The Right Direction......Nose Hill Cross Country

Over the past few weeks, I've been feeling much more positive about my running - a combination of consistent training involving bouts of speed work and longer runs, as well as having a race plan for the next few months. Add to that the fact that 90% of my friends are runners, I guess that helps to motivate me somewhat!

In the week leading up to the Nose Hill Cross Country, even I was pleased with how training had gone, and I was starting to feel the benefits of a more structured and focused approach. As with the majority of my races though, race day arrived and I awoke feeling sluggish, lethargic and not really in the mood, wondering whether perhaps I had overdone things having been feeling so much more positive and therefore enthusiastic.

I didn't really know much about Nose Hill except that it was "up north" of Calgary again, and I figured that given the name, there would be some hill running  involved. Hills are not my strong point at the moment, so on arrival and seeing the flags marking the course, it was a case of "oh poo!" Ok, "the hill" wasn't exactly a mountain, but it certainly looked like a fair old trek to the top which was clearly where we would be headed given the stream of orange and blue marker flags heading off in to the distance.

Yep, we had to run up there to the ridge - yikes!
(Photo by Dawn Henry - thank you!)

In addition, whilst the past week had actually been quite mild by Calgary standards, there was still snow on the ground, much of it melted and refrozen and therefore making the vast part of the course treacherous even when wearing spikes.

Jogging up the path for 5 or 10 mins prior to the start, I actually didn't feel as bad as I expected and started to feel a little less concerned about a potentially hilly course. Having done all the cross country races so far, I was also getting to know some of the regulars, and chatting with them on the start line helped me to relax a little.

As soon as we started at 12 noon, the faster ladies went shooting off up the hill whilst I was a little more cautious, particularly with not really knowing the course. My Garmin beeped the first km split, and still we were climbing. Feeling pretty relaxed and surprisingly strong, I started to pass a few people including one of the faster ladies - a sheer rarity for me whilst going UP hill!

It was certainly a good 3/4 mile or more to the top, and when we hit the ridge, the strength of the wind just blew us all backwards. I could see that some of the other runners were struggling against it, but for me, it took me back to my junior running days where I'd been told not to resist the wind and just relax in to as this would help to conserve energy. It appeared to work, as once again I started to pass several people. 

Ahead of me was another lady who had finished top 3 in most of the previous races and I realised that I was actually gaining on her along with a couple of chaps. It was still particularly icy in parts so we were all slip sliding away, but I managed to overhaul the 2 chaps and as we headed down into the coulee, I was right behind the lady. She was going extremely well, but I was feeling pretty strong too, so when she let me pass her on an exceptionally narrow and icy section, I seized the opportunity and broke away.

I'll be honest and say that at this point, I thought I was leading the ladies race and figured there was no way I was going to relinquish the lead, so pushed on hard. I hadn't felt like this in a race for a very long time, and it was a great feeling having that competitiveness resurfacing. There was still approximately 3km to go but I had no idea what the remainder of the course had in store, which was probably a good thing as I was led into a false sense of security whilst following a twisty narrow undulating pathway before a steep long hill loomed ahead. 

I never look behind me in race - again, an old coach used to say it was a sign of weakness - so I kept focused on the hill ahead and started my ascent. I had no idea how close the next lady was and just tried to keep the momentum going. I managed probably about 100 metres or so before it became too steep to make any significant progress, and having noticed that everybody ahead had resorted to walking, I started to power walk up the hill which was much quicker. I figured that if I could keep this going to the top without letting anybody pass me, this race was for the taking.

A descent through deep snow in a small coppice followed, and once we hit the wider trail again, I was able to stride out for the final 1km down the hill to the finish - and boy did I push! Crossing the finish line, I'd actually ran my fastest paced cross country so far, and whilst initially I thought I was first lady, it turned out that there was a far superior lady runner ahead of me. I was still really chuffed with 2nd place - especially considering that back in October at the first race of the season, I had finished 12th lady - and I finished with a big smile on my face.

Heading to the finish line as 2nd lady (Photo by Dawn Henry - thank you!)

Nose Hill was probably the toughest of all the cross country races so far but whether that's because of the snow and ice, the strong headwind, the hills, or the fact that I had actually raced this one and ran hard, I really don't know, but I was certainly buzzing for the rest of the day and gained a lot of confidence.

Next on the cards is the Frozen Ass 50km a week on Monday - the same day as my 40th birthday. I certainly don't expect to win it as there are some fantastic lady runners over here that race on road, trail and mountain, but as things stand, I'm relatively optimistic that I'll hit my target time. I'm not going to disclose what my goal is as I don't want the pressure and expectation of others lying on my shoulders, but I'm certainly looking forward to giving it my best shot.

The good news is that I'm now on a mini taper for the race so will be having a nice relaxing week of easy running. I might even treat myself to some beer and wine and a wee bit of chocolate over the next few days - apparently it's classed as carbo loading and therefore acceptable - who am I to argue?