This race is the only one on my schedule this year that is a trail race. I don’t remember why I picked it as one to do; likely because of where it falls in the training schedule. That, and trail races are hilly, and hills are speed work in disguise, as the saying goes. Also variety in training makes things a little less mundane.
I like trail running, and I especially love the 5 Peaks series.
It hurts up to a point and then it doesn’t get any worse. – Ann Trason
Today’s stage is the shortest of all, a mere 10km down a nice flat net downhill route. Sounds easy, compared to all the other stages we’ve run this week. But it does come after arguably the hardest stage, and the idea is to run fast and catch up to the person in front of you.
(This blog entry has both stage 4 and 5 in them. I was lazy in my day off, and didn’t manage to get the entry finished. Sorry!)
The one thing that I really appreciate about being a runner is the incredible friendships and camaraderie that we, as runners, share. Although it will always be a cutthroat competition for every spot on every team, our companionship transcends these competitive rivalries. – Jen Rhines
You have a choice. You can throw in the towel, or you can use it to wipe the sweat off of your face. – Gatorade Ad
Today’s stage is the first real test of endurance, both physical and mental. With the problems I’ve had with my IT band and knee, it will be the make or break stage; decide whether I continue with my quest to finish my fourth ENDURrun, or whether I succumb to the injury and watch from the sidelines.
Beyond the very extreme of fatigue and distress, we may find amounts of ease and power we never dreamed ourselves to own; sources of strength never taxed at all because we never push through the obstruction” – William James
Today’s stage is slightly different than the other stages, in that it is a time trial. What does that mean? All the runners are ranked in reverse order based on their finishing times from Stage 1.
Tomorrow is another day, and there will be another battle! –Sebastian Coe (a few minutes after a 2nd place finish in the 800m Olympic Games final in Moscow 1980, he later won the 1500m , he had been favored to win the 800m)
It’s 5:45am, and I’m wide awake. I have been for the last hour or so. In fact, I’ve been up on and off all night. I never sleep well the night before a race, and last night was no exception.
Your body will argue that there is no justifiable reason to continue. Your only recourse is to call on your spirit, which fortunately functions independently of logic. –Tim Noakes
It’s 10:22pm in Waterloo, ON, and I’m getting ready to do another ENDURrun. Hard to believe it’s come so fast. Feels like yesterday that I finished the 2011 version. But here I set, in Chateau Laurier, after having unpacked my suitcase, stowed all my food and cooking utensils, and packed up my race bag for tomorrow.