On arrival I was really surprised at what a chilled atmosphere it was. Triathlons are generally high energy events with a definite buzz through the air that keeps you on edge; here, people were smiling and milling around calmly, there was some live music and people were chatting to each other. Neat. I was already loving it. (Note: These organisers also knew the toilet deal. Heaps of port-a-loos for all!)
There was some nutty loon as the announcer in a camouflage one-sie. It was awesome. He was cool, pumped us up and then ran with us for a bit. I was in two minds whether to start with the "fast" group or take my spot with the designated "leisure" runners. About 20sec after my race start (the 10.8km medium course), I figured you only live once, and skipped off at the back of the fast group. My goal for this race was just to run hard and strong and not give up. So from the first step I ran. And ran and ran as fast as I could.
Within a minute we hit the first hill and I pushed the automatic thought of "oh man this is gonna be a long 10km" aside and surged up it. And surprisingly passed some people and just kept going! Trail running is an interesting game. You surge, then slow through narrow little haphazard sections, then climb and feel like your about to pass out or your heart will explode then just before one of those things happen you hit a downhill and life's great again. You skip over rocks and pray that you don't twist your ankles. You navigate little rock walls, jump over tree branches, prey your foot doesn't slip and never take your eyes off the ground.
The trouble with never taking your eyes off the ground is these big mother-ass climbs come up outta nowhere and you try and be a hero surging up them, but then you end up heaving like a smoker in a coma and doing the walk of shame to the top. Trail games. So much fun :)
I felt so great finishing. I wanted to turn up, run hard and compete and not give up and I felt like I did that. Everyone is so polite and trail etiquette is second to none. People were stopping to make sure others were OK, stepping aside on the trails to let you through and so many people cheering at the finish line. Really fantastic feeling and warm crowd.
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| The trail finish line - Great spot! |
I would hands down do another event - tomorrow if I could. I only fell over once and skirted a rolled ankle 3 times (ankles are tougher then I thought). Amazing training and I feel like this is the way to get great run strength
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| Me after finishing. Spent. |
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| Perfect morning. Thanks Melbourne. You do behave when you need to |
Its also been a hard cat day too.
#thewholebookaustralia
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