Last Wednesday was the Langstrath Fell race from Stonethwaite in Borrowdale. P wanted a session at the Bowderstone, so I jogged down the valley from there to the start. After a considerable warm up for me, it was time for the start of the race. I loved this race last year and it was my last for a while after my bike accident, so was a bit nervous about what would happen this year. Although undoubtedly fitter, I’m also still fairly tired and have no speed at all!
It was a muggy cloudy evening. I took it fairly steady on the climb up Lingy End, and soon realised I was in first place. It started to hurt fairly quickly and I have to admit to taking the foot off the gas a bit. It also started to drizzle, wetting the rocks very slowly, and I rued my decision of shoes – La Sportiva Crosslites – great shoes except on wet rock where they are the worst of all fell shoes. Still I kept a reasonable pace up slipping and sliding all over the place. The climb back over from Watendlath really hurt, and on the final descent I looked over my shoulder and saw Jo from Keswick seemingly closing in. I put my foot back on the gas and worked really hard to the finish. Slightly disappointed with my time, which was over a minute slower than last year but held on to first place!
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