Uggggggg.
I signed up for this race 2 days ago. I had wanted to sign up for it when registration went live, but totally forgot about it. This race fills up pretty quick, only 600 runners max, and it did sell out. For whatever reasons, they had to move the date of the race, so slots opened. I basically thought this would be a good training run for the Quivering Quads coming up.
I bought Yaktrax because of the snow. I have never ran in these before, but what a blessing they were! A girl in front of me had on some old trainers and she was slipping and sliding all over the place. I felt very grounded most of the run. Highly recommend!
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| Yaktrax. |
I have never really ran in the snow before, but it sucked. Especially when it wasn't packed down, it seriously felt like I was running on sand. The first mile, there is this awful hill. I've hiked it several times, but even on good conditions running up that hill would SUCK.
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| Up we go! |
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| The view down the hill. |
I knew after that hill that the race was going to suck. A mile in and I was dead tired. But I found a good stride and kept on. The downhill portion was especially fun. It was very difficult to pass people on the trails, so I was always tracking someone.
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| My "buddy" for a while. |
Somewhere there was this weaving uphill portion, around mile 3 and that sucked! I was behind several people that were walking, not that I'm complaining!! When we got to the top of the hill, I was running in a good pack and just kept up with them. That's about the only part of the race were I felt good.
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| My new running buddies. |
Around mile 5 is when I really crapped out. There was a water break and then this huge uphill...again. I knew it was going to get bad. Basically, I ran what I could, but walked a lot. I just kept counting down the miles and dreamt of food and water.
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| More uphills, weeee! |
I do have to say that the weather was gorgeous!! I was so nervous about running in the snow, but never once was I cold...until we had to cross a creek around mile 8 or so. It wasn't that cold, but made for some soggy running.
I really struggled to finish, but I did.
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| Finally at the finish! |
I placed horribly. I knew I did bad, but I didn't think it was 'that' bad. Oh well, just one of those days I guess.
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| 431/471 |
I had a really hard time after the race. I was sooo hungry, so I stopped at Sonic for some grub and didn't even make it home before I had to puke. I stopped in some vacant parking lot to unload (sorry, trying not to be graphic) and then made it home and really puked. IT WAS AWFUL. Why am I puking?? I don't understand. Did I just push myself too hard?
I'm really nervous about the trail half marathon in a month. Ugggg. I want to drop out, but will give it some time. I am doing a YMCA sprint triathlon in a week and I'm really looking forward to that!!! I've been swimming laps and that's been going really well. I really enjoy being back in the pool.
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| Can you find me?? Fins, circa 1994?? Front row, third from the left. |
Tough one out there today. From following you on DM I think this was your first trail race (?). Don't sweat walking uphills, even a lot of people up front do. Don't even try, you'll waste a lot of energy, but its not much faster than walking. When I was walking up a hill a guy passed me running and then started walking at the top, and I passed him immediately over the top.
ReplyDeleteAlso at after Skippo (also in Castlewood) I was stuck at QuikTrip for 45 minutes, because I couldn't stand up without fainting, and couldn't drive because I was so dizzy. So we all have our days.
Girl - you did awesome! These hills are SUPER hard and it takes a lot of training on them to be able to actually run them without walking. When I started running at this park it took me a good 3-5 tries per hill to be able to actually run up them, and while I do, it's still hard. Plus the snow made conditions even crazier. Also keep in mind that in trail running you do get stuck behind people, so times are always slower. I'm pissed about getting stuck behind people - I believe I could have caught Matt otherwise. :) Eye's on you for next year Matt! lol But seriously, keep that in mind when you think about your pace and finish.
ReplyDeleteAS for the puking..it happens! When running Skippo this past Nov at Castlewood, I puked several times - on the course! In front of people! Then again at the end! Talk about totally embarrassing. Plus, I also walked all the hills on that course. Nothing to be ashamed of at all.
Are you meeting others at QQ next week? If not, hit me up! You can totally hang out with me before hand as we can give each other high-five's and try to get rid of pre-race jitters. I've never run at that park either and have no idea what to expect. Eek! Is it ok to be freaking already?