World Championship 2024
I am running up the steep stairs and small alleyways to Royal Mile in the heart of Edinburgh on the second long leg of WOC 2024 sprint final course. I have made some mistakes up to this point and I feel tired. I think that I am pushing really hard, when in fact I am actually walking in some parts of those stairs and barely moving forward when I get to a more runnable street. My legs feel so heavy as if I would be coming to a finish of a long distance, not sprint. I am getting cramps in my muscles as I am trying to run those uphills, so eventually I give up without even realizing it, because it is still really hard to get anywhere. I gather everything I have left in me for the last controls in the park, where the course is easy and speed is high, and I finish pushing as hard as I can. But when I get back home in about 1,5 hours after my finish I feel as if I didn't run at all. I am not very tired and in fact I think I even feel a bit better than in the morning when I woke up. But when I get on the massage table with our physio, all my muscles are hard as rock, in cramps. When I finally get to my room I realize that the massage didn't even help, for already third day in a row. I don't feel tired, but my legs are heavy as metal.
GPS tracking link: https://events.loggator.com/WOC2024SFW
Running the World championship always feels more special than anything else, no other competition compares to it in our sport. Anyone who says that it is not that important or that you can get similar joy from smaller things simply hasn't felt what it is like to be there. Coming down the final stretch of a World championship race, giving your absolute best and also making it count, leaving you with a result that beats your expectations and is worth all the work you had been putting in for months, even years prior to it. It doesn't have to be a gold medal, but it has to be big for you. I know what it feels like, but unfortunately not this year. :)
