Velka Kunraticka

This past Sunday, as Chelsey mentioned in the previous post, I ran in a cross country race called Velka Kunraticka (Greater Kunraticka, the name of the forest where the race was held). I've just been getting back to running in the past few weeks after the marathon, so I really justed wanted to run the race because it sounded like fun. I also figured footwear could be a problem; as I'm not planning on running too many cross country races, I didn't bring proper racing shoes.
The snow that Chelsey mentioned exacerbated that particular problem, making the trails extremely muddy. On each of the three hills on the course, I was reduced to walking or crawling at least once because I didn't have enough traction to push off and run.
It was also a strange setup for a race...it was really more of a time trial. Instead of starting everybody at once, like most races, they started people two-at-a-time, in 10-second intervals. Having seen the course, it's obviously because the trails aren't big enough for hundreds of people to run on at the same time, but I didn't know that before we went - which is why I started an hour later than I thought I would.
So I had fun, although not quite as much fun as I might have if I had been a little better prepared (although it was still not worth lugging another pair of shoes over here for). I also seem to have strained something in my left leg during the race, as it has bothered me all week. Fortunately, I feel much better today, and I'm ready for some good winter running.
-Jason