Season 2014

[Bierzo Baggie]

The next 2 races (both in April) were the only ones in which I managed to finish halfway up the field.

Race 3. Cacabelos 10k
It’s a 3-lap road race.
It’s friendly.
It’s free.
Paced it well and finished in 46 minutes, a few seconds faster than last year.
Quite happy about that.
German, “the old fox” beat me though. We tend to run the same races and always have a bit of a tussle, so much so that his friends have started calling him “el británico”.
The old fox has turned 60 but shows no sign of slowing down.

Race 4. La Tebaida Berciana.
An old favourite and an ideal sort of route for me, with slow gradual climbs and abrupt descents. Prefer it like this and not the other way around. Again, slightly faster than last year through better pace judgement and through walking in the right places.
Coincided briefly with “the mighty Susana,” the top lady mountain runner in these parts for many years. When the going gets slightly technical Susana skips away like a gazelle. But there is so much more competition these days and she’s not even top-3 this time.

2 hours 48 minutes, exactly the same time as at the Xabalín trail.