Muddy, slippery and immensely fun

by klcovansky on 21 June, 2013

Panting and wheezing I tried not to slip and twist my ankle between the muddy tree roots, careening down the soft trail towards the end of the first lap. Seeing miss H, at the moment serving as my personal photographer, I tried to increase my pace to impress the missus and managed a weak smile at the camera. This particular Salomon Trail Tour was my fourth one out of a total of six races this summer. The first couple of competitions were pretty muddy and wet but the sun shone bright and warm last Monday, promising a lovely afternoon in the woods. Running these tours have not only served as high intensive training but also as a form of preparation for running races and getting accustomed to running with a number on my chest, feeling the pressure of trying to beat other runners to the finish line. I always get nervous before a race and this kind of training has been particularly beneficial for me. Also, it’s a lot easier trying to keep your pace up when you’re chasing someone. After I passed miss H to begin lap number two, I latched on to a fast girl with a quick step between the rocks of the trail and finally managed to pass her when the trail widened a bit further on. With a couple of hundred meters left I smilingly passed one of the race officials taking photos, giving him the thumbs up. He called out after me: You’re pretty fit if you can manage to smile like that! I turned my head slightly, replying: You always have to smile when someone’s taking your picture!

The evening ended with a PB, finally breaking 37 minutes on the 7 km with a final time of 36:45. I even managed a negative split on the second lap, running it 13 seconds faster than the first one. You can find the results right here. Wonderful!