The excursion started in the Tsim Sha Tsui area of Hong Kong, when we tried to find our hostel. Carol came with me, and we had reserved a room with two twin beds, which were in high demand I guess. There's a big trade fare going on in Hong Kong, so most places were booked. I found a good cheap place anyway, but we had trouble finding it since I'd never been there before. It was in the Chung King Mansion, beside the Mirador Mansion where we have stayed in the past.
Like Mirador, the Chung King Mansion is not a mansion...both buildings are old firetraps with sketchy stairwells and rickety elevators. I love the buildings though, since they bring so much character, and are really cheap! The Chung King Mansions are a meeting place for Hong Kong's Indian community, so there are hundreds of Indians milling around the many shops and restaurants on the first two floors. There are a lot of cell phone shops, electronic shops, garment factories, and places selling Indian DVDs. The best curry houses in HK can be found around Chung King.
Our room was really clean, really cheap, and the staff were friendly. We didn't have a window, so that was good as it meant we didn't have to listen to street noise all night. The air conditioner was broken, but the ceiling fan worked well enough since the night wasn't too hot.
I got an OK sleep, but pre-race nerves kept me from having a deep sleep, but I'm used to that by now. At least it wasn't people jiggling my door knob this time! We had to wake up early, to catch a 7am ferry to Lantau Island. There was a later one, but I wanted to get to the start early enough to get a good warm-up in, look at the first bit of the course, and get comfortable.
We were running a bit late, and almost missed the ferry...I hadn't scoped out the pier we had to get to, other than looking at a bad map on the internet. We got off the subway, and followed an arrow toward Central Pier 6, where we had to go. But then there were no more signs, and I thought we wouldn't make it since I had no idea where to go. Finally we found out we had to travel for a few blocks along an elevated bridge to the piers. I broke into run, since I had to make it to the pier before the ferry shoved off in a couple minutes! I ran as hard as I could in my flip flops and backpack, with Carol giving it her all behind me. Another runner with a helmet saw me blow by him and took up the chase too.
I got to the pier and saw the ferry hadn't left yet, and I was able to hold it for Carol, the other runner, and his girlfriend. Carol chugged into the terminal last, and just in time! She was exhausted from the early morning 500m sprint!
The ferry would go to Launtau Island, and it would be a 55 minute sailing to get there. I was tired, so I tried to catch some more sleep. It's interesting that I was able to sleep (lightly) on the ferry, but had trouble doing the same in my bed!
In Hong Kong there are signs everywhere with tips about how to avoid avian flu, like staying away from live chickens. Mainland China has had a few recent cases, a few in Guangzhou, and some further north. So, with avian flu threatening a come-back, I found it interesting that we shared the ferry ride with a shipment of live poultry, especially when they tell us to avoid them.
We got to the start, at Mui Wo on Lantau. What a wonderful little community! There was a small ferry pier where lots of bikes were parked, and the whole area had a nice small-town and uncrowded vibe that you don't get in other busier parts of Hong Kong. I could live on Lantau for sure. The ocean is close, there are mountains, there is lots of space, and it's beautiful. It reminds me of BC a bit! When we were there, it was an overcast day and the mist clung to the sides of the mountains, just like it does on Vancouver Island.
The race was to start at Mui Wo, and finish at the Pui O beach. The runners would run overland, while the volunteers and spectators would have to take a ten minute bus ride to get to the finish line.
The race started on the road, where we were to run for about 800m before the course veered off onto a single-file trail that snaked its way up into the mountains. It would be really important to get a good start, since I was expecting a huge bottleneck a few minutes into the race.
The race director is always hyper-sensitive about displaying the sponsors' banners. This time, he had them put right at the start line, blocking everything except a ten-foot wide opening. He wouldn't let anyone stand in front of the banners either. This was a silly choice, since he's got about two hundred runners to accommodate! After awhile he stopped policing the banners, as you can see a few people in front of them. I didn't want to deal with a scrum before the race even started, and I had already been told not line up in front of the banners so I lined up way over to the side, right on the edge of the water. It was a good place to start, and I was happy with it even though I was dangerously close to falling into the water. That's me in my lucky yellow racing shirt. I wear it every race.
My start was good, and I was in an excellent position by the time we got to the single-file trail. I didn't have to elbow for room, since the road had been wide enough for all of us. I pounded it up the mountain and kept advancing, passing many runners, some that I knew were really fast. I was thinking about my hill training and how it must be helping me dominate the steep grade.
After about fifteen minutes though, I started to pay for my fast start. My legs began to feel stiff, and I didn't feel like I was able to push and bound up the hills like I had been minutes before, and had been able to in the other races. My form began to suffer and I felt like I was simply trudging along slowly. The runners who I passed earlier began to return the favour. I think this can be attributed to my poor training the two weeks before the race. It had rained a lot in Guangzhou, and I didn't have the ambition to go out and run so my training was sporadic and low quality. My fitness must have taken a hit, and I felt it almost right away in this race. I wanted to run faster and better, but I couldn't. My mind was willing, but my flesh was weak! My poor preparation and my overly ambitious start were taking their toll.
