La Directa Tibidabo - 5k

 Eventhough I have not completely recovered yet from the marathon 2 weeks ago, running a short race that passes through the street where we live and is much like the route I do for mountain training almost every weekend was ofcourse something I couldn't resist. I knew that I would likely start well and struggle near the end since the climb as soon as it hits the trails is steep up, but doing such a short race from time to time is great fun. I had some lower back pain during the past week and eventhough I have done some run training I was not sure how I would feel this morning and went out early to do a long warmup and test some higher pace accelerations before huddling up in the start area. 

I knew that it would be good to go out hard to have some space when we hit the trails, so I line up up front and at 9am we start at the beginning of the street where we live and in minutes I pass and greet Montse who was standing nearby our door. 

The first kilometer I run in 4m18 and the second with already more climbing but still in the city in 5m00. During the 3rd kilometer we leave the city and enter Collserola and start the steep climb to the top of the Tibidabo over a track I know very well, since most of my training is done there. Since I had been running on the edge of my aerobic capacity from the very start maintaining run pace uphill soon becomes impossible and I powerhike the steep parts. The very last part near the top I was still ok, but breathing heavily. When reaching the small square at the top I sprint the last meters and finish in 34m37s. in a 26th place which I am very happy with. I might do some 10k in the coming weeks. As always many thanks to the organization and very likely until next year!!