Running15:09 [2] 2.9 km (5:13 / km) +26m5:00 / km ahr:142 max:157 shoes: Orange Ride
Easy shakeout with David and Tom.
11 AM
Running32:51 5.53 km (5:57 / km) +72m5:35 / km ahr:139 max:156 shoes: Orange Ride
12 PM
Running31:20 [5] 10.2 km (3:04 / km) +230m2:46 / km
European XC Championships - 22nd, Team Gold.
Hilly course but very firm underfoot. Plan was similar to last year, don't go mad at the start and work through. This worked well for the two small laps and I was quite comfortable heading out on the first of six larger laps. I slowly stopped progressing through the field though and by the third large lap my legs were getting pretty tired. I'd worked up to 3rd Brit and somewhere around 20-25th but slipped backwards a bit on the final two laps, getting caught by Patrick Dever. I hung on up the final climb and when we hit the final descent I just went for it - full on sprint. I caught maybe 4-5 places on the descent and (unknowingly) one of these was a Belgian which gave us the team prize. If he'd have beaten me we'd have won the silver. Really happy to win the medal - I thought I could have run slightly better individually but it was a tough course and a lot of people struggled..