I just got back from Hong Kong after another weekend of racing. Well, only a Sunday of racing, but it takes pretty well the whole weekend to get there, race, and get back. This race was to be on the south side of Hong Kong Island, at a place called Repulse Bay Beach. I was looking forward to seeing another part of Hong Kong that I probably wouldn't go to otherwise.
I was a bit nervous about how this race would go because I hadn't run since Wednesday. My body felt really fatigued and I was worried that I was over-training, so I took some days off.
I knew my weakness last race was my start and my lack of warm-up, so my goal this time was to get to the start early, get a quality warm up in, and better my position off the start command.
I slept at a new hostel on Saturday night, because my usual one was all booked up due to the World Rugby Sevens tournament being in town. The new place was OK, but the manager and the helper decided to jiggle my door knob at midnight for some reason. Maybe it was to make sure that I had locked it, or maybe to see if I was home, or maybe to try and kidnap me. Whatever the reason, it was really annoying. The room was small, and the door was only about 4 feet from my bed, so I heard it being twisted and tried, so I got out of bed to investigate. Apple the manager (I've noticed a lot of Chinese named Apple...they choose their own English names sometimes) said "Sorry sorry sorry!" and I scowled and went back to bed muttering.
I never sleep well in Hong Kong for some reason, and Saturday night was no different, with the late-night door knob jiggling adding to my sleeplessness. When my alarm went off, I slept for an extra half-hour because I was so tired, knowing that my warm-up time would be sacrificed. I got to the race half an hour before it started, but that was just enough time to get my bib, get changed, and check my bag. I didn't have time for a warm-up, other than a few sprints near the start. Next race I will definitely warm up for longer!
We had to start on the beach, and running in sand is tough. I started fairly close to the line this time, and it was a good plan. I heard there were 250 people in this race, so it was packed. This race I decided to take a page from my highschool cross-country running book, putting out the elbows and jostled my way into position off the gun. Last race I was timid off the line, but this race I was aggressive. It turned out well for me as I didn't have to work as hard to get into a good position later in the race.
We ran a small loop in the sand, and then headed for the pier. We all jumped off the pier into the water that was deep enough that I couldn't touch the bottom at first. I was conscious of water getting in my ears, so I kept my head as high as I could. I'd say the swim was less then a minute long, but it was still interesting because I felt the salt water hit my lips and that surprised me, even though I knew it was coming. This early race swim drenched my shoes and my clothes, and I had to run in this heavy gear for the rest of the race.
The trail then went straight up for the next 38 minutes...some was run-able, some was not. The last section of uphill was pretty much bushwhacking, and running was impossible. I was behind one guy for longer than I would have liked, but it was so tight I wasn't able to pass him. I knew we were getting pretty high when runners in front of me started disappearing into the mist/fog/clouds. It was a cloudy day with a low ceiling, but that is still some pretty serious elevation gain. We came to the top of the mountain, and the view would have been awesome if I wasn't in racing mode. The ocean was just below, with small islands floating all over and boats travelling about. Well, I figure there were boats. I didn't take the time to look, as I had to concentrate on the next section of the race.
We ran down a very steep dirt grade after we reached the summit, and we had to hold on to grass to keep our speed down. I lost control in one place, and ended up crashing through some trail-side bushes and brambles before reining it back in. My hands now have various scratches and scars on them from all the work they got.
The next section was a few kilometres of river-bed running and rock scrambling. I knew there was a checkpoint at the beginning of the river gorge that was about 60% of the way through the race. This checkpoint came up a bit earlier than I suspected, and I was happy to know that I was feeling good and strong at this later stage in the race. It turned out that there were actually two long river rock sections, and they both had checkpoints at their beginnings...so that was disappointing when I realized that while I thought I was 60% done, I was probably less than half finished. My moral was under attack!
The rock scrambling sections took me out of race mentally. They were so long and wet, and it was impossible for me to keep traction. I fell at least four times, and got really frustrated. At the beginning of the canyon, I was with some fast guys and was sitting in 21st place. I could see 19th about 10 feet ahead of me, and really wanted to place in the teens if I could. But then, the riverbed got the best of me. I fell in a pool and couldn't get out, I fell on some rocks and cut up my knee, I slipped and slid all over the place, and was pretty much dominated by this section. I grew frustrated as the pack of runners disappeared into the distance, taking my hopes of placing 19th along with them. There were five of us running together at the start of the riverbed section, and by the end of it, I couldn't see or hear any one of them. After the race, two of the runners I started the section with chatted with me about how I was "all over the place in the river section." They think it was because of my shoe choice. I wear normal running shoes, while the fast guys wear trail runners. I always thought trail runners were marketing exercises, but I learned they have a stickier rubber compound for tread, and other features that would be handy in these types of conditions, like toe bumpers. I stubbed my toes so many times in there!
After the river gorges were finished, I was running on my own for the remainder of the race. We circumvented the mountain we'd run up at the start, running along a very level and flat sidewalk type thing that allowed maintenance access to the various catch-water basins. It was very curvy as it followed the contours of the mountain, and I got dizzy running there. I was on my own too, so it was a mental struggle to try and stay fast. I didn't see any course markings for quite a long time, and soon thought I was lost. I asked a recreational runner I passed if he had seen any other races, and he said he had, so I wasn't lost. Hurray!
I pulled into the finish line without any drama. Near the end I saw a racer about 50m ahead of me, but I knew I wouldn't be able to take him as he kept disappearing around corners a long time before I got to them. I finished strong even though I didn't have anyone to catch, trying to keep my form solid until the end. I noticed that I didn't have much energy for a kick, and that's good I guess, since it means I didn't leave anything on the course. I came across the line with a thin stream of blood on my leg from going down in the river canyon, but I was OK with it. I wiped it off.
I finished this race in 1:33:32, probably in 24th place or so. I knew my standing after hearing my place from a marshal just before my disastrous riverbed sections. I ran hard throughout the rest of the race, and I believe I was faster than last race. I'll wait to see the results, but I hope to jump a place or two in my age category.
All in all, it was a good race. Completing it wasn't as invigorating as last race was, and this race didn't pump me up for running like the last one did. I think I was really frustrated at my poor performance in the riverbed, and my attitude in that section put a damper on the whole experience. Next race I'll need to be stronger mentally and not get defeated by the terrain. I could buy some new trail shoes, but I think I'll continue to "run what I brung" and make them work.
After I was finished and cleaned up (they had showers on site) I stood about 100m from the finish line and clapped in all the runners encouraging them as they finished. Some were finishing the race an hour after I was done, which would be two and a half hours of difficult running. It can get pretty emotional watching people finish a tough race, because on some of their faces you can tell they've left their heart and soul on the trail! Running is great for that, and watching the runners find something extra to finish strong is one of the reasons I like going to these races.
The next run is in two weeks, and I'll try to better prepared to mentally deal with the terrain. I'll post the results of this race when they're up.
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