Trail Series Race # 2
Good news!! I enjoyed the trail run and I didn't come last. This time I was 149th out of 156 finishers and had a respectable time of 1:42 for the 11kms.
My Dad picked me up at 6am to take me to the venue, again there were great directions and markings to the venue. We arrived with an hour to spare - time to register my dad and collect his number (I kept my number from last week), also time to see quite a few people that we know.
I hadn't completely made up my mind about running in shoes or sandals. (I did a 4km run in my Asics road shoes on Saturday morning and didn't enjoy it. My feet felt hot, heavy and clumsy). I was still nervous about getting injured while wearing shoes and experiencing the pain that caused me to move out of shoes. The voice in my head kept reminding me "See how it goes". I was also doubting that running shoes would make much of a difference and that I would really need to try trail shoes. Anyway, after alot of mumbo-jumbo going on inside my head, I put my socks and shoes on and went to line up.
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| Jordy, Solly and Alan |
The race started with an uphill which was a bit harsh - I find that it is difficult and I am slow to get into a comfortable pace on the trails and so starting on an uphill slowed things a bit. I was also feeling out of breath which I could at least ascribe to the hill. Once getting up the side of the hill, the trail levelled out and was "a path with rocks" rather than what I think of as just rocks on last weeks run.
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| Almost up the hill |
I almost fell once and almost twisted my ankle four times, all before the half-way mark. I am quite confident that this was purely because I was wearing shoes. I found myself landing harder on the ground because I could and in that process I wasn't as relaxed in my ankles. I'm finding it hard to explain myself ... when I run barefoot/in sandals, my feet are relaxed and my ankles are strong, it's asif my feet mould to the terrain I am on. In shoes, on the trail, I found that my ankles were bending to the point of almost twisting. I also had to re-learn to lift my feet up higher than I am used to because of the (2-4cm) deep sole, and this caused me to trip a couple of times, once almost ending in a fall once. By halfway I had found my groove, partly because I could run faster in shoes and because the terrain wasn't too harsh. I happily ran, enjoying the view, looking for wildlife (which I never saw), enjoying the conversations going on around me and grateful that I was running rather than mountain biking. I loved the marshal at the 9km marked who was directing us to turn to the "KFC".
Alan finished 25 minutes ahead of me and enjoyed his first ever trail race.
I got home in time to have a quick shower and go off with the family to watch my youngest in her first ever horse jumping stable show.
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| First Horse-jumping Stable Show |
2 comments:
Glad you had a good time! Yes, the transition back to shoes would take some time. Having said that, I have plenty “nearly falls” during each trail run. Luckily I’ve only had one bad fall and just a few minor falls. Have a great week!
Congratulations!
Since coming off my injury I've been running some of my runs in shoes to get the miles and I am questioning the wisdom of it. Old aches and pains are coming back. I am thinking of building up my mileage going barefoot.
Great that you had a good time.
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