Balmullo Mud Wallow
I was pretty nervous about the final race of the fife midweek series. I had not run the route before but had found it on Garmin Connect and it was quite clearly more a hill race than a trail race. The first 2.5 miles were pretty much all up, with the route climbing to the top of Lucklaw Hill. Still, I like running downhill...
I drove over with Andrew and after entering we went for an early warm up. After the dynamic I was feeling a bit foggy so took my blood sugar levels and was horrified to find it was low. Not a good place to be before the race had even started... I rummaged in the boot for the old box of Viper that had been there for several months and added three scoops to the one already in my bottle. I won't pretend that it tasted good at that concentration.
My fears seemed well-founded as, over the first half mile, more and more people overtook me. Then the Viper kicked in and I picked up my pace. The grass sections had suffered from the recent high rainfall and had disappeared under inches of mud. Where there wasn't mud there was standing water. I began to enjoy myself. The final section of ascent after a stretch across a cow field was through shrubs to the summit. I felt great at the top with Fife spread out below. My concentration on the descent was good and I pushed hard. Getting back up the mud slide was pretty tough, and grasping a bunch of stinging nettles for leverage was unwise.
My blood sugar high ran out with about three quarters of a mile to go but I could see the farm buildings that heralded the finish line and focused on catching and passing whoever was one place ahead. I think I took three places. Finally the only person still feasibly catchable was Amie and I pressed on and on but she was running really well and despite going all out she finished two seconds ahead of me. I pulled up, suddenly fearful of the worsening tunnel vision. I got my keys off Ron, unable to understand what he said to me, and headed back to the car. I filled up on sugar but before I came fully to my senses I decided to get changed in the car park. I blame Andrew for not sending me to the changing room! I recovered pretty quickly and headed into the hall for the prize giving. I came fifth in the race, which was enough to secure second overall in the series. I got a really smart, engraved medal in a presentation case.
Hill race or not, this is a fantastic course. Loved it :)
I drove over with Andrew and after entering we went for an early warm up. After the dynamic I was feeling a bit foggy so took my blood sugar levels and was horrified to find it was low. Not a good place to be before the race had even started... I rummaged in the boot for the old box of Viper that had been there for several months and added three scoops to the one already in my bottle. I won't pretend that it tasted good at that concentration.
My fears seemed well-founded as, over the first half mile, more and more people overtook me. Then the Viper kicked in and I picked up my pace. The grass sections had suffered from the recent high rainfall and had disappeared under inches of mud. Where there wasn't mud there was standing water. I began to enjoy myself. The final section of ascent after a stretch across a cow field was through shrubs to the summit. I felt great at the top with Fife spread out below. My concentration on the descent was good and I pushed hard. Getting back up the mud slide was pretty tough, and grasping a bunch of stinging nettles for leverage was unwise.
My blood sugar high ran out with about three quarters of a mile to go but I could see the farm buildings that heralded the finish line and focused on catching and passing whoever was one place ahead. I think I took three places. Finally the only person still feasibly catchable was Amie and I pressed on and on but she was running really well and despite going all out she finished two seconds ahead of me. I pulled up, suddenly fearful of the worsening tunnel vision. I got my keys off Ron, unable to understand what he said to me, and headed back to the car. I filled up on sugar but before I came fully to my senses I decided to get changed in the car park. I blame Andrew for not sending me to the changing room! I recovered pretty quickly and headed into the hall for the prize giving. I came fifth in the race, which was enough to secure second overall in the series. I got a really smart, engraved medal in a presentation case.
Hill race or not, this is a fantastic course. Loved it :)
Comments