I kept chugging away, and was still in the company of some fast runners I recognized from the other racers. I lost a lot of ground on the steep downhills, and got passed more than I would have liked. The trail was covered in large cow pies, so that told me that there were some free range cattle around! I really liked the rural feel of the race course.
The course started with 8K of trail running, and most of this was up and down big hills. The second part of the course, the last 4K, was a combination of coastline rocks, and, like every race, a long river gorge section.
We would run by the finish line on the beach, and then do a smallish loop. This loop started with sand running, morphed into intense coastline rock-scrambling where the sand ended, and then turned off up a river gorge. After the river gorge, we would run a short trail back down to the coastline and finish on the beach.
The terrain of the first 8K was reletively familiar for me, since it was mostly rocky trail. I knew the last 4K would be my downfall though, since I know rock scrambling and negotiating river gorges are my weakest sections in these races. As I ran along in the sand nearing the end of the beach and beginning of the rock sections, I passed three random cows just chilling on the beach. They were about ten feet away from where we ran, and they just idly watched me run buy as they absentmindedly chewed. There have been many times during these races when I wished I had a camera (and the time to take pictures), and this was definitely one of those times!
My goal after last race was to not get beat mentally by the river and rock sections, so I took it a bit easier this time. I tried not to stress about time because I know I can't go quickly in there anyway. I wonder if the humourous cattle crossing helped me take this section less seriously.
I went as fast as I could, but didn't get upset about losing places when people passed me. I got passed a lot in the last 4K! It was so tough. Since it was mid to high tide, the coastline section had us wading and swimming through the ocean in parts, avoiding waves and trying to stay near the rocks so we wouldn't float out to sea. It was impossible for me to run, since the course contained water, or huge rocks we had to climb up, over, and down. We also had to run along a rock beach section, where the rocks ranged from baseball to basketball size, so it was hard to run on that too. For me, it was all about picking a safe-looking line.
The river gorge section was really tough too. The past two races had us running up mostly dry river gorges, but this river was flowing. There were vines hanging from the trees and dangling into the water, and lots of animals and insects were busy making noise. It felt and sounded like a jungle in some parts! We had to wade in and out of the water numerous times, and cling to the rocks so we wouldn't fall in. I have been working on my upper body strength lately, and that helped me as I had to hoist myself up and over big boulders. We had to climb steep sections with ropes again, holding on to the knots. There was one place where it was too steep for ropes, so they had strung a cargo net over the section that we had to climb. That was pretty fun and interesting, as I've never tackled a cargo net before. Unlike last race, I managed to not fall in this river gorge section.
By the time I got back to the last 500m of beach running, I was whipped. Even though I didn't push it on the rocky sections, the climbing and scrambling had done me in. I ran as fast as I could toward the finish line, but it was so hard to keep a good pace. I tried to finish strong and did, but I was in pain for sure.
Carol took these good pictures of me finishing. In the first, you can see me about 50m from the line. In the distance you might be able to see where the sandy beach ends, and the rocks begin (remember, click on the picture to make it bigger). We had to run along those rocks for about one kilometre before we turned off into the river gorge. It was definitely some really tough terrain! While we were finishing, we had to negotiate a final obstacle...moms and babies! They were there to cheer on their fathers who were racing. Carol said the moms couldn't control the kids, and they kept running in front of racers in their final, painful last strides.
This race was pretty good all around, and I found myself having more fun than last race. I'll be interested to see the results when they come out. Some racers passed me who I beat last race, and I felt like I got passed more than any other race. Carol said I did pretty well overall though, so we'll see where I placed. I had more fun in this race because I didn't take the rocky sections as seriously and concentrated on being careful.
I wasn't careful enough though. It rained through some parts of the race, and twice I slipped on some wet rocks and painfully rolled my ankle. I should have gone out a bit slower off the line, and conserved some energy. I wonder if my tiredness had a hand in me hurting my ankle. Both times I went over on it, I had to pull up in a limp, grimacing and grunting in pain. I kept running slowly though, and gradually increased my speed as the pain ebbed away. Today, a day after the race, my ankle is still swollen and sore. It hurts in the morning after it's been inactive through the night, but in the day it's not as bad once I get it moving. To be safe, I'm not going to run until I can do it with confidence.
I made some costly mistakes in this race, beginning with lazy training beforehand, and then starting too fast on race day. I took my body out of the race too early, and struggled for the rest of the race. It would have been nice to feel dynamic and spry like I have before, but this race I just felt slow and sluggish. I sure hope to finish the race series on a fast note in two weeks! If my ankle lets me, I'm aiming for solid pre-race training.
My running gear was soaked through after the race, since we had to wade through lots of water. Here I am happy to be done racing, putting my gear into a plastic bag after I had showered and changed.
Carol enjoys some of the free bevies after the race. In the background are a number of Asian runners who are happy to pose with two female racers their age who are white. The white girl on the viewers right has gotten steadily faster through the races. In the first race, she came in pretty late, and collapsed over the line and had to be helped by the paramedics for huge bloody blisters and (presumably) dehydration. The next race, she won her category and took home a really expensive Suunto training watch. This race, she placed third over-all in the women's category, and got a cash prize for her efforts.
So, the next race is in two weeks and will close out the series. If I can keep my training up, I hope I can run well. There are points awarded after each race, so we'll see what my race series point total and final over all series place will be.
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