Mud and Chocolate Trail Half Marathon
What a FUN race! It was at the Redmond Watershed Preserve; three loops around the area. I don’t mind a multi loop trail run because there is always so much you miss the first time around watching for rocks and branches and root trolls. The root trolls caught me the first time around, at mile three, and splat! I went down hard. Fortunately the only thing that I hurt was my arm (rock bruise on forearm, not too bad just tender). I videoed the first loop then swapped out and took photos on the last two.
Jessica, Betsy, Matt, Megan, Sarah, Lisa, Michelle, and Ann were all there (as well as many other very cool people) but I ran this one alone. I enjoyed being alone with my thoughts during most of it. The thought I kept coming back to was “I need to do a trail running series and include this route because it’s beautiful” and “Wow, mushrooms are really pretty!” There were a lot of mushrooms because it’s been so damp, and they really were pretty! I also thought a lot about how much I love being able to do this kind of stuff and what a blessing that is.
The first loop went pretty well. I did have the fall and since I wasn’t sure what the trail held, I was conservative. The second loop was nice as well…I didn’t push it because it’s been awhile since I’ve run trails, and I know I can run out of steam fast. I kept passing and being passed by two girls, and I helped one girl find her way back to the finish (she was doing the 4.5 mile race).
Loop three I let it out and did a negative third split, with two miles under 10 minutes (good for trails for me). I felt great at mile 11, but 12 I started to hear the “bonk” coming upon me. I pulled off the route and downed a Chocolate #9 gel and by 12.5 felt great again. Mile 13 was awesome, strong, and beautiful.
On the route I saw lots of cool people, mushrooms, a few little ponds, horses, a pony and a donkey, and a cute little boy on a wooden bike whose dad let me get a photo of him, out “mt biking” with his dad. What a great dad!
I also saw Shelby from Run26 out with his team (cross country, I do believe). Saw him before and let him know that Dana’s shoes were working for her and she ran without pain yesterday. Also saw him on the route and shortly behind him was his team all singing a song. Nothing like a little mid-race entertainment to shake things up!
All in all, a very very good strong run. I ran 13 yesterday and am running a marathon on Wednesday, so this will be a nice high mileage week. I will say that I believe my bootcamping has REALLY improved my overall fitness as I felt strong throughout this run and yesterday’s, and sometimes trail runs can bring out weaknesses you’re not aware of.
Next Race: Call of the Wild Marathon on Wednesday!
Workout:
- Type: Run
- Date: 11/08/2009
- Time: 09:34:33
- Total Time: 2:20:32.99
- Calories: 1260
- Distance: 13.09 miles
- Average Pace: 10:44.36/mile
- Max Pace: 6:06.03/mile
- Ascent: 6,847.72 ft
- Descent: 6,828.01 ft
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