Lord Mayors 5K

I have wanted to this race for a long time - looked like great fun and a great setting. I wasn't sure how I would feel before the race so it was a last minute decision coming down to about 23:45 the night of the cut off. I had already planned a double swim session in the morning and had the Eastern Region Relays on the Sunday so wasnt sure what id have in the tank but thought it would be a good training session (well hoped it would be).

The swim sets in the morning ended up being pretty brutal. Pat at Consc swam us ragged before I went to the lake to chase Alex McKibben for 1600m (with drag shorts). By the time I was done I was knackered and not really feeling up for a 5k blast 9 hrs later (followed by a 2 hr drive to Sudbury!)

I spent most of the afternoon sleeping, eating, sleeping while eating and probably some more eating (and dreaming about eating).

Come race time I was pretty fatiqued (you know that feeling you get when you need sleep but just havent got it) and could not get going in the warm up. I knew that Joe Skipper and a couple of guys I should pace with would be about and was eager to run with them but wasnt sure what to expect.

The start was pretty slow as far I was concerned and I found myself without too much trouble up with the front 10 guys or so for about 1.5 to 2k and this was pretty comfortable - but the deterioration was sudden and pretty brutal.

I pushed through but eased off towards the end as I also knew I would be racing in a team event the next day and didnt want to let anyone down. I was suprised to still go sub 17 (16:52 i think) despite easing off quite a lot as my P:B currently only stands at 16:45. Very pleased with the time and know that had I been looking to race it I would have gone closer to 16:00 as I had gone through 2.5k comfortably under 8 minutes