My legs were toast and I had no power. My low-back muscles were seizing u on lap 1, my arms were hurting on lap 2, and everything was jelly on lap 3. My mind was not in the game and I took a wrong turn on lap 1.

I know this course having raced it many times. At one junction, I saw the arrow pointing right, but I recognized that arrow from yesterday's triathlon - since the trail run and the mtb course are the same in some spots. Somehow I thought the arrow was a leftover from yesterday's race so I shouldn't follow it. After a few minutes of riding, I knew I had a made a mistake and had to turn around. It probably cost ne 5 or 10 minutes but the mental hit was the worst. My tire pressure was too high and the bike felt too bouncy.

Next year, if I do this race the day after a tri, only sign up for the novice distance.

A beautiful course and surprisingly dry. Some of the old slash has been cleared away, but the new single track is still pretty rough and stumpy.