Reality strikes back

Don't you hate it when expectations don't quite measure up to reality. The run last night was a timed ("score") event - for a B course, you get 50 minutes to run around and visit as many controls as you can. You lose points if you're late back, so it pays to watch the time.

I started off fairly strongly (why do the first 5-10 minutes hurt so much?!), and apart from a few dodgy route choices which don't affect mileage much, I was doing okay - making an effort to run hard between controls, and walk a few minutes on the way to the next one. I DIED at 45 minutes. I'd just punched my last control, put my foot down for the homeward run... and no gas in the tank. The last 3 minutes to home was AGONY! If I didn't have a deadline, I would have walked for sure. And once I'd finished, I had to walk around the park for another 5 minutes or so until my body was back under control.

On reflection though, I had a good run - even though the numbers don't stack up that well: 7.5km in 48 minutes. The area is moderately hilly, and about 1/4 of the distance was through park trails.

And we had our club BBQ afterwards, with probably 50 people staying for food (apologies to any other groups at Blackburn Lake last night!). Two hamburger patties, one sausage, 2 pieces of Xmas cake, some biscuits and a cherry. Sure beats the usual milkshake after a run. :-)