it's better than doing it on tarmac, but not as good as doing it with the knobbies

once again, i heard myself muttering something to the effect of "i'm only running a piddly 6 miles, there'll be plenty of shade, and the fun singletrack will distract from any other complaints, it wont be that bad".

of course all of these statements were correct at the start line, and then again approximately 3 minutes after crossing the finish. it was the hour and some change in between where my heart rate spiked and pretty much stayed there. fortunately this did create an intermittent distraction from the high concentration of water fleeing my body which i am convinced was contributing to the equally dense air that was re-inhaled.

thankfully the 9 miles of 'elevation only' trail at next month's follow-up race will take my mind off minor things like breathing and excessive perspiration.