Today I ran in the Metropolitan League cross-country race at Wormwood Scrubs. The course was meant to be 1.85 kilometres long, and that is exactly what I recorded on my watch. Before racing, I walked the course to see what it was like. It was one lap and mostly quite dry, but there was a large muddy section about halfway round, which I knew would make the race harder.
At the start, I tried to get away quickly and have a strong first few seconds. However, I settled into about fifth place, which wasn’t really where I wanted to be. I could immediately feel the strong wind pushing against me, making it harder to move forward. I struggled to get past the girls in front of me, even though I was trying to push on.
I tried to stay close to the leaders, but I didn’t feel as strong as I normally do. My legs felt heavy, and it was hard to find a good rhythm. Even so, I kept telling myself to keep pushing and to overtake as many runners as I could during the race. I didn’t want to give up or slow down.
After a while, I managed to overtake the girl who was in fourth place, and for some time I moved up into fourth. However, the girls in first, second, and third had already pulled away from the rest of the field. They had a big gap, so even though I tried to chase them, it was very difficult to close the distance.
Near the end of the race, the girl who was in fifth place began chasing me very hard. Unfortunately, she managed to get past me close to the finish line. I ended up finishing the race in fifth place. My time was 7 minutes and 20 seconds, with a pace of 3 minutes and 57 seconds per kilometre, and an age grading of 84.79%.
This has been my worst performance in the Metropolitan League so far. In my first race I finished third, in my second I finished second, and now I finished fifth. I feel a bit disappointed because the girls who beat me are runners I have beaten before in previous races. I know I wasn’t at my best, but I also know I can improve. I’m determined to work harder and get a much better position in my next MET League race.
