St. Ives Trail Race

It was a difficult day at the computer today. Aesthetics are very important to me, and I prefer to pursue elegant solutions rather than merely pragmatic ones. This often gets me into trouble because elegance comes at the price of time - in the short run anyway. In the longer run, elegance usually equates with better in every sense. Sometimes, though, an elegant solution just doesn't seem to appear - which normally suggests that the problem is being framed in the wrong way. This is what I came up against today and I've been forced to eschew elegance for the sake of simply getting something working because time is short and I have to deliver.

The problem is a hard one, though, and every time I seem to have cracked it, another scenario appears which throws up the need for more thought - and complexity. By the end of the afternoon I felt some kind of overload occurring inside my head. I lost the ability to think clearly and I hate that feeling. I started to doubt my powers of reasoning, which do seem to be eroding with age. In many ways I find this mental erosion harder to deal with than the inevitable physical erosion. I suppose, like with the physical fitness, you just have to keep up the exercise. With everything on the work front coming together at once right now, I don't think that will be a problem!

Tonight was the Ilkley Harriers v Bingley Harriers mob match that M and I have promoted amongst our clubs. I had no idea how many people were going to turn out as a result of the cajoling e-mails that I've sent, so I was quietly relieved when the red and green vests started to appear around the registration area, and soon seemed to be out-numbering the blue and white vests of Bingley. It was another beautiful evening, but still feeling rather at odds with myself, I had no real intention of racing tonight. The plan was to have a steady run around the St.Ives Estate and enjoy the scenery, and some new tracks. That very soon went out of the window with the very fast downhill start. I found the legs to be not as tired as I expected and seeing familiar people around me, it was simply impossible not to get just a little bit competitive. After overtaking a few fellow Harriers I settled in behind GB, one of those friends who I really wouldn't want to have beating me - because he would never let me forget it! After a mile I began to realise that, actually, yes, the legs were quite tired and this was not going to be easy. But I was now in full racing mode and I overtook GB and got in behind CM and MF. There was a lot of narrow, twisty paths in the middle of the course, so it was very hard to overtake and I settled for simply maintaining my position. I certainly didn't feel like going any faster anyway. It looked like the V50 race was going to be between CM and myself, so the tactic was to hang in there and hopefully get my man on the final climb.

As it turned out, the fatigue of Sunday clicked in at around the 5 mile mark and the last mile was very tough, with my troublesome left calf tightening up. Not knowing the course, things were made worse by having no real idea of how far there was to go. I don't think I've been so glad to see the finish of any event all year. But I was in the prizes with 2nd V50, and 15th overall, which can't be too bad. GB had hung in there really well because he was only just behind me at the end. He very nearly claimed a fine scalp there! I would have had nothing to respond with if he'd attacked me on the last hill.

As for the mob match, we had a fantastic turnout, including Mrs.Gizzajob, who I think was running her first ever race, and that really was the main point of this match, to encourage people out who wouldn't normally run a race. Regardless of probably winning the match, I think we can call the event a great success. I certainly got to meet a lot of new faces from the club. And CM from Keighley and Craven wants to challenge us to something similar. This concept could really catch on.