Running faster at the Itchingfield Time Trial

Yesterday evening was the regular Tuesday run with Horsham Joggers. It was the second Itchingfield Time Trial of the year. There’s a club prize for the runner who improves their time the most over 3 out of the 4 races. It’s a fun event (I think).

Here’s the route.

The actual time trial section is the loop at the bottom of the map (two laps) but we jogged there and back as well (that’s the section from Broadbridge Heath). All in all, it was 7.5 miles. Yikes, that’s quite a long run for me on a Tuesday.

I ran the race like last time. An even pace (approx. 7:50 per mile) at probably 90% of my capacity. And I improved my time by approx 10-15 seconds over the first race of the series. It felt faster than that but I’m happy just to improve each time.

The route is a tough one because there’s a short but steep hill (Fulfords Hill) that is run twice. And the second time, it’s near the end of the 5km circuit so doubly difficult when running on tired legs. The downhill isn’t always easy either and my knees felt like they’d been given a good work-out at the end of the evening.

I’m treating the runs like training but some people seem to “take it easy” on the first couple of runs, perhaps to make a big improvement on their times. I don’t know to be honest but I like to run my own race and, hopefully, get better/faster/stronger after the summer has ended.

Anyway, I enjoyed the run and felt like I’d given it my best shot. It was tough on the last section but it should get easier the more I run the route. I might even use the route for some ‘sneaky’ practice in a week or so!

• Many thanks to everyone who helps organise and time the Trial. Much appreciated.