The Maze 10km - Trail race report

Highly disappoitned. It's my fault...

Mistake #1 - I didn't eat much on Saturday.
Mistake #2 - I ran a very hard 5 miles on the trail on Saturday Morning, so on Sunday my legs felt dead from the point I got out of bed at 5am.
Mistake # 3 - I was up till 1:30am watching the boxing fight and drank 5 beers that evening, and not much water all day to make up for the 5 beers.
Mistake # 4 - I didn't grab a timing chip as I didn't know it was chiptimed as last year was bib rip. So i'm not in the rankings.

I love the trail races. Next time there's no way I'm not preparing better.
The first half mile felt ok, but then it went south, my legs felt heavy all day, and I just started longing for the waterstop to come as I had already poured all my water on my head to try and cool down.
I slowed down to what felt like a crawl in many sections. But, surprisingly I was passing more people than people were passing me.

I could see a group of 3 people or so in front of me for the longest time, and all i wanted to do was keep them insight, and i'd take them towards the end.

Once I reached the waterstop, I stopped, ate 3 orange slices, got my waterbottle filled up, and drank two Heeds. I spent a good 60 seconds. I gave up on keeping up with the guys infront of me.

The 2nd part of the race was just as sucky for me. The trail itself is fantastic. Tons of water crossings which feels good, as the water is cold and your feet get refreshed from it. But all the 180 degree turns took their toll, and eventually I felt like I was crawling again.

I got tired and stopped picking up my feet, so I tripped over something and went flying face first to the dirt trail. I landed on my water bottle which burst open sending all the goodness out of it. No more head coolings.

I caught up with many of the 30K runners towards the last mile, and tried to pick up the pace as best I could.

I did do one thing that was smart... I bypassed the port-a-potties before the race and went on a 3 min warm up jog down from the fisnish line so I'd know what the terrain close to the finish would look like. As I recognized the terrain, I picked up the pace and passed 1 guy and never gave him a chance to pass me.

I finished with a 50min 16 seconds, which is IDENTICAL to my time at The Loop last year. I wanted sub 48mins... and that apparently would have been good enough for a prize as 5th place was in the 48s, and I easily could have shaved 2.5 mins had I prepared better.

Plus, I spent a good 60 seconds at the water stop, eating oranges, and pouring water on my head because i was so dehydrated and had bricks in my legs.

Oh well... such is life. But it was fun nonetheless!

Today, I'm tired and feel pretty beat up from all the running this weekend. My hips don't lie...