Finally a trail run with a little bit more altitude difference. On the Posbank we already touched the 500 altitude difference but that was a 30 kilometer trail run. I entered the half marathon and it has about 690 altitude difference. So the question I asked myself was, will I notice that and how hard will the course be.
I was in the back at the start, together with Dafne. We both were not aiming at a fast finish time. The first 500 meters already were setting the tone for the rest of the distance, up hill in the town towards the meadow at the town border. I said goodbye to Dafne because the meadow was going downhill and I like going downhill! Most people stayed on the muddy path created by the runners before us but I went to the side where there still was no mud and only grass. Perhaps I was making a little bit more distance like this but I could go faster and easier.
My main goal for this trail run was, don't over do it. Don't spend to much energy going uphill and take a moment to recover when you're on the flat again. And when the ground felt like going fast downhill, do it! You can gain a lot of time on other runners who don't like going downhill. To me it's all about trust. Trusting the soil, astimate the grip and choose a speed according to that. Two or three times I immediatly went slower because there were stones onder the leaves and I don't want to compensate almost spraining my anckle at high speeds.
But I managed to listen to my assignement and went a few times uphill walking and catching my breath on the flat. And also doing some beautiful downhill running when it was possible. I only made one mistake and paid by diving into the ground. Lesson learned. After the race I saw both my elbows were a bit bloody, small cut but I didn't notice it while running. I Also had two abbrasions at my right pink, but it was bleeding, much.
The last kilometer was the meadow we had after the start, it was muddy now and you had to look where the good parts were to go fast without sliding. And then we were in the town again, doing some more speed downhill towards the finish. After finishing I wasn't really tired, I felt like doing another run. So that tells me I did a good job in not overdoing it today.