Cross country racing

I think the last time I ran cross country it involved big blue gym knickers, a gym skirt and black slip on plimsolls. I was at least better dressed this time! First race of the SELCC League today round a surprisingly green bit of Manchester tucked behind the velodrome. For the women a 6400m course, it was hard and it was a relief to finish, but it was fun. I definitely still need to work on pacing, a couple of people passed me in the final stretch, I sprinted the final 100m with another woman as we tried to out do each other. I need to work on pre-race eating/drinking as I had stomach ache/stitch the same as last time I raced. Not all negative though as I realise I'm strong on hills as this was where I passed people. I finished in the bottom third, my aim is by the last race in the series to be only half way down the pack. There are unfortunately no photos to accompany this post as my photographer went off to find somewhere to buy a coffee (it was cold) so missed me finish.

Oh, also, I decided against my blatantly too small shoes and wore my Inov-8 roclites which fit me nicely, the grip was OK for todays terrain but apparently the next couple are really muddy so I need to sort some more aggressive shoes. Might try and get up to Ambleside to lakes runner as they stock the Montrail shoes recommended by Kate, also will try and get into the Walshes factory shop, apparently it's only up the road 5 miles from home so got to be worth a look and try on.