* Julie's muddy feet after the race!!!*
*Chris's muddy feet after the race*
* My "ahem" running pose*
* Chris's running pose*
* Chris is REALLY cold*
Our first race of they year is done.
it.was.rough.
We signed up for something called the XYZ race series, and we thought it would be a great way to amp up the plain ole 5K's that we have been doing....plus, I like the unpredictable, and i LOVE leaving a race just knowing that I made my body do something that not everyone does...sure, oodles of people run a 5K, but until you run an "extreme" trail 5K (btw -- I have no idea what makes the difference between and *extreme* trail run and a regular trail run)anyways -- you use a lot more muscles to run those measly little 3.17 miles in a trail run.
I'd been watching the weather all week, just hoping today would be mild and sunny -- nope... we got overcast and precipitation that bounced from drizzling to snowing, oh -- and it was super windy too!!!! The weather was just plain awful, yet it was perfect for this race!
My mom was babysitting for us (we are trying to cut costs drastically in order to keep up our races) We were able to leave just a few minutes late, so we got there in plenty of time. Once we parked in a soggy field, it was off for packet pick up. LOVE these packets!!! A plain plastic sack with our t-shirt, a Trail Running magazine, and a few pieces of candy -- yup, candy!! Chris got a kit-kat, I got peanut M&M's (we traded :-)) and a couple pieces of hard candy. No stupid coupons for floofy places I'll never go, no dumb inserts for stores I'll never shop at, no ads for ridiculously expensive vacations I'll never go on....just a shirt, a magazine, and some candy. I love this race already.
As we putz around trying to get warm & keep warm, we (of course) hit the port-a-potty's -- uhmmm..... did you know they are REALLY cold when it's cold outside??? Yeah -- that draft coming outta there made it REALLY hard to pee!!!!! Then we hear an announcement to head over to the start line, so we meander over there.
As a week long graduate of "Insanity" I now know how seriously important it is to stretch , so I do some serious Shaun T-style stretches while we wait. Then, they corral us into a mud pit/start line, give us pre-race instructions (which were AWESOME -- follow the course, it's pretty self-explanatory) shoot off a gun, and we are off!!
We are immediately dumped into a mud pit start, and my feet are shocked at being soaked with cold, wet, COLD mud. The very first part of the race was REALLY congested and hard to find a good pace at all. As we continued, the trail got skinnier and the people thinned out a bit, but it was still fairly congested. I managed to pass a few people on some of the killer hills, only to have half of them pass me back on the next hill!!!! The first mile of the course was a TON of hills, which totalled a 278 foot ascent (according to my Garmin) the first mile was rough!!! Imagine running an entire mile in the mud, and most of that mile is uphill...AND, it's really REALLY really cold and windy!!!
^^ mile 1: Chris=11:19 Julie=12:14
Mile 2 was mainly thick mud, but not as many puddles as mile 1. Mile 2 was a lot more maneuvering just to stay upright, and a lot of running off course to try to get some solid footing. It's sad when you opt for wet leaves over icy mud, but that was the plan here!!! I was finally in a good spot, though MUCH slower than I wanted to be, but the terrain demanded slower running, period.
^^mile 2: Chris=10:20 Julie=11:11
Mile 3 was bad. Just plain bad. As I was running down the biggest hill that mile 3 had, I managed to get my right foot sideways under my leg, and I did avoid a nasty spill into the mud, BUT, after about 2-3 seconds, I realize I can't feel my ankle, at all. So, I stop running and I walk for a bit. Fortunately, the numbness left quickly, the pain hit sharply, and the ability to run again returned just a few seconds later (whew!!!) I began running again, then I hear someone say "watch out, there's a LOT of ice ahead" understatement.of.the.year. It was probably 50-60 yards of sheer ice. But, it was the awesome ice -- you know, the stuff that happens after a large lane of snow melts, just a little - then re-freezes right away?!?!?!? Yup, all down this little lane thing we were running on (I assume it was for ATV's and such), then we turn the corner and run back up the lane, but the run up the lane had gotten more sun in the past few weeks, so while it wasn't icy, it was muddy. Again. MORE mud ☺ I knew this was going to be a wet, sloppy mess of a run, but at this point, I was just annoyed. I was REALLY mad at how long it was taking me, and really mad that I was doing so terrible. As we come to the end of mile 3, I see a Porter County Sheriff car up ahead, with lights aglow (this run was sponsored by the FOP, so it is/was a fireman (ahem -- JACKIE!!!!) and policeman run) as I see the cop car, I am grateful that we are done, just one more last stretch. nope. As I get to the top of the hill, I see that they are making us go down, and around, then loop back over before we can end this madness. But, we have to go through a field that hasn't seen a mower in decades, and is all mushed down with mud. My heart sank right then. I knew I couldn't do it. I walked. I could NOT make myself run through anymore shoe-grabbing, ankle-sloshing, cold, wet, icky, gooey mud. Though, in retrospect, had I RUN through there, i woulda been outta there sooner, duh!!! As I got through the field, I ran again, but my tank was empty and I felt defeated. I ended the race feeling very disappointed with myself. Although, as I sit here and reflect -- it occurs to me, that since the half-marathon in NOVEMBER, I have only logged 2 real runs...a 2.5 mile & a 3.5 mile run.....and they were both street runs, so I guess I did OK after all.
^^ mile 3: Chris=10:06 Julie=11:37
this race was a bit longer than it "should" have been -- a 5K is = 3.17 miles, my Garmin logged this as 3.24 miles, so the split times for the whopping .24 miles are Chris=1:27 Julie=2:05
After the race, Chris and I hit the food (yup -- you know us!!!) and C downed 2 bowls of chili, then shoved a burger into his pocket for later.....he is so weird!!! I helped myself to a chocolate covered donut (though I shoulda had an orange instead!!) Then we headed to WalMart to get groceries....as we are getting out of the car Chris says to me "oh yeah, i forgot I had a burger in my pocket" it's moments like this that make me fall in love all over again -- this goober actually forgot he had a burger shoved into his pocket ♥ -- who does that?!?!?!
Once we got home, we were both fairly quick to get out of our wet, muddy gear and into nice clean clothes -- including (of course) our new race tees!!! This is a definite for next year -- though, I won't go into it looking for my normal 32 minute trail race time!!!!
Final stats:
Chris:
Race time: 33:24
Age group: 12th out of 19 m 35-39 (his *FIRST* race as a 35 year old :-))
Overall: 108 out of 253
Julie:
Race Time: 37:07 (my WORST 5K time, EVER!!!)
Age group: 9th out of 16 f 30-34
Overall: 159th out of 253
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