Inter Counties Fell Running

Slieve Bearnagh

I was so happy with Slieve Bearnagh last weekend that when Des contacted me to confirm my availability to race for Derbyshire at Inter Counties I agreed to run. This race is the entire opposite terrain to the Mournes, fast with no let up, and it proved well and truely that I am 100% not fixed (or maybe just not strong enough to race twice in a week yet). I set set off feeling a bit tired in the legs. The rest of the Derbyshire women beasted off and I was 4th counter for about 300m, at which point I had worked my way to first counter and was running well up the first climb, again around Helen Fines - a bit of a repeat to the start last weekend.
Around the place where the gate you come through on the way back is I felt something in my back tighten a bit and must have slowed down  because Liz, Claire and Rachel all came back past in the next 100m. I stayed on their tail across Cats Tor but on the descent suddenly lost a lot of ground. My back was tight, knee was all over the place, I don't think I could engage R glutes at all (over worked a bit in the last week or so) and my achillies was hurting. All illusion from last weekend that I am fixed out of the window and I decided it was time to jog.
To cut the story short, I couldn't find a marshall to confirm only 3 people needed to finish for a team to count.  I jogged for a bit then jog/walked the rest, finishing in 73:36...incredibly disappointing and quite painful to compare to my 2010 time in this race of 55:22 (800m shorter route?).
Thankfully I can still bike so had a great days training from Sheffield with Team Accelerate today - replacing run legs with tea drinking (it's a hard sport, but somebody has to do it...).

Also had exciting news reports via txt all weekend from the Scottish Islands Peaks Race where Rhys Findlay-Robinson and Wil Spain were fighting for the lead in the monohull catagory and pulled it off! Finishing 3rd overall. Good work...I can see the next week being filled with waiting on Wil until he can walk again...