The initial climb took me 15 minutes, one more than expected. I went by HR, but was still a bit higher than I wanted to be.

After that, there's a 5 to 6k stretch which is somewhat hilly but entirely runnable. I made up ground on the downhills but got passed on the flats.

Then we ran on singletrack for about 10 min. until reaching a stream. Tripped on the rocks as I, adrenaline-blinded, tried to pass on the outside. Managed to cross and began a short but steep climb. From then on, I just ran hard on the flats and downhills and gritted my teeth on the climbs. "Short steps at a high cadence."

I opted to skip my scheduled Powergel because of all the jumping and bouncing around.

The women's race ended in the final climb (Km 8); I don't understand why the course was shorter for them. Most of these girls are really tough, some even managing to finish top 10 overall in other mountain races.

From then on, I began the steep downhill run to the bottom. There was a course change, which resulted in a shorter distance covered. Aware of this, I pushed hard and passed at least a dozen other runners. I had good control, pace and sighting in the descent in spite of very limited practice in recent years.

About 5 minutes from the finish, I jumped off a rock and got calf cramps in the air! I shook it off and got back on track but had to slow down and wasn't as agile as before. While stretching my calf during the cramping episode I got passed by 3 runners. After regaining composure, I managed to pass one of them with the other two in sight. With 100 meters to go, they were within my sprinting distance, so I took off. Sadly, my calf locked up again and I came in 2 seconds behind them.

My calf cramped up for two reasons: I didn't eat when I was supposed to and my legs are unaccostumed to the beating involved in mountain running, especially in the downhill sections.

I still felt like a goat on the steep downward stuff, except for the cramps of course and climbed better than expected, never losing my energy level.

Specific training! My only serious technical trail runs were this past Tuesday and Thursday.




Another, rather short, step toward UTMB 2010!