Ran my first trail race Saturday. Went pretty well except for it being cut in half due to heat (apparently an older guy actually went down on the course and passed away later). That awfulness aside, I finished 10th out of 180 or so and 2nd in my age group. It was a lot of fun, so I’m going to sign up for a 25km trail race in October. Should be substantially cooler and I’ll be better prepared.

    303abuser

    Heat is no joke. It gets HOT routinely inland from where I am. A fellow, who had ultramarathon experience, got disoriented along the Redwood ridge area last year. Wandered off the trail in 106 F heat. When they found the poor guy, his GPS showed he was stumbling about in circles before finding his final deathbed against a tree. Real shame. Usually a popular hiking trail, somebody would have been around to help on better days, but not in heat like that. Congrats on the finish, 303, but be safe out there.

      jonattonyeah Thanks, I was really surprised by it. It’s been way cooler than normal this year, so training for the heat has been really difficult and Saturday was the hottest day we’ve had so far. I was running at a reasonable pace, legs felt great, heart rate was low, but I kept feeling gassed at the top of the steep climbs. I feel terrible for him and his family, he seemed very well liked in the running community.

      Nice one, 303. Sounds hardcore, that’s some feat. Hope you treated yourself to some ben & jerrys at the end of it, at the very least.

        303abuser
        Good effort at our young age. I’m sure Hursty could give you some tips seeing as it’s his thing also.

          303abuser nice one 303, glad you enjoyed it and achieved a great result! Nothing beats being out on the trails.

          Sorry to hear about the chap who kopped it.

          Steep climbs smash everyone, the more you do in training the faster you get but they are still hard!

            I was determined to do a half marathon in under 2 hours this year. First one I fucked up as it was laps, and I ended up doing 1 lap less then I should have done. 2nd one was a trail run (which I didn’t realise), so took longer as a result. Did it in 2.10. So now have a 3rd one booked in for Oct, which is not laps or a trail run. Going to (hopefully) smash that 2 hour barrier

            Not sure I would want to do anything over a half marathon, but do want another challenge for next year. I need the challenge to motivate me to get out and do more exercise

              RichM RideLondon route goes past Chelmsford - train for that - you can go as easy or as hard as you like - it’s nowhere near as soul destroying as a marathon.

                RichM they have shorter routes, so could train and ride on the hybrid, but just save time now and get yourself a proper bike already!

                zackster nice! I skate pretty regularly, but not sure I’d be so confident trying to shoot pucks. Might have to give one of the local hockey ‘start up’ courses a go one day for a laugh.

                In this heat I run on a treadmill in an air conditioned gym.

                Which is nice.

                Played Astro last night in the heat, was like playing in a oven, talk about suffering

                Luckily the Standard Charterd Great City race around the city of London was cancelled, would have been hell running that after work today

                Played two hours of doubles (tennis) last night. Balls were flying in this heat.

                Lol. Would say that’s more down to your age, Dan.

                rhouses Outside of the heat, it actually wouldn’t have been too bad, just lots of effort. And lol, no ice cream, but I did eat enough for two people.

                Dubman Thanks, I’m pretty happy with how I did given it was the first one. Really looking forward to the 25 km race in October. Hursty’s definitely on a different planet from me yet.

                Hursty Cheers, I absolutely love trail running. Have to go back to mostly roads for a month to get ready for the half marathon, but I’ll do mostly trails after that. Have to decide by December if I’m going to sign up for the 50 km in September of next year. I seem to be hooked on it. And you’re right about the hills, you get faster, but the perceived effort doesn’t really change.

                  RichM Good luck with the half, you’ve got lots of time to train to get under two hours given your past times. The challenge to me is the best part of it. I’m curios to see where my limit is and that’s what drives me to keep training.