Steve C has raced a couple of times in recent weeks. The
first outing saw him accompanied by Len (pic) in the Trail 26 organised 10K trail
race, run off through Cheshire ’s
largest forest: Delamere. The event is notorious for some killer up hill
sections and twisty, muddy, root infested technical descents. Steve reported
Len was on top form and stormed it – dragging his unwitting human ‘leader’ to a
top-third-of-the-field overall finish and some pretty significantly strained
calves.
In his second outing, a sea-swim based triathlon that Steve
has been building towards for some time, things didn’t go so well. At the
briefing, competitors were told by the organiser that water temperature was
14-15 degrees but - upon starting - Steve felt they were mistaken and it was actually much
colder as he encountered tell-tale tingling sensations in his face. The effect, oddly, continued onto the bike
leg but then took a sinister turn when he also started to suffer
from breathlessness and shooting pains. Fearing the worst, Steve retired after
one lap of the bike course where an obviously concerned medic asked him if he required
attention. Steve, being Steve, declined; only to be met with a query from the
medic: “Not even for those jellyfish stings all over your face”…
Relief, disappointment, and pain, all in one alergic hit!
