Hips and Hills

I had pre-entered the Not the Roman IX 12k race in Stratford and paid my £14 entry fee. So today I wanted to get something for my money. Attendance and course completion was the order of the day.

Turned up with plenty of time, registered OK - there's a 1km walk to the start, so being able to wear a coat to the start on this chilly day (about 2C) and have it waiting for me at the end was a good feature from the organisers.

Started the run well, first 3.5 miles is uphill, so challenging but felt good throughout - that hilly 5k reaping its reward, but my week's illness started to take over and my energy sapped away - felt really strange because I felt good running and was not tired from it. Then the sore hip started to remind me it was there and so eventually the run became a run/walk before picking it up for the finish. 75 mins 8 seconds on my watch for the 7.5 mile distance, so quite respectable really considering. It was good to be out there, just hope that I don't regret the rest of the coming week for having taken part.