Challenging conditions today.
On the drive over it looked to be a typically miserable and soaking day.... however heading south from Shrewsbury and into hillier territory, the rain turned to sleet, then snow. By the time we reached Stretton everything was white.
Went for a warmup over the first climb on Long Mynd Valleys, then over the final climb of today, and it was clear the conditions were going to be a massive issue. 6+ inches of snow and anything on a camber was lethal, anything above a moderate slope was barely runnable, and as for the descents... well i just switched off and decided i'd take them as they came on the race.
A quick 400mtrs up the valley and then straight onto the first ridge climb. The conditions were a great leveller, it was impossible to run most of it... which meant everyone was bunched together... i was probably in about 8th and went over the first top only 45secs behind the eventual winner.
However once on flatter ground and the gently undulating first half of the race, i was overtaken by a few and found myself 18th at half way, (5mins down on last year's time).
The second half of the race has three climbs in quick succession, with no real technical descents between them, so this should be my kind of terrain.... indeed i did pick up a couple of places... however the only way to make quick progress was to follow then trodden footsteps of those in front... any attempt to overtake meant going onto the virgin snow and it was a big effort.
At the top of the final descent i discarded all dignity and flew down it on my back-side (in hindsight if i'd done this on the other descents in the first half, instead of trying to run them, i'd probably have finished a few places higher). Lost one of my places back on the final run in, wasn't taking any risks on a rocky uneven path covered in snow and ice.
Final score..... 17th/82.... 57:10.... over 7 minutes slower than last year... although the winner was also 6-7mins slower than last year).
Don't know what to make of it really. on the plus side, i wasn't fresh and still finished in a decent position. On the downside, i was 3 minutes behind a couple of guys i'd have liked to have been much nearer to (or even in front of).
However the conditions just made it a free-for-all and it was still a good hard race. But i'd have much preferred to be able to run the steeper hills however it just wasn't possible today.
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