The Devilbend folks designed a pretty cool medal, I must say.
It was a wet and chilly morning. The thought of spending the Sunday morning in with the kids was very tempting on a day like this, but it would make sense to stick to a routine that worked. The core still felt warm after a solid Bikram Yoga session the day before, so all I needed was 500 rope jumps and a short black to get started.
Arriving at the Devilbend Natural Features Reserve on the Mornington Peninsula on time, we noted the start had been pushed back a bit due to the weather. But it turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as we got to watch the kids finishing off their fun race with great gusto. It is always an amazing sight to see children of all ages showing their resilience on tracks.
I do not usually check out elevation profiles of new courses, so as with most other races, I started conservatively, giving myself a chance to experience the new terrain and to observe how the course was panning out. It was also an effective routine to let the mind-body process the task ahead.
After about 3 kms, the mind-body settled into a natural rhythm. 5 kms in, with the legs somewhat warmed up, I started pushing, and kept on increasing pace all the way to the end. The course was not very hilly, but undulating throughout, which made it tricky to build up a good cruising speed. It was one of those rare races in which I found myself passing runners but not being passed by anyone. Murakami probably would have been proud of the effort.
I finished the race just before it bucketed down. The heavy rain with sweeping gale felt almost monsoonal. The runners who finished behind me were drenched, most with beaming faces even when they started to shiver shortly after the finish line.
Finishing the race about 3 minutes faster than in Run Melbourne the prior week, I felt the legs starting to cramp towards the last 1 km. With nutritional level being kept at a fair mark, this was an indication that there would need to be more mileage in the weekly routine.
There are five weeks of training left before I need to taper for the first mountain ultra towards the end of September. There does not seem to be enough time to train for this mountain run, but then, when was there ever enough time to prepare for an event outside of one’s comfort zone?!