NO COASTING AT THE ROLLER
RODDLESWORTH ROLLER
No racing for six months and then two in six days. This was my fifth appearance at the Roddlesworth Roller which is a challenging five and a half mile trail affair and always a good test of combining speed and strength. I tapped in to last Saturday's 5K pace as far as the limited stretches of flat and downhill were concerned, but going uphill was quite so fluid. Struggling to maintain the same momentum on the ups, that is where I quickly lost ground on one or two runners ahead that I might've fancied my chances against had I been in finer fettle. At the foot of the long and cobbly climb that reaches the half way point I had splintered off to eighth and at least managed to consolidate that position to the finishing line. I couldn't help but be disappointed to register a personal worst time on the course which was over two minutes beyond my best from two years ago, but there's no point beating myself up about it. Pace has not been part of my training schedule and despite all the miles put in and even the encouraging time clocked at Podium last weekend, running a fast hilly course like this one beyond the speed of anything touched in training was never going to be a cocktail for something great.
Anthony Valentine won this race as he has done on many occasions by doing what I call a 'Valentino Special'. This is when he checks out the front line at the start, doesn't see a threat that he is aware of and then runs the first 300 metres in under 45 seconds just to make sure. My fellow Blackburn Harrier Chris Davies was only 39 seconds in his wake at the finish with a great performance - I wonder what would have happened if he'd gone with Valentino from the start?
So, back to me, nobody in particular. I could race more in an attempt to get back where I would like to be in races like these - but at the risk of flaring this pesky Achilles which is currently manageable by just doing what I am doing. Or, I could concentrate on the bigger picture at Horton-in Ribblesdale on April 30th. The latter is what it's all about. I almost entered the Darwen Half Marathon, but one of those infuriating password issues with my bank card meant my place didn't get processed and then I just lost patience with it. My partner Sara can testify to the rage and frustration that envelopes my normally fairly placid soul when things go wrong online. Maybe the password glitch was a blessing in disguise though. I've still not entered Darwen and probably won't do now. Road isn't my thing anyway. Fell races are always tempting and yet I just seem content in cautiously minding my own business just at present, running every day and keeping injuries at bay. Deep down I think I've probably run my last race until the big one, but at least this little double-header of competition was a reminder of what it feels like to pin a number on.

Sun. 13th March 2016
RODDLESWORTH ROLLER (5.5m)   Abbey Village, Lancs. 
1st Man - Anthony Valentine (Bolton) 33:26  
1st Lady - Christina Singleton (Trawden) 38:25
My Stats - 36:34   8/236