rocks, roots and horse manure

one year ago, i ran my first trail race. per my m.o., i went out too fast and hated it. i'm sure i said i would never do it again, but i also said that about marathons after my first.

the pain from my previous trail run had slipped far enough from my mind for me to have the brilliant idea of signing up for another - a half-marathon this time.

i didn't go out as fast as i did last time, but i still went out too fast. two of the xc girls were running the race and i so wrongly assumed i could hang with them (they ended up placing 2nd and 3rd overall).

i made it to the first aid station (somewhere between miles 4-5) and stopped to gulp down some gatorade and water; i was beat. when i started up again, i tucked in behind some guy and settled into a cruising pace. i need to learn how to run a trail race effort-wise. cruising felt fine, but i could've ran harder as i had plenty of energy left over.

{continue reading after the jump!}




for the rest of the race i ran behind various people, and ended up running the last few miles with a girl who runs xc for another local hs. she rolled her ankle and wiped out at one point, so i stuck with her to make sure she was alright. while i pulled every tendon and ligament in my ankle/foot, i didn't fall once. early in the race i tripped on a root but bounced back like a weeble. thank goodness, because there were mountains of horse manure throughout the course. that would have made for a lovely faceplant.

start of the race - less than a mile on gravel roads to spread out

a stretch of the trail without horse manure

creek crossing, except i don't remember there being any dry rock

[all photos from race website]

it was a fun race though, and once i quit trying to run at road-effort i enjoyed myself. i'm even thinking about trying to make it out to the trails more often. after the race i briefly chatted with the xc girls before finding kathrin and hanging out with her for part of the awards/raffles (as usual i did not win any of the raffles).

saturday (11/13) trail race: 13.1 miles, 2:10:48 (avg pace 9:59), 45*

(odd how i managed to run this faster than last year's 4mi trail race)

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week in review (11/8 - 11/14)
total miles: 37.72 (slight increase from last week)
time spent running: ~ 5 hrs 49 mins
avg pace: 9:06
off days: 3

• mon: nothing - mom blew up her water thingamajigger and had to rescue her from the side of the road
• tue: easy 4mi over lunch; 6x800 after work
• wed: easy 6mi runmute; weights & abs
• thu: easy 7mi runmute
• fri: yoga & abs
• sat: half-marathon on trails
• sun: weights & abs; 2.25mi walk with sister