I’ve posted previously on the general subject of racing, but there is something special about racing cross country which I think makes it sufficiently different to warrant its own piece. If you are on a track or in a road race, everyone is facing pretty much identical conditions and there’s really no variation in the external or underfoot conditions that can come into play to help or hinder you. That’s very much not the case when you’re battling your way round a “midwinter, ankles deep in mud, leaping across a stream” type of cross country race! In these situations, a bit of forward planning combined with a ruthless streak really can improve your chances of a good race.
As an example, early last year I ran a race that involved having to negotiate about 4 very murky looking drainage ditches of varying width and unknown depth and substance. The first couple were just narrow enough that by summoning up all available resources, you could reach the other bank with a mighty leap. The third was that little bit wider and was down a steep sided bank. At the routed crossing point, it was just too wide to clear in one jump, but by veering just a couple of metres to the right it was just about do-able. This is where the choice of either forward planning, or ruthlessness determines your course of action (I used one of these tactics but I’m not saying which).
- If you’d done your pre-race reconnaisance you’d already have planned your route and that minor deviation to the right gains you 3 or 4 places and 20 yards advantage at a stroke.
- If however you have a merciless nature and time it right, you can tuck in 3 yards behind the guy in front and as his doomed attempt to reach the far bank ends embarrassingly in full submersion, his head will resurface to make the perfect stepping stone, which enables you to cross without breaking stride. Elegance personified.
Even when conditions aren’t quite that challenging, a gentle pre-race warm up jog covering as much of the course as possible will help you choose the path of least resistance, find the drier patches and help you to steer clear of the most sapping stretches of mud. In the stress of the race, this “intel” can pay dividends.
Finally, a story of one fairly extreme bit of pre-race prep that helped me many years ago. I used to regularly run in the annual Northdowns 30k race near Gravesend. The route has changed since, but in those days, the course was essentially a first 13 miles of fields and woodland followed by 6 miles of road. In the year in question, despite being held in late June, there had been a lot of rainfall in the fortnight leading up to the race, so on the morning of the race I drove to the point where the course rejoined the road and hid a pair of lightweight road racing shoes in the hedgerow. When I reached that point in the race, after 13 miles of wet and mud in saturated and heavy shoes it was a joy to change into lightweight, dry road racing shoes. I noted after the race at the time (I think with no exaggeration) that I lost 30 seconds changing shoes, and gained at least 10 minutes and many places over the last 6 miles from the physical and psychological boost that the change made. A bit of planning can go a long way. See you next week.
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