Welsh Regional Cross Country Championships including the Welsh Masters Championships 5.45Km -Sat 10 Dec 2011

By Celia White

The above race was held at Builth Wells and I was selected to race for West Wales. I also entered the Welsh Masters Championships too. The two races were run as one – I didn’t have to race twice in one day!

I had raced here before a couple of years ago and so I knew the course which is always a bonus. I caught the bus from Haverfordwest and so had a really relaxing journey to Builth.

Once again it was cold, but at least it wasn’t raining. I walked round some of the course and then warmed up for the race. This was to be my last race before next year and so I wanted to run well and give it everything I had left. I started off well and my aim was to be in the top 10, but I really wanted to get into the top 7 if possible. I felt really strong and once again had something left for the last 400m where I was able to speed up. I finished in 6th place, 3rd female in my age group – 45 – 55 and our team won the gold medal in that age group too. So, I came home with a gold and bronze medal from the Welsh Masters. I was really pleased with this result and ready for a well-earned rest.

There were times when I was training for these races that I felt really tired and wondered if I would ever get to the start line, after all I had had a full triathlon season. I had to listen to myself and rest on days when it was getting too much. I took some sound advice from Darren (Tri Exercise) when he said if you continue to train you could do yourself a lot of damage, but if you rest for a few days you will feel better and fitter and more like training. After all a few days off isn’t going to matter much. This was such good advice and I decided to follow it.

I would also like to thank everyone at the Tri club for their help and advice throughout last season.

Finished 6th Overall & 3rd in Age Group

In a time of 22:42