The Loop: 30k trail race

Perfect morning for a 30k trail race!

 Yesterday morning, my alarm went off at 5:40am. I had waited tables the night before at Vivo, so I was still pretty exhausted. The hardest part was getting out of bed, but once I was up, I was up! Scott and I gathered our gear, downed a bowl of cereal, and out the door we went.

We had signed up to participate in Rogue's 30k trail race, The Loop. The trail was on the motor cross loop out at Emma Long Park. The 10k course was 1 loop and the 30k was 3 loops. We drove the 15-20 minute drive to get there and arrived with about 20 minutes to spare. Just enough time to say hello to a fellow Rogue and use the bathroom a few times.

At 7am, we were off!  It was a bit of a bottle-neck at the start as we all started out in a big group and the trail quickly became a narrow, 1-2 person path. Right away, I tripped and almost lost it. One dude shouted out, "oooh, you don't want to fall here, you'll get trampled!"  Scott and I slowed it down a bit and we let a few people who were on our heels go around us. We settled into a comfortable pace and focused on getting up and over the rocky climbs. The terrain wasn't too bad, a mixture of rocks/hills/twisting flats.

It wasn't even  20 minutes in, and I caught my left toe on a rock. There was no stopping it, I was going down....Hard! I crashed into the ground and slid on my hands and stomach. I laid there for a few seconds as a few people around me asked if I was ok. I got up and brushed myself off. I had gouged open my thumb and palm on some sharp rocks, skinned my knee, both thighs, and elbow. I fought back the tears! Thankfully, Scott was there and told me to ease back into running so I wouldn't tighten up. Having him talk to me really helped keep the waterworks under control.

War wound #1

War wound #2

We came through the first aid station and I rinsed out my wounds. We grabbed some water and were on our way again. I was feeling pretty good, minus the stinging pain.  The weather was perfect...sunny and cool. Without even realizing it, I had picked up my pace a bit and Scott and I were separated. As I finished up my first loop, I ran past the second aid station and made a bee-line to the bathrooms. It was a quick pit stop, and I popped back out on to the trail for loop 2.  I looked for Scott, but didn't see him anywhere....I just figured he had passed me while I was in the bathroom, so I set out to maybe catch up to him. ( Loop 1 time: 1:05:04)

 My pace felt very comfortable. I didn't really feel like I was working too hard, so I maintained this pace and picked it up a bit on the flat sections of the course. At this point on the course, there wasn't anyone else around me, I was basically running this section solo.  Before I knew it, I was already at that first aid station again. I fueled up on some Stinger chews and re-laced my shoes. This aid station was over 1/2 way through the loop, so I knew I had less than 3 miles to go before I was done with another loop.

I came through loop 2 in 2:07:15. Feeling good, knowing I had one last loop to go, I just kept a steady pace. My legs were starting to tire a bit and I really started to notice it on the rocky climbs. My feet were also starting to hurt as I descended. I am guessing my shoes weren't laced tight enough because I noticed my big toes kept smashing into the front of the shoe.

As we looped around, part of the trail opened up a bit and I could see the last aid station down below. I noticed Scott was there taking in some water. So he was only slightly behind me. I pushed on and as the temps increased a bit, I just focused on getting to aid station #1 for some cold liquids.....once there, I downed a cup of gatorade, took in some more chews, took in a cup of sprite, and a cup of water.  Now, I was less than 3 miles to the finish!!

I passed a few dudes after the aid station and then I heard sirens. This freaked me out a bit, guessing that maybe someone either had a heart attack or passed out. For that last stretch, it was just me, the sounds of sirens, and my feet pounding the ground. I passed a few more people and then as aid station #2 came into view, a woman told me to be careful. A truck was on the path and it turns out that another competitor had fallen and broken her nose.

I rounded the corner, passed the truck, and finished the last stretch of the race. I came through in 3:09:37. Yay! It was done, and I had really enjoyed myself ( minus the fall! )

I registered for this race thinking it would be a good way to stay involved with Rogue since I wasn't signed up for any upcoming training plans. It fell nicely into my training plan ( well, maybe it was a few more miles than I should have run this weekend) and it gave me a chance to get out on some trails that are normally only open to motorcycles. I went into it with the mindset of just having fun.  I had just ridden 60 miles on my tri bike the day before so I wasn't looking to race or anything.

However, it seems that when I am out at races, feeling relaxed and having fun equals good results! I ended up placing 2nd female overall! Good enough for an award!