Relay

Relay
By Neil_D


On a beautiful winters day in Adelaide I had a call from regular barefoot runner David who asked if I would stand in for one of their relay team that had dropped out. No problem I said and took the details down for the run on a Saturday afternoon.
I had the idea that it would be an easy jog around the Victoria Park in the centre of the city and as it was only a 3km run I thought I'd better get a morning run in.
I headed down to the beach and put in a 10km run and put in a good effort. I have found since a cold earlier in the year my lungs have not been at full capacity, it clogged my lungs up for weeks, whether it was Covid-19 I don't know as I have not had a test to find out.
The afternoon race was at 1pm and I felt a little tired after the 10km but got to the park and found it was going to be a seriously competitive race.
It was a 1.5km loop 2 times and I was the 3rd runner in the relay. This got my adrenaline pumping.
David was the 2nd runner and so I had to keep watch ready for the hand over after his second lap.
The course was on grass and over trails that ran through an old olive grove so it was good for bare feet.
I took off as David came in and soon found myself in an oxygen deficit and trying to get the air in as fast as I could. After the first lap my body was just saying stop doing this, it hurts too much, just take it easy. The brain said no, keep going as you have to do the best time you can manage for the sake of the team.
It took me around 16.5 minutes which is pretty slow by my old standards which I must put down to my lungs not being up to the task.
I was so glad to see the finish line at the end and know that the pain was over.
I need to work on my speed once we get into Spring and see if I can get in a few more races once the Covid-19 has died down.
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Still smiling before the race, how hard can this be at just 3km.

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Has someone got an oxygen tank I can strap on my back

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Team photo at the end of the race.

Regards

Neil
 
I've been a runner since at school where I wore just thin plimsoll type shoes, no cushioning, motion control and.... no injuries. After school I bought real running shoes so I looked like a real runner. I have run ever since but found the...
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Good job, Neil. That's quite a warm up to a relay, so congrats!

I have mirrored your report to the Home Page. Thanks for sharing!
 
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