Mud and holidays!

It was cross-country day in Stockport today. Apart from the one I did in Heaton Park a few weeks back, I've not raced these things for many years. Cross-country's were always horrible experiences. One year in Gorebridge on a very wet winter's day, I found myself in an ambulance in the 1st stages on hypothermia. I'll never forget the look of disbelief from the ambulance man when I popped on my cycling helmet and jumped on my bike. He shouted me back and advised against riding but everyone had left by this stage and there was no chance of a lift home.

Fortunately, the sun forecast to be out all day today, and this prediction proved correct. I was acting like a bit of a knob when getting ready. I perceived that Rosemary was getting in my way and she was asking me questions when I was focussing on other things. Grrr. But then she was really helpful in memorising the roads we needed to follow to get to the race start.

The ride there was nearly all down hill and it got the wee bit of residual fatigue from yesterday's ride out of the legs. After a small 'discussion' on where to lock the bikes, R took over ensuring that the only thing I had to worry about was getting changed. That left 20 minutes for a warm-up which was ideal. The field around the staring area was utterly waterlogged and my feet were soon soaked.

The camaraderie at cross-country is so much better than at other events. There's no bikes or wetsuits to worry about and everyone is more chilled. What's more I could enter 10 seasons worth of cross-country for the price of one triathlon (seriously). It's also great that crowds are quite large, mainly made up of families and team mates who have competed in earlier categories.

Bang! The starters gun went off and we headed down into the woods like a herd of bison being chased by lions. It was tough running as the course was muddy with line selection being impossible in such a large field. The 1st time down the steep wooded descent was scary, especially with the steps at the bottom. However, the mud was sticky and footing in the ankle deep gloop was good.

I had been warned of a short steep hill but it was tougher than expected. I picked the wrong line first time up and slithered a bit as a result. "Relax baldman, relax" I thought as I reached the top. I passed quite a few people in the next section, even though I was running within myself. Rosemary was cheering loudly as but I was so focused that my gaze didn't move away from the running line. Sheesh....I have the mind-set of an elite racer and the physiological ability of a lame donkey.

The next lap was fun and I did the descent much better. Neil at work has been advising me and he was one of the world's best adventure racers, so I trust him. "Run downhill like a girl" he says...."arms out and rotate the hands a little". It seemed to work. Coming through the finishing area again was brill as there was plenty cheering from the girls who'd been in the previous race. I was passing more people than were passing me.....and just wished that there were more flat bits in which I'm at my best.

The final climb was really hard but I just about managed to run it all. Strangely, I would have hoped for another lap as I wasn't slowing when others were. A guy from the Wilmslow club had been with me for the duration and I could sense he wanted to beat me. But I passed him and kicked hard (a running expression, not an act of violence). His ventilation was at a point where I knew I had him! Mark from my club came into view so I decided to chase him down, with me catching him rapidly. Boooo, he just pipped me by 5m and I jokingly call him a little f***er as soon as I could speak.
Sophie arrived with a box of chocolate brownies, a most welcome treat. It was such a tough but fun race.

The ride home, nearly all uphill, was quite challenging even though pace was slow. The best bit was getting home as Rosemary got me tea, oatcakes n cheese. Even better was that my dinner was cooked for me as I lay in the bath. It's been 4 years and 4 days since we started going out. I forgot the date of anniversary....she didn't. I got a lovely card with a sea slug on it (I like that sorta stuff) oh....and a wee holiday itinerary for a trip to Mount Etna in the spring! Yahhhh beauty!