BUCS, Beer and Bad Decisions...

Another week of training ticks by but notably one which included BUCS XC, which I'll discuss in a minute. Pretty standard week by all accounts, still didn't have any scheduled uni which definitely made structuring and getting out to training physically and mentally easier. 2 or 3 good quality sessions, one track, one road but both were aimed at a bit of a taper and so didn't feel too taxing. Threw in a bash around the SYO score course checking out the new punching system which was actually really interesting. Cruisey pace but a bit surreal not actually punching anything, using phone GPS to calibrate your run with a master route on an app (maprun). Interesting results, didn't seem to pick up Android quite as well but a good concept nonetheless and one that definitely has a lot of potential. Other than that it was a weak of largely no incident, just ticking over nicely for the weekend which I shall come on to now.
Away days with uni teams are always great and this weekend was no exception. Having travelled down Friday evening, we settled in pretty well and enjoyed a night of Seven Years in Tibet and the Inbetweeners movie, films of quite contrasting themes...Saturday began with the standard travel lodge pre race breakfast of porridge pots and coffee in bed with the guys as you do. Setting off the to race, it didn't look promising with persistent rain and chilly conditions which treated us to an enjoyable 4 hours stood around in the cold and wet. Regardless of the weather though, it was actually great fun watching both the Women's and Men's A race, especially at the water jump which provided no end of hilarity. Some really good running from the Uni of athletes as well as a number of the orienteers was great to see and provided some impetus to try and put in a performance myself.
Warming up, admittedly, it didn't look promising. As XC isn't really my aim or to be honest, something I overly enjoy, I'd kept my mileage relatively high as I continue to build towards summer races. Gym sessions had also taken a bit out of my legs which left me feeling a touch flat, especially in the hamstrings. Boxed in off the start as well as I didn't realise how quickly the pen would fill up, so ended up starting 4-5 people deep.
As expected the race shot off and the pace was ridiculously quick, one of my primary pet peeves about XC as not even the leaders can keep it up. As a result of my starting position I was stuck in a pack and limited once the race slowed, which to me felt like it did a lot, as if it had settled in to the 5km~ in pace as oppose to 500m~. Frustrated by this and the weaving of other athletes I went a bit rogue and took an aggressive line to move forward up the field. Settled in with Eddie and Aidan but felt good on the firmer ground and decided to use it, pushing up again. From here I decided that despite feeling a touch naff at the start I'd try and take the race a bit more aggressively than I usually do and was actually really enjoying it, which continued for most of the first lap, tussling especially with a couple of St. Mary's boys, alongside Cambridge and Brum. Second lap settled a bit but continued to try and be aggressive, taking a lot of my own wider lines whilst everyone else wallowed in the mud. Once we were off the top of the hill I knew we'd have to push on so basically kicked from here and managed to keep the effort high to the line. Finished in 17th which is higher than I thought at the end and much higher than I'd anticipated I'd be able to run having raced properly only once this winter at counties, which had been a qualified disaster. It's nice to get a positive cross country result and I think it reflects a lot of the tougher running I've tried to incorporate in to my training since coming back from both my knee and shin injuries as I didn't feel I struggled with the mud today. Also really good to see a strong showing from the orienteering lot today, in all the races and shows that we can compete at high levels.

A picture paints a thousand words, especially about mud and blood!

Now that the boring part is over, I can chat about the most important part of the weekend, the social. After a much welcomed shower and a few hours of post race death we headed out for the curry which was fine but the slight delay in it coming out slightly slowed the night. This all changed on the walk to Brunel though which, after a quick pit stop at a somewhat shady offy, was filled with all sorts of shenanigans. Getting frisked on your way in to a club was a new experience, not sure it was really needed with a load of skinny runners, but safety first eh? Despite the ludicrous queue at the bar, we all still managed to cram in enough VKs to make us feel more sick than drunk and increase our potential for heart problems significantly, but it was undoubtedly worth. It was great to hang out with the orienteers after so long though and it was a cracking night with everyone involved.
Sunday was somewhat less pleasant... After out 5 mile run home from the club at 3am, the 4 hours sleep were not the most refreshing and the cooked breakfast left a lot to be desired. An uncomfortable coach journey and grinding walk up the hill brought an end to the BUCS adventure but unfortunately not to the weeksn training as I dragged my arse out for a ploddy 17k in Rivelin, taking in a good bit of climb on the way.
But that's why we do it isn't it? Plus, running in a place like Rivelin doesn't half tak the edge off.
To sum up, it was a great weekend of running and socialising with everyone and I'm looking forward to the coming races, notably BUCS Orienteering and Edale Skyline! Tune in next time for the exciting adventures of Spud.