Yep, the weather is better than me!

First race. First test. First chance to shine. As I set off in sweltering heat and glorious sunshine this morning, I still had a good feeling. Traffic jams held us up and arrived 15 minutes before my race. Ok, not ideal preparation but still feeling confident. I'm however worried at the lack of warm up I've had.
Then we're off. Up the track and onto the fell - I take the lead after passing a few fast starters, but my calves soon stiffen up; I now wish I had warmed up properly. The calves burn and I begin to feel dehydrated, but I'm still in a strong second. Then there's a pull in my calf. I stop, I collapse and I feel fear. The race passes me by and I'm dropping down the field. As I get up, my legs feel weak, almost struggling to hold me up. I walk down the fell, now a straggler of the field. There's a knot in my calf - bad cramp due to dehydration or a pull due to a lack of warm up? The former I hope.
Now I'm home with a great bag of peas on my achy calf. What happened between the story above and now is a bit a mystery - I sat, feeling almost confused and worried. I was fearing the worst - that the whole season ahead would be destroyed. I have so many plans for the season ahead and it's been derailed at the first hurdle. I failed badly - I wanted to win the race, end of. The more worrying thing is the damage that has been done. I will access the situation tomorrow - I hope it was just bad cramp but there again perhaps I'm forever the optimist.