Millennium Way Relay - After
June 16th, 2009 by Andy NicollOn Sunday I ran leg 2 of the Bradford Millennium Way Relay for Bingley Harriers with my mate Jamie Robinson. Well I say mate - he used to be until he reduced me to a pathetic, jibbering wreck by whooping my feeble butt all the way round the 10 mile route from Oxenhope to Laycock - I was blowing and in trouble at Bronte Bridge which is only about 1.5 miles in….
Actually I got exactly what I knew I’d get as Jamie is running really well at the minute and I feel a bit off form but non the less it’s never fun watching your partner bounce off into the distance as you keeping tripping over your own tongue.
We took over in 6th position from our friends Steve and James who ran leg one and we managed to claw back a couple of places over the course of our leg but because of me we lost time to the three faster teams in front of us.
Thankfully we had some strong pairs further round the course and by the end of the race we were in 2nd place overall about 4 minutes down on the winners Pudsey and Bramley.
I was really disappointed with my performance at the weekend and don’t know what to blame. In all honesty I think it’s simply a lack of quality training and reduced running mileage. In trying to get bike fit for the Marmotte cycle race I’ve had to drop the long runs and spend more time in the saddle. This appears to have had a negative effect on my running, particularly my climbing ability, and I wonder if it’s because the muscles are being asked to work differently in each discipline.
After Sunday’s race I’ve had a really sore hip which I think might be a bit of stiffness in my IT band - so I’ve been rolling around on the floor with a tennis ball massaging my hip (great little trick taught to me by the physios at Carnegie Sports College). I had a complete rest on Monday and then tried a speed session tonight which seemed to go quite well - this is what I need to do more of to regain my speed.
I am entered to run this weekend’s English Championship race at Tebay but I think I might use the time to put in one last big road ride before the Alps.
