Bittersweet

I must have played the worst tennis ever in my interclub matches this morning. My head just wasn't in it, my timing off, first few steps to the ball at a snail's pace and the number of errors astronomical. To make matters worse my opponent was a good player who was quick around the court and made few unforced mistakes. The only good thing was that my singles and doubles were completed by just after 10:30 am so I was able to get to the race without a mad panic.

It turned out to be hot and sunny despite the brief shower that came over just as our tennis was starting. During the warm up it felt like the heat would take its toll and I would not do a good time. There were three walkers who were likely to finish ahead of me - Natasha Murrihi, Allanah Parker and Kevin Watson. I wanted to try and beat Kevin who is likely to be a close rival in our club's summer competition. I settled into third pace behind Kevin at the start but decided to pass him before I reached the start/finish line for the first time since I felt I could manage a quicker pace. My aim was for 2:24 laps so it was great to do the first 200 m in 1:11, the first 400 m in 2:16 and the first 1 km in 5:46. Unfortunately I missed hitting the lap button for three of the laps so I don't have a full break down. Allanah passed me after 1.5 laps and she passed Natasha a couple of laps after that to finish in first place.

I got a caution from Peter in my second lap which suggests that I was not walking well in the first 200 m and I received two more cautions within in the next two laps. With three laps to go I had one red card and a second one the next lap. I finished in third place in a time of 17:31 which was a 17 sec pb. I knew there was a good chance that a third card would come in and sure enough about 5 min after I finished, David informed me that I was disqualified.

It is clear that combining walking and tennis on the same day (or even on successive days) does not make for a good result for either sport. Tennis is a team sport and there are times I have to make myself available if other team members can't make it.

I may have got through the race without disqualification if I went a bit slower but I didn't feel strained at the speed I was doing and I don't want to always play safe. I won't know what I can achieve if I don't push the boundaries. I think today's issues were more in my head than anywhere else. I wan't concentrating as well as I needed to and I paid for it. I was pleased with the speed I achieved and feel that even better results will be possible in the future.

I will be put as the last finisher in our club competition as I was the only walker who was disqualified. I finished more than 30 sec ahead of Kevin but that counts for nothing. C'est la vie.

3 km race - Regional Meeting