Chevin Chase 2009 was one of the highlights of what I laughingly call my running career. So when I concocted my proper race plan for VLM, I started there. Day One – run Chevin Chase, preferably faster than last time.
It seemed like such a good idea, but that was then, and this is now. Now, that green hill is all too close, and I need to figure out a way of getting up it, down it, and up it again. What’s more, I need to do it with more grace than last year. This year, I do NOT want to have to walk up that first brutal mile, and I do NOT want to come to a complete standstill at Surprise View, leaning on my knees and gasping like some sort of stranded fish. Most of all, I do NOT want to end the race with the ludicrously red cheeks I developed last year.
Unable to put it off any longer, Nicky and I thus set forth for a trial run on Friday.
We didn’t follow the Chevin Chase route, but given that the blithering thing is vertical wherever you attack it, I don’t think that matters. What we did do was force ourselves to run downhill at every opportunity, thus ensuring that we had to run back uphill if we wanted to get home. Six and a half miles – rinky-dinky.
On Sunday, my planned race (Thirsk 10) was cancelled, so I did it all again. The good humour brought on by the events of Chapter Nine gave me a bit of pep, but I still failed to catch Chris, who was walking. I did give him a head-start, but even so, it’s depressing.
Still – I didn’t stop (other than to admire the view), and I didn’t gasp. And as for the red cheeks – I think I’ll just cover them with makeup.
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