I lost my ass

For the 4th year in a row, I head down to my parents place in Frankford to spend a good weekend back home, celebrate my birthday with family and run the Fat Ass Trail run. Last year Steve Crossman and I took a wrong turn on the course leading to our disqualifications. This year, I'm pumped to get my vengeance on this course and crush it. Coming off of a somewhat good training block, I'm thinking I have the fitness I need to pull out a good race. This would be my last race of the season. The week leading up to the race, my knee starts to bug me, the same way it has when I got seriously injured a few years back. So, foam roller + massage + being careful makes it feel better; almost perfect. Happy I got that dealt with before it was too late.

Time with family is fun, as always, and the weekend is relaxing. But now, it's Sunday morning : Race day! I'm pumped! Make a good breakfast (which happens to smile back at me) and start to get pumped!!

 On race site, everything seems to be as it should. I get a good warm-up done and we line up! This is going to be EPIC! The gun goes off, and the first little flat bit goes by fast. The first km being at 3:45. It's okay, I'll settle into a more sustainable rhythm on top of the hill. We attack the first hill at a good pace - I'm thankful for all this Gatineau Park trail running we have done this summer. On the way down, I start feeling my knee again... hmmm... it will be okay! 

After the first big decent, I guess I missed a turn somewhere with another dude, since our trail intersects with a trail with a dude running from a different directions - who happily lets us know that we are off course. To go back to the apparent intersection we missed would have been 1km. I though about it, but my knee was bugging me and thus I decided that I'd just finish and DQ myself. A few kilometers later, my knee, still bugging me, I decide that I'd also cut it short to 7,5km instead of the planned 17,5km - no point in injuring myself at this point in the season.
I keep pushing for the rest of the run - now an expensive training session - always conscious about not putting too much strain on my knee. Back up the ski hill, back down, to the finish. Without really stopping at the finish, I go straight to the Sportstats and DQ myself. I "unofficially" finished 3rd in the 7,5km. According to Garmin, my route was only 100m short of the official one (compared to my brothers GPS).

 Disappointingly, a good run here will have to wait till next year. I will be sending race directors a few constructive comments to hopefully improve on course markings. But, overall - good weekend. Always fun to hang out with family back home. There are worst things then getting lost on a trail run!

 Next up : massages. No more planned racing till next year.