Mommy's First Trail Race

Finisher Mug

Sunday, March 20th, 2016, Ostera (1st day of Spring) my running buddy, Pam, wanted to run a trail race, the Germantown 10 mile trail run.  She is a trail runner.  She runs trails for fun and excels at them.  I have just started running trails because I have read that it is very good for people with foot pain.  Up until this race I had only run 5 miles on trails very slowly.  Pam and I do a lot of training together since our paces aren't too different.  We both have days where we push the other one and that makes us great running buddies.  The thing that makes it difficult to train together is the fact that Pam is training for trail races where I train for road races.  She doesn't tend to get a lot of training runs on trails when she runs with me.  Due to this inequity, I agreed to run a trail race with Pam.  She needed the trails and hills, I needed the distance.  I didn't know what I was getting into.

Our race group

Two of our other friends, who also run a lot of trails, decided to come out for the race too.  For me, it was a free race.  My husband and I joined ORRRC (Ohio River Road Runners Club) back in December which gives us free entry into about 3 of their races a month.  When they have fit in our schedule, I have tried to go to them and this was my 2nd race with them.  For people who aren't members the races are $9 so it is easy for people to join in.

We all planned on going a slow pace and set ourselves at the back of the group.  The first part of the race was on the road, which was not that fun in trail shoes but it did help me warm up a little bit.  We got on the trails and started heading downhill, then uphill... then downhill... then uphill.  I was not prepared for the hills.  This was also the first trail I ran with my new glasses with Transitions lenses.  When we entered the trails my glasses were completely shaded and when I went onto shaded parts of the trail I might as well have been running in pitch black darkness, on hills.  I was essentially running blind and needed to adjust to this.  I tried to keep up with my friends, but it was not going to happen.  Pam was kind enough to stick with me.  She slowed down, stopped and waited, and warned me about dangers along the trail.  By the time I got to one of the more extreme hills my calves had turned into rocks.  My legs were screaming at me that they could not go up any more.  I wasn't even 2 miles into this race and I wanted to cry but Pam was right there encouraging me and keeping me moving forward.

Pam leading, me following

We got to a grassy, flat section and I was so relieved.  I walked and stretched out my calves.  Pam had me jog it out in intervals which helped me loosen up.  There were more sections in the woods but they were less hilly.  I was starting to get a handle on these trials and was enjoying it a little bit.  There was a wide open section that had tire tracks and was high above another section.  Pam and I let people pass us as they approached us, I wasn't going to get any faster and I didn't want to slow them down.  At this section we caught back up to one person we had let pass.  She was wearing a Flying Pig jersey and ran with us for a while.  We didn't really have a lot of people pass us and we only passed a few people.  So we chose our starting position well.

Route map
Germantown 10 miler was 9.2 miles (not complaining)

The next section was all about the mud.  Pam warned me that it would be muddy and I knew that she knew what she was talking about but we had not run into a lot of mud by this point.  The last 2 miles before turning around were full of muddy patches.  The mud was deep, gloopy, and at just the right consistency that it reminded me of brownie batter and tried to suck my shoes off.  We kept as close to the edges of the mud as we could, hoping we could keep running rather than walking.  We took little paths around the mud when available but even with these techniques we still ended up deeply in mud.   At one point along the mud we were running along the edge and I almost ended up falling face first into a mud pit.  I was on the left side of the path, my right foot went down on the branch of a bush, my left foot tried to take the next step and got caught behind the branch.  I was lucky to catch myself before falling.  We also started having people returning on the trail at about mile 3 which meant we had to make sure there was room for them to pass us on their way to the finish.  Our faster friends were coming back too and we ran into them close to the turn around.  They were shouting encouragement and enjoying themselves.  I was still struggling but I kept pushing through.

A couple times when I was really struggling Pam told me that I could turn around and it would be fine.  I know she wanted to make sure I didn't hate trails or her at this race.  I also felt guilty for holding her back since I know she is a beast when it comes to trails but I signed up for a 10 mile trail run, I was going to complete a 10 mile trail run.

Elevation profile of the race, steep hills

We got to the turn around, past a beautiful lake and headed back along the path we had already taken.  This is when it started to be fun.  I knew what to expect and how to handle the hurdles we were going to face a little better than I did on the way out.  Pam and I continued to stick together and discuss what we needed to prepare for.  The open area with tire tracks seemed shorter than before and the grass was tougher and longer than I remembered but it was nice to recall how hard it had been and feel that it wasn't that hard any more.  The only part I dreaded was the hills.  After each one, Pam assured me that the next one was the last one and even though I knew she was being optimistic rather than realistic, I let her stay positive and cheer me up.  We got to the road and picked up our pace.  We knew the trails were over and we were almost done.  There had been a pair of ladies behind us and we did not want them to pass us in the last stretch.  We crossed the finish line in 2:09 and I was so happy.  I gave Pam a hug and nearly collapsed on her.  I couldn't believe I had survived that.

