Last winter cup race

Sunday I drove with a friend up to Maribor to participate in the last Pohorje winter cup race of the season. It is the 13th race for this edition. This was the 3rd time I participated. With the recent problem I have had with my back and hip I was not sure how I would hold up, but I felt pretty good at the start and the temperature was quite mild. The race started and within the first few minutes my breathing was hard, this is normal and usually settles down after a time, then I lose my legs which also settle down. This time my breathing never got better, I had a problem the whole race, but my legs stayed strong. It was only after I finished and developed a chesty cough that I realized, I had a cold. I was happy that I had a good workout and finished the race. To cap it all off we got free pizza after wards.

Trans-Slovenia winter edition.

Last week a Slovenian friend of mine ran in the Trans Slovenia run Winter edition. It is a 220km run across Slovenia.The original plan was for me to help him for the whole race, but for various reasons that did not work out. On Friday the race came within 3km of my place, so I ran out to meet it. I then ended up running and also getting rides with a helper to the end of the stage. I got to meet some old friends from last years Summer race and then got a ride back to Ljubljana with one of the crew.
On Sunday I took an early train out to Sevnica, where the last stage would start another friend with a car had driven down from Ptuj and together we acted as support for my friend Tomaz. It was only Tomaz's second Ultra race, having previously run a 100km. Out of a field of 34 runners which included 4 women, he finished 9th among the men.

Broken

I have had a running streak going for the last 5 and a half months, well that came to an end over the weekend. Something happened to my right hip last week and on Friday I kind of realized that I had Sciatic nerve problems. I still planned to run a Half marathon on Sunday, but on Saturday circumstances did not allow me to run and it started to feel much better. I decided to help out at the race instead and give my injury 1 more day to rest. I do not try to feel any pressure to keep a running streak going and when 1 stops another one can begin. I plan to go out today and see how it feels.

Winter

I have managed to keep going out everyday, but lately the temp's have been very low. I did go to Rijeka in Croatia a few days ago and it was relatively warm there so that was nice. However when I got back into the cold my body did not seem to like it and I now have some tightness in my lower back and especially my right buttock. It is uncomfortable, but has not stopped me from running. I had planned to run a Half Marathon this Sunday, but we will have to see how I feel on the day of the race.

Snowy race

So I decided on Saturday that I would run the Winter Cup race in Pohorje for the second week in a row. I was still a little sore from the last one, but figured that it was just going out in a multiday race. Anyway I stayed at my friend's, who just happens to be the race organizer, on Saturday night. As we left for the race there was a light snow falling, he showed me on his computer that there was snow on the race course. The temperature was also below freezing. There was a big starting field of 173 runners and walkers. Once I got going I did not feel so bad and quickly warmed up. I had changed my shoes from last week to ones with better grip, but once I got onto the steep snow covered slopes I began slipping a lot. In general I felt better when I finished, with a slower time than last week and I have to say that my recovery has been much better.

An Improvement

So at this weeks 2 mile race we had 7 participants. It was once again 2 C though not misty this week, just a little overcast. The Sun did make a brief appearance near the end. I will be out of town for the next 4 weeks and will try to have someone else organize the race while I am away. I am hoping that the field will grow.
Last Sunday I was in Maribor for the second race in this years Winter Cup on Pohorje, it is a 3.8km race up the Pohorje mountain. This is the 3rd year and the field has been steadily growing. There were 155 runners and walkers. The course is a little different each week combining trails and ski slopes. I was a little faster than when I raced in January, but then you cannot compare. I was really tired and quite sore afterwards.

New life

The weekly 2 mile race here in Ljubljana has been sadly lacking of late, so I decided to make a few announcements and try to be a bit more organized. Well this morning 4 runners showed up, which is 3 more than last week. I had apples for prizes and cookies as an after race treat. There were promises that more runners will come next week, so we will see what happens. Because the race is on a 400 meter track it is difficult for me to race direct and also run, but maybe that can change in the future. Everyone had fun and will try to invite more runners.