Coughing and cramping

While both Elin and Justin were able to set impressive new PRs, neither William nor I got the races that we had been hoping for. William was first out, running a course that was shortened to 850 meters this year with some really fast young runners. Sadly, the cold that he has been suffering from returned with coughing as he exerted himself, so in the end, the race was what it was. But he is already excited for Sunday when he will be running the 4 km junior version of “Gammliaterrängen” with other kids of the same age.

As for my race, I got to talk a bit to Justin as we were lining up to start which is always nice. Coincidentally, he will also be moving to the Gothenburg area this summer so hopefully we will be able to go for some trail running there in the future. Already before the race I was feeling quite a lot of heartburn (something that I rarely do), but I was hoping that it would go away once I started running. After the gun went off, the first kilometre was a bit tricky as there were so many other runners but Justin and I were soon able to pick up the pace, completing the first kilometre in 4 minutes and 22 seconds (precisely the pace I needed to set a new PR). As you can see from the splits below, I was able to keep my intended pace for three more kilometres until it all fell through as I started to experience intense cramps due to the acid reflux, feeling short on air with my heart rate spiking, and seriously considering just quitting the race. 

For some reason, I soldiered on nevertheless, as both Justin and Elin overtook me, but it was clearly with a feeling of defeat that I ultimately finished the race in 45 minutes and 32 seconds (chip time). Like William, I am now looking forward to Gammliaterrängen on Sunday when I will be running 8 km on trails in my blue Salomon Ultra Glide. Considering all the misery yesterday, I did not have time to think much about my shoes but my general feeling is that they were really good and I think that the Hoka Carbon X 3 will indeed be perfect for Tallinn Marathon in September.