Finishing

Pam made sure that I used "The Stick" on my calves which hurt so much.  They were still very tight and I didn't even realize it.  In fact it took about 4 days for me to start feeling normal again.  My calves, shins, quads, thighs, shoulders, and core all took their turns being sore and sensitive.  Running 4 miles on the Tuesday after was difficult and Pam, the awesome friend that she is, slowed down for me again and we had a fun easy run.

Looking back on the trail race, it could have been so much worse.  Yes, there was mud and we did have hills but the hills could have been muddy, slippery, icy, or snowy.  It was a little chilly that day but it could have been hot, humid, and swarming with bugs.  My calves struggled but I did not get a new injury and the injury I have been fighting did not hurt during the race.  I did not cry, fall, or give up.  I had Pam with me which made the whole race thousands of times better than if I had tried to run it on my own.  She kept me going and helped me with the hardest parts of the race.  I couldn't have finished this event without Pam by my side.  She is a wonderful friend!  She even listened to all my random thoughts as they arose during the race.  She made the event fun.

I think this trail races asks a question.  Will this be my only trail race or will I do another in the future?  The best answer I can give is that I don't know.  There were fun parts and hard parts.  I don't think I am ready to do one completely on my own yet (they are still scary) especially since you never know what might be on a trail.  I don't think I am ruling out trails either.  I might want to try some easier ones, get a little more experience, before doing more like Germantown.  I guess I am open to doing more trails and I don't think Pam will let me quit trails now that she has gotten me through this one.

Saint Patrick's Day

My friends and I after the Lucky Clover 4 Miler

I usually don't complete Saint Patrick's day races.  Normally I try to find a race near my birthday in March rather than do one associated with the holiday.  Saint Patrick's day races tend to be very crowded, popular to a fault, and associated with drinking.  Being a teacher, I worry about the green beer and other adult beverages associated with these races.  Some school districts don't like it when their teachers are seen drinking, especially when there is photographic proof.

2016 is a very different year for me.  Around Valentine's Day two of my friends were talking about a fun race in Carmel, Indiana.  It was called the Lucky Clover 4 Miler and it came with a finisher medal, hooded shirt, and Lucky Charms to eat along the course.  It sounded like a lot of fun and it was only $35 for all the goodies.  Since my friends were going, we could carpool which would make this race as affordable as a local race.  I decided to join them.

Pre-race group  photo

We piled into Pam's car early in the morning and drove the 2 hours to Carmel. Yes, it was a bit far to drive for a 4 mile race but we passed a wind farm and got to see an ice cream shop that was made in an old car wash.  We talked and had lots of fun, as much as our sleepy minds would allow.  When we got to Carmel we found a party.  There was loud music and lots of people dressed in green.  Myself and two others ran a warm-up in a neighborhood behind the start line in a loop that was exactly a mile then we got to our places to start the race.  No one in our group was really racing; we were there to have fun with our friends.  But some of us tend to be faster than others and we knew we couldn't really stay together.

New Friends

We ran our races.  I started slow but had negative splits.  I just kept getting faster as I went which meant I kept passing people; that was fun.  When I got to mile 2 there were a few runners behind me who were having an interesting conversation about the cost of breast milk on Craig's List.  I found it amusing, and being a social runner without music I joined the conversation.  They were very nice people and we conversed for about a mile about various topics.  I later found some of them through Half Fanatics so maybe I did make some new friends through this mile.  I finished in 35:13 at a pace of 8:49.  I was quite happy with how I did since I wasn't pushing myself too much.  My friends all finished within 10 minutes with the fastest around 32 minutes and the slowest at 41 minutes.  The course was very flat and it was an interesting loop.  Other than walkers who started at the front of the race, it was great.  The people who directed the race and volunteered were wonderful.  I got more pictures from this race than I have from some half marathons.  The course did get very narrow at a few points, which was annoying, but that will happen with 800 people running a 4 mile race.  We all got our medals, donuts, chapstick, and water and we hung out at the party together for a while.  Afterwards we piled back in the car for our 2 hour journey home (including a lunch stop).  We all agreed that the drive was a bit much but we all had a lot of fun.  Since I had the heart problem at my last race, I didn't get water at the one water stop.  I didn't want to cause any heart pains again.  Luckily I didn't seem to have any pains during this race.

