RACE! (?)

I felt good today (not sick anymore), so I thought it would be a good idea to go for a run with the XC team at the usual 1PM time on wednesdays.  Not being on the e-mail list for some reason or another, even after putting my name down, I was happy to still find everyone at the usual meeting place in front of the student union.

Then, I hear from one of the captains "Everyone has money on their Oyster Cards, right?"  Yes, I heard correctly, "Oyster Card".  Mine was way back in my room at John Dodgson House.  It turned out that today was not a usual run at all.  We were to get on a bus to travel all the way out (several miles) to a place called Hampstead Heath on the outskirts of the city for our run.  When we arrive, I hear that we are to run a race at 3:15 PM against rookies from other colleges of the University of London to compete for spots on the team.  Wait.  RACE?  I have not run a cross country race in over 2 years!  Also, what chance on earth would I have of making a team of 6 for a consortium of colleges with over 150,000 students?  Furthermore, I had been spoiled of the relative stability and non-severe slope of paved roads.  In other words, I was in no shape to race.

Boy, was I not in shape.

We were to do two 2.5-mile laps around a hilly course of grass, gravel, mud, and roots.  Brilliant.  Also, it turned freezing cold, windy, and rainy just before we began.  Needless to say, I realized how out of shape I was to run this sort of terrain and speed right away, as I immediately slowed my pace after cresting the first hill.  I made it through one lap and a bit before my previously injured foot from marathon season began to flare up, and I stopped; I was not about to take another 5 weeks off to heal like I had to back in February before the marathon.  I got on the bus and came home.

I had planned on going to Kung Fu again this week with Aaron, but that started at 4:30, and I made it back slightly bruised at 4:45, too late.  Oh well.

I do want to keep up with running, and the people are nice, but I suppose I should choose my battles carefully; I guess I should try to get on that email list and know what I'm getting myself into before the point of no return.