Town and Gown

So proof that I survived that Town and Gown 10k race lies in the fact that I am writing this and lived to tell the tale.

Boy it was tough, the real thing was the
mental stress of an actual competition. I think none of us had worked this out as we spent the night before loading up on carb-laden pasta (any excuse!) and sipping mineral water (strange concept, sans-alcohol evenings). All our concerns were on the physical, 'have I trained enough' 'ive never ran more than 8k', 'will it be too sunny', 'what should we have for breakfast'...and the good thing is we need not have worried as the whole group finished, despite our reservations of starting at the back of the sub-60 mins, we all flung our selves round the course (lovely meandering streets of oxford) and shattered expectations with great first time finishing times.

Drum roll please...I finished bang on 60mins...feeling mentally and physically exhausted. At the finish line, I wanted to burst into tears- something really just came over me that made me feel that way, v. strange. Perhaps it was just the tapering off from my last stores of adrenaline as I sprinted to the finish...despite the stitch at 4k it was all worth it. Lovely t-shirt from the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign and MY FIRST EVER MEDAL! (everyone got one!)
Afterwards, all situated in the pub for lunch and celebratory pints, all the conversation turned to our feelings of the weird psychology of being in a race, stuck with the crowds, most of us felt like everyone surged forward while you're getting further behind.
I'm now thinking I have a lot to learn about blocking this feeling out in the coming weeks