My son and I with my friend and her daughter,

The second race I did this week (I may be more crazy than I think) was more local.  It was the Saint Patrick's Day Brooks 3.1 Beer Run.  This run is also very unique.  It is a standard 5k distance but after each mile you must drink a beer or a root beer to compete for prizes.  The course is a 1 mile loop, with slight variations, that must be run 3 times.  Another thing that made this unique was that it was a family event for us.  My husband, my oldest, and I all ran the race together.  My youngest stayed with his grandma since we can't trust him to run on his own yet.  The daughter of one of my friends was also going to run the race and while the 2 kids can annoy each other, they also seem to get along very well so it was great that they could both participate in this race.

My Husband and I

 My husband has done this race every year since it has started, usually in a kilt, but I have always been nervous about it.  You have to drink to compete.  No one can know which beverage I drank, but some may assume that I drank the beer.  This year I felt it was worth fighting for my right to drink what I want on my own time so I decided to run it.  It also helped the I didn't have to watch the boys during the race, which is what I am usually doing while Nick runs in it.

This year, they decided to start in waves and decrease congestion at the first drink stop.  I started in the 2nd wave with my family and quite a few of my friends.  My friend's daughter decided to try to keep up with me....that didn't last long.  Then I caught up to many people who started in the first wave and passed them.  I got to the first stop (311 Drafthouse) in 8:05 but had to wait about 2 minutes to receive and devour my required beverage.  I was back on the road as soon as I could be and I started running into walkers.  The back end of the race had just started moments before and due to the multi-loop course they were now in front of the faster runners.  This was a tad bit annoying.  I had to run a lot of zig zags but that meant that the people who were out cheering had people to cheer for during the entire race and they stayed out to cheer for everyone many times.  It also feels good to pass people but that means it is hard to tell where you rank among all the runners.  Someone could be passing you from a later wave or they could be lapping you; there's no way to know.  The first beverage also made me want to vomit, so that made for a tough 2nd mile.

My Finish

I got to the 2nd stop (Mulligan's Pub) where there were less people and a better beverage.  It still took me about 2 minutes to go through that station just because I don't tend to "chug" any drink.  I got back out into a mix of runners and walkers.  It was an interesting event.  My son was coming out of the 1st stop when I was going into the second so I caught up to him quickly.  We talked for a little bit and he realized that skipping the 1st stop made him ineligible for prizes, he didn't know it was required.  He kept going though.  I also caught up to my friend's daughter who was having fun motivating a younger boy.  I lapped her and tried to encourage her to speed up but she was just having fun and enjoying the race.  I was also suffering from some gas.  I am not used to have large quantities of drinks, other than water, during a race and it didn't agree with my system. I got to the 3rd and final stop (Z's) got my drink (another 2 minutes) and finished under 30 minutes.  That's not too bad when it includes 3 drink stops.

After finishing, my friend and I went out for an extra cool down mile to attempt to locate our kids.  We couldn't find them, but my husband finished just as I finished the extra mile.  He was in the 2nd stop while I was at the 3rd.  My friend went back out for her daughter and ran her in, yet my son hadn't been seen in quite a while by any of my friends.  My friend's daughter and I decided to go on a search for him.

My son's finish

We found him about a half mile out from the finish on his last lap and he was hurting.  His foot and leg were in pain but he wasn't giving up.  He was just going to walk the rest of the way.  Well, my friend's daughter wouldn't stand for that.  She poked him, poured water on him, taunted him, and encouraged him until he ran, usually not toward the finish line unfortunately.  I could tell he was enjoying this and she was making him go faster.  We got him to his last stop and across the finish line in 1:03 and he was happy to be done.  There was a party afterwards that we all attended where we got and shared some pizza.  My husband won a door prize and many of my friends placed in their age groups.  We all had  fun and finished our race.  My son even wants to run the race again next year, despite the pain he had near the end.

I think, though, that the most interesting part of this story is about the race shirt.  My husband and son signed up early enough to get a shirt, but I did not.  I don't like missing out on shirts and since I knew the race directors I thought I might be able to convince them to just give me a shirt.  I tried and tried to get them to slide me a shirt, but due to the popularity of the race they could not be convinced.  They told me I had to wait until Friday.  My husband made the connection, I had to wait until Friday not when they opened on Friday.  So I could text one of the employees, who I have run with, at 12:01 and request a shirt before anyone else.  He stated this to the person I would text who seemed to agree with the statement.  When I went to bed I wrote my text and set an alarm for 12:01 am.  The alarm went off, I sent my message, and went back to sleep.  I was the first to request a shirt and my husband picked the shirt up for me the next day.  Luckily the employee found this whole situation amusing and we were laughing about it at the group run on Saturday.

I am glad I have finally run these fun Saint Patrick's Day events after years of avoiding them.  I have missed out on a lot of great things in the past but I'm glad I didn't miss all my opportunities to take part in them.