Duel

It seems like ages ago already, in fact it is as I've been very lazy recently and not written a thing for 2 weeks now, but the big event was the showdown in Hexham between Tom and myself.

I fancied my chances actually, as I've been running well of late and Tom has been injured and out of form. In any case, it was a good occaision to test my ability against my younger brother over a little training run. We set off quickly and I knew that Tom wouldn't be letting me rest at all. I tend to start slowly and then gradually build up speed whereas he sets out hard from the start.

We ran out past the golfclub and there was still snow underfoot making the going slippy in places. I struggled to keep alongside him and I felt that the pace was just faster than comfortable for me - it was definitely an effort. We ran down to warden and then back along the path beside the railway. Tom pulled away from me here, just a couple of metres or so but I could tell that he had more to spare than me. I was at full pelt. Admittedly the kilometre times were fast. We were now at 3:53 per km, a speed that I only usually manage under race conditions or over a minute in interval training. We entered Tyne Green golf course and the road changed to track and my speed fell with the extra effort involved. We were now running at 4:03 then 4:06 over the snowy tracks and along the icy road. I was losing Tom now and he'd pulled away creating a 5m gap. At this point, I saw Laurence running and told Tom that I'd finish the run with her as she headed back along Tyne Green in the other direction. Tom was relieved as he wasn't looking forward to racing up Hallstile Bank. Apparently, he'd been suffering too but hadn't wanted to let on. If only I'd known ...

11.4km in 52:50 all up. Great to run with Tom as it brought a new quality to my training.