Last winter I missed the whole cross country season but this time I took care to take part right from the beginning. It was the first race of Midland Women's Cross Country League and the event was held in Leamington. As it was my first cross country event I wasn't sure what to expect. When you run cross country in Finland it is mostly on sand roads, occasionally coated by sawdust but, based on the upfront information that I've got here, cross country in the UK means real off road running. So I was prepared to crawl deep in the mud but I luckily it wasn't that awful. It was just perfect for an orienteer and I loved it! The route went on grass, moorland, and slightly muddy paths. No road whatsoever. In other words very nice and gently surface to run with spikes for the first time in your life.
When we gathered to the start I still didn't know anything about my tactics and whether to stay in the frontline or farther back. I wasn't even sure about the distance (thought it was about 6km). We were a lot more (a few hundred or so) than I had expected and it felt a hundred times more exciting than in those regional cross country champs I've ran in Finland. I was waiting for the "on your marks" comment when the sudden shot surprised me. Without thinking I just automatically sprinted to take my place in the leading pack. First kilometer went to 3:35 (on muddy grass!) and the climb was ahead. "Too fast" I was thinking but unwilling to slow down. I remembered the warnings about the "killer hill" that was a steep 20m upwards and down again. So I slowed down a little thinking that running must feel easy on the first loop. Some of the girls were running really fast but I had to do my own race. I realized by then that I had underestimated the other runners. They were from university teams and clearly no amateurs. I just kept telling myself that I’d catch a few again in the muddiest and most challenging parts.
Running felt ok during the first loop but when I checked my split in about half way I had already ran 4km and realized that it had to be far more than 6km. There I had my psychological breakdown and my next two kilometers were really slow and heavy. When I came to the "killer hill" for the second time I was nearly half a minute slower than on the first loop and part of it was just mental tiredness. Realizing how much I had lost on those two kilometers I tried to find a bigger gear and the last mile I could run at decent pace again. The whole race was 7,53km and took me 30:47. Apart from the two slow kilometers from 5-6km my race was quite ok and a fabulous experience! What could be a better training for an orienteer during winter?! I also felt great to be part of a terrific team with excellent atmosphere and great cheering. Thanks Knowle & Dorridge!!
