So tomorrow I am up at 8 AM, to get ready for my 10 AM start in Devon. Right after I cross the finish line I have to go to my special karate class, which started at 10 AM. It is a special 5 or so hour introduction to our upcoming summertime kobudo classes. We will be learning the Bo and the Tonfa. Marilyn is not coming to my race because she has to be there. I will join the class two hours late.
I was going to go out yesterday to measure the trail course with my bike but I did not get a chance to. I will measure the course after the race. This will be a better measurement anyway since I think there will be a major course change anyway. I will post the real race distance after I measure it.
I will write more later…
Well, the race results are in and I have to say that I gave it my best shot even though I was very disappointed to be so sick with allergies. 5peaks reports the length of the Enduro trail to be 12.4 km and I finished with a chip time of 1:46:05 for an 8:33 pace. This pace is just over a minute slower than my road pace. Of course, I came in last. Today I am really stuffed up with allergies and I just can’t stop sneezing and I have a runny nose. Reactine has done absolutely nothing for me.
But I will recover and do better next time. I think 5peaks should have a “most improved” category, so I could get some hardware, ha ha.
After the race, I packed it in and went to join Marilyn at the Kobudo introduction for our upcoming summer weapons classes in karate. The class started at the same time my race did and ended about a hour or an hour and a half after I joined it. Marilyn was happy to see me because the large class was all black and brown belts. Marilyn and I were the only low ranking belts there. Then after class we posed for a group picture which should be posted on the web site some day soon, went home, changed and went to the home of our Sensei for a short get together with the group, and some refreshments. We stayed about an hour then went to a family dinner. I was pretty glad to see the day end I have to tell you.
Today, I am sore from the race but not too bad. I was supposed to do my 27 km long run today but I am too stuffed up and apart from being a bit too sore, I can’t breathe. Hopefully I’ll be better Monday. I’ll see how I feel tomorrow, but I may have to delay my long run until Wednesday because of work commitments Tuesday.
I have to say that it’s a lot harder running trail than running roads. Right now I feel pretty mangled so I don’t know if I want to do another trail race this year because of my marathon training. I very much want to do my favorite trail race which is Chickakoo. I’m pretty sure that when I feel better I will see it in a better light.
Again, to sum up, a couple of days before the race I felt like I would do better, then got slammed with this stupid whatever it is allergy thingy (or is it a cold?). So I would have to say that disappointment is the predominant feeling about my performance during the race. Oh, well. I can’t do worse next time can I? So I only have a better performance to look forward to. And there will be a next time.