xc

i ran  my first xc race of the season yesterday. it was wet cold rainy and hilly. i felt unfit and my legs killed on the outrageous (for me at least) uphills.  i absolutely loved it.
the race was in wakefield, on a typical autumn afternoon. i managed 7th in the womens race, although ended up dozing for a bit in the second lap, letting 6th get ahead and extend her lead on me as we trampled our way towards the finish.  I'm now quite excited about the rest of the season, with my next xc race in guisley on dec. 6th. 
my run this morning was nothing short of unusual.  me and sarah (another one, i dont actually have a split personality) set off on the canal to get in the first part of our run before we would join others to watch the abbey dash.  we slowly plodded to start as we were both a lil worn from the previous days race.  on our way back towards the kirkstall abbey there were a gigantic crow in the middle of the canal path that took no heed to our pounding feet approaching, and the impending doom that he would encounter if he didn't get out of the way.  sarah gave him a brief "shoo-ing" and he reluctantly hopped a few feet over as we passed. I'm terrified of most birds, especially the big mean sort, and sarah mumbled something like "i hate crows"  as we continued on.  much to our surprise the crow did hear her remark and flew at us down the path, attacking my head! i was absolutely terrified as he seemed to actually have it out for us.
our horrors left behind we then proceed on to the abbey.
as we ran through the crowds of onlookers on our way to the turn around point sarah was nearly eaten alive by a jack russell. not the most relaxing of sunday runs in any way!
we met greg and fay and emily, cheered on a bunch of the runners, then headed out for the remainder of our run with greg and emily, encountering some more canine path trekkers of a more friendly variety.  our vicious animal worries no longer a reality, the run concluded and i returned to my place of residence.