Don´t cry for me Argentina...

I am back in Spain now after a very long journey. This is the first time I have been able to sit down an analyse my race since finish in 18th position (3hrs40). Am I pleased with my result/ time? Well yes and no...I had hoped for a top ten result and I hoped to run faster! however I have learnt some valuable lessons about mountain running! unlike track and road races it is impossible to predict times, as you are often running through "the unknown". How I had pictured the race course in my head was very different from the reality. In my head it was not as tough as the qualification race I won in Gran Canaria, so therefore I expected a time a lot faster as I was in a lot better shape! However it wasn´t long into the race I realised things were not going to be as easy as I imagined! From the gun the pre-race favourite (the winner of the Brazilian Qualification race) set a ridiculously fast pace, he went through the first 10km in under 35mins (which is fast even for a road marathon) the chasing pack went through in 37mins! I had found myself in "no-man´s land" by myself struggling to maintain visual contact with the pack!seeing 39min on my watch at 10km and feeling my legs I knew I had made my first mistake! It wasn´t long before the course started winding its way up through a forest before dropping down into a river crossing. After the river crossing at about 15km I started to get over taken by runners that had started off more conservatively, I managed to get back into a good (more sensible) pace. At the half way mark the route began to climb! and climb! and climb! I knew it would be steep..but I had unestimated just how steep! we climbed 2000m in the space of 10km through some of the toughest terrain I have ever seen! knee deep in snow I was exhausted by the time I reached the summit, the only good news was that the last 12km would be mostly downhill. On the downhill section I started to feel a lot better and was able keep a good pace going, however I was alone and didn´t realised that only a few minutes infront of me the was a tiring group which included Martin Fiz (former World Champion marathon runner). When I crossed the line I was pleased with what I had achieved however I knew there was a lot of room for improvement. (whoops...need to go catch my plane)!I will write more later!