That’s what it means – Lidingöloppet. On one hand I know why, even though I “only” did half the distance of the classic race, but on the other it wasn’t because of the tough terrain, the terrible surfaces, the steep hills… No, I kept thinking where’s the terrain that everyone talks about, and why aren’t the hills any worse? People were walking up the first hill, after not even a mile! OK, so there was a practically vertical rock face somewhere in the middle but it was only about 25 m and I only had to walk it due to my non-existent grip on my shoes. I’m telling you now, Mizuno Wave Nirvana’s aren’t great on flat, wet bedrock!
Not much to say about the race itself, I ran, it felt great, it wasn’t that hard and I loved it. But my stupid left calf didn’t! It started with a niggle after about 3K, and as I was as far away from the start and finish (different places) I thought I might as well just stretch and continue. In the end I think I had to stop and stretch close to 10 times… Towards the end my right thigh started hurting too due to my cute limping-type stride but by then I could almost hear the sound system at the finish so no way was I going to give up then!
My official time was 1:46:28. I think without the stretch stops, and also a portaloo visit, I could’ve shaved off a bit over 10 minutes, which seems about right after my 28:32 5K “trail” run a month ago. I’d said before the race that no way am I going to spend more than 1:45 out there so I’m pretty pleased with my time really.
These pics tell a pretty good tale: 
The left one is from 4.7K, legs were happy (calf was by then still only “there”, not hurting quite yet) and I kept overtaking people. On the right though… This is from just before the finish, 10K later, and here I knew what the little mermaid felt like! Seconds later I spotted the camera and attempted a smile, but at this point I even thought the grass could’ve been cut a bit shorter. I should have pulled out, but when I’ve no idea where I was, plus didn’t see any stewards, I figured I’d have to walk the whole route anyway so why not continue… Clever girl.
If anyone is into ice hockey at all I got my ass kicked by The King himself: Börje Salming. Had my calf been ok when he overtook me I wouldn’t have let him escape into the distance…
Sounds like a tough race but you stuck it out and that says a lot! Great action shots-your arms are so tone!
ReplyDeleteLindsay: They're not though! Great photographer :) But I need to work on them, I know that after seeing those shots - so it's not just a fluke when they look good, ha ha.
ReplyDeleteYeah it was tough with the calf, hopefully that'll sort itself out soon...