Well..............
made the decision about half way round Machrihanish Golf Course in saturday's Am-Am that if I was going to succeed in anything Sports related this weekend I'd need to steer a course away from numerous Pints in the club house and head for Oban to do the ABCD 10k on Sunday!!
Arrived in Oban early to register, met a few of the guys from Mid Argyll there, Richard, Matt, Kirsty, Tina etc.
I had heard some horror stories about the climb up Pulpit Hill, so was lulled into a false sense of security when I was told we didn't go up Pulpit hill, but around it!! Little did I know that he meant the road called Pulpit hill!! The hill was still in there at about 6km in!!!! I know this may sound a little warped but I actually enjoy running up hills, whether its because it gets me up on my toes or simply because its a genuinely good reason for dropping your pace down to 10 minute KM's!!!!
Managed to maintain my position from the start and only lost 2 spots, both within the first 4 km, and then settled down to a fairly lonely remaining 6km. I did momentarily catch one runner on the hill who was making some really disturbing noises, I on the other hand was too tired to make any noise
The lovely ladies at the water station half way up the hill tried to tempt me into a small refreshment but I knew that if I stopped or walked there, I would never have got the legs going again!! Once over the top of the hill it was mostly down hill where those of you who have seen me will realise that Gravity begins to become my friend again!!
Back down the hill and can start to hear the cheers at the finish which seemed to spur me on, another quick check of the watch certainly does!! through 9km in 43.30!! I'm in uncharted territory here and not too sure whether I will have anything left for the finish. Round the corner onto the home straight and everyone encouraging me to give it one last push, which I did and crossed the line in 47.42, a massive 4 minutes inside my previous PB!! But, and there is always a but, the course was slightly shy of the full 10km. After a quick discussion with the other guys we reckoned another 1.30 to 2 minutes would have seen the distance in, so it is still PB pace for me.
Chuffed doesn't quite cover it, and, more importantly, the body seems to have handled it a wee bit better than my last run out. There's life in the old dog yet!!
Looking forward to the Wee toon series even more now
MSB