I'm starting to be an addict, I think. Like seeking out bigger and better highs kind of addict. At least it's naturally produced, though......all from in my body.
Anyway.
I've not run a trail race this long since September of 2010. So it felt good to do it. The course was really nice - single-track loop - though the weather was ridiculous! We've had weather in the 50s all week long, until last night when it got cold and freezie enough to snow about a 1/2 inch. Today it was 30 with a decent wind - I regretted forgetting my chapstick and clean socks but when I realized I didn't have them I was already 10 minutes from home. With an hour-long drive, it just wasn't practical to back-track.
I surprised myself with my finish today. I was just going for a "completed it"-type finish, and I did a lot better than that. This race was a full mile longer than my previous trail half PR, but I kept the same pace. That surprised me, because I was running much more consistently then than I am now. I guess there's something to being trained up and then maintaining, rather than working up to a distance. And I beat everyone in my age group but one - which is always a validating feeling. You totally can't see it in the picture, but we were all completely mud-covered. Mostly up the back, of course, but still respectably dirty. If I weren't so tired I'd post a picture of my socks....they tell the whole story!
The coolest thing I saw today was a 12-year-old boy that ran with his Dad. They passed me at mile 9-ish and I was pretty sure they were going to beat me. I ended up catching them again in the last mile or so though. He was a super-cool kid, and running behind him for a while made me wish for 12-year-old balance and ankles....he FLEW through little up-down ravine dips, despite mud. It was awesome. Bee is really interested in running (at almost-6 she can run an 11-minute mile, not bad at all), I would love to the the 38-year-old dad running with his son - only me and Bee. It would be awesome. So seeing them gave me some hope for fun to come, even when I'm old!
2 comments:
Look at you go! You're amazing. I've just been sitting around being fat and lazy . . .
Okay, I've seen photos on your blog, you're not fat.
And you have a baby that you've been nurturing for three months. It is therefore impossible for you to have been being lazy. (wow, how's that for bad grammar? My students out with something like that I'd beat them....) ;-)
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