Bronze at Nationals

A good result on at the weekend, racing in the 5000m I picked up my first outdoor medal at the National Champs and I also ran a seasons best in the process. My performance also suggests that there's a lot more come now in terms of faster times.

The race started at a reasonable pace over the first 2km and I was happy to sit in the pack and let things unfold. Things slowed over the following 2km, with still most of the field together until about 4 laps to go where it started to split up a little. By the time it was 2 laps to go I had worked my way up through the field into a leading group of about 5. With 600m remaining Scott Overall started to wind the pace up and the final lap turned into a race for the medals between 3 of us. Down the back the back straight I felt good and moved rounded Ryan McCleod into second and for a moment I felt I might be able to take victory, but coming off the final bend I started to tie up a little and Ryan reclaimed 2nd and I so I had to settle for 2nd. I really can't complain though after a difficult couple of months I've found my form at the right time of the season.

1st Scott Overall 13.57.75
2nd Ryan McLeod 13.58.52
3rd Lee Merrien 13.59.35

Below is a link to the full results over the weekend on UKA website .... http://www.uka.org.uk/uka-major-events/2009/aviva-world-trials-2009/ you just need to scole down to Sunday, my race was at 6.55pm.

Unfortunately since the race I have come with suspected swine flu. It seems no worse that the normal dose of flu and apparantely in some cases is no worse than common cold. However yesterday certainly felt like a case of typical man flu for me and rendered me useless at home. It did at least give me time to catch up with the Tour and see what Lance has been up to! I've been advised by the doctor that as in most cases of flu I will be find within 4-5 days so all being well I will be healthy by the weekend and can get back running. After Sundays performance I'm keen to race in a fast paced race and run a fast time!