Into the Mud
A French cross race is basically a race on grass and dirt roads. In the winter, that means running through muddy puddles and wearing running shoes with spiked lugs. Silviu and I both participated in our first winter cross: the Cross International du Val de Marne.
I was in the 5,490 m (5.6 km / 37 m D+ per Strava) female route. It comprised one turn on each of the small, medium and big rounds (lots of zig-zags in each round) in an urban park. Silviu was in the longer 7 km male route. There were a few short slopes, a bit of mud, lots of grass — nothing too technical. Yet, right from the firing of the starting gun to arriving at the finishing line, my lungs were bursting and my throat was burning — I finished in 28’52” (fastest: 21’03”).
I finished 72nd out of 107 females. It was definitely not one of my better races. Yet, I was actually relieved that I was not the last one (how low my self-esteem was after training with the Orsay running club!).
