then a couple more times again down the final straight, before he proved too quick in the final 20 metres, leaving me to take the silver medal.
4:45 which i was incredibly pleased with. Equates to 76secs/lap, and considering i'd been doing my hard track reps last weekend in 74-75secs, i think that is the absolute most i could have got out of myself in current fitness level.
Although have to thank the eventual winner as we really pushed each other on, especially on the final lap when agony was setting in. I definitely couldn't have managed that time if i had been out leading on my own. I expect he felt the same...
A below-par 56.5 miles for the week... with keeping fresh for the race, and my move northwards really kicking into gear, i just haven't been able to manage consistent two-run days... and i expect the next 2 or 3 weeks to be even lower in terms of mileage. Not to mention the return of gyms from tomorrow.
But another positive week.