Hill of Tarvit 2014. The wet one.

Chasing the boys… [Photo: Jordan Young]
It had rained all day and was still raining. It was the kind of fat-dropped, drenching, relentless rain that penetrates every single atom of your clothing from the socks up. The thought of just going home didn't just pass through my mind it sat there like a rain-hating toad, goading me.

I was a shivering little rat on the start line and then the horn squelched and I was one in a pack of soggy runners churning up the hill. For some reason the hill didn't feel as steep as last year, I lost a few places to men near the top though. That meant being stuck behind them as I got into my stride. I had to squeeze through barely-there gaps and try not to be too annoying. In hindsight I'm not sure I did too good a job, so sorry if any of you are reading this...

It was a pleasant surprise to be running easily and ahead of the next woman. My ancient, abused Inov8 190s were superb as usual finding traction in all the mud. I pushed on through the Tarvit gardens, feeling horribly slow on the steady incline having just thundered down towards the Mansion house. Some lost runners appeared from the bushes just as we turned for the small wood at the base of the hill proper. Then it was over the stile and out onto the green and slippery grass. I followed the lead of the experienced hill runners around me and adopted the run-a-bit-climb-a-bit hands-on-knees method. On the descent I got a glimpse of the competition coming up the hill. I followed The Professor's advice and didn't fear the downhill. I did fear the stile at the bottom though when I realised it was coming towards me really fast!

Having seen Rosie heading for the top of the hill as I descended I was a bit more focused on racing and less on enjoying myself. The course ate itself up and the end came almost too soon. I was running fairly comfortably until I got into a wee race with Johnny (Dundee Hawkhill) on the descent back into Ceres.

1st woman, 9th overall 38 minutes 3 seconds (3 minutes 15 seconds faster than 2013).

I've never felt so good during a race. There is nothing in the world that compares with the feeling of running when you're running well. My improvements tend to come in sudden leaps after a plateau. The last couple of weeks I have felt like someone has taken the brakes off.

As The Professor says (often): training works.

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