{"id":1911,"date":"2014-01-12T15:45:56","date_gmt":"2014-01-12T15:45:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/club.runthrough.co.uk\/?p=1911"},"modified":"2015-06-17T09:48:04","modified_gmt":"2015-06-17T09:48:04","slug":"running-lifestyle-choice-really","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/club.runthrough.co.uk\/running-lifestyle-choice-really\/","title":{"rendered":"Nick’s Blog – Running…it’s a lifestyle choice really!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Me<\/strong><\/p>\n Well what a week it has been. Sadly since my last blog I have been struck down with man flu and have been unable to train, which is a shame as training had been going so well.<\/p>\n I did however take part in a cross country race yesterday after consulting with my coach. I was somewhat reluctant to take part as I felt with not being able to breathe properly due a cold and a cough would mean that my performance would not be fast enough to score for my club in the event. Nonetheless come 2:30pm there I was on the start line in the glorious sunshine and possibly the only runner wearing sunglasses, ready to take on the mud and hills of the horrible cross country. I should probably mention now that I absolutely despise cross country with all the mud and hills.<\/p>\n So I started off slow and tried to pick up the pace as I progressed through the race but sadly every time I increased the pace I found it hard to breathe and went into a coughing fit. With this set back I decided that I was just going to have to run at a steady pace instead and try to maintain this speed up the hills as I was running within my ability due to the breathing issue, this was no bother. This all said I’m a very competitive person and even under par I can’t resist the temptation to compete especially as I wanted to be of some value to the team with the top 10 runners from each club counting. As I approached the finishing straight I knew I was in 11th position from my club and therefore not making a difference to my club’s fortunes in the race…with my club’s 10th position runner in my sights I took one more deep breath, knowing that as I increased my pace for a final effort I would once again struggle to breathe, and accelerated closer and closer as the finishing line came ever nearer. Having clocked that he was under attack from my last effort my teammate and friend also put his foot down. As we crossed the threshold of the finish line no more than 20cm separated us, sadly for me I was the loser of the battle.<\/p>\n A strange feeling of great disappointment and failure came across me as I walked down the walkway created by a few poles and some tape. As I walked off back to my bag and warmer clothing the feeling of failure had overcome my emotions and I could not speak nor could I face the sight of any of my fellow runners. Please don’t misunderstand my desire to succeed with being a bad loser, in fact I am quite the opposite, my teammate earned the 10th and final scoring place for the club<\/p